I Can See You - by Paddy Summerfield c. 1986
Showing posts with label Sharon Tate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sharon Tate. Show all posts

Thursday, January 15, 2026

“and we could all feel safe like Sharon Tate" . . . . John Cale - 'Leaving It Up To You' | Sharon by room mate Sheliah Wells



 

 “My friends used to tease me: ‘How can you wake up in the morning and look at that face of hers?’ It was a good question. Sharon was so overwhelmingly, so incredibly beautiful that anyone not knowing her might think it took a lot to live with such a beauty. But, you see, that was another thing about Sharon. With all her beauty, everyone loved her. I never heard anyone say a bad word about her, not even another actress. And in this town that’s not only a rarity, it’s an impossibility! Sharon was the type of girl who had no defenses, no pretenses, she was just herself all the time. She was so trusting, so eager to accept people as they were, so generous.” 

  • Actress Sheliah Wells, who was room-mates with Sharon during the mid-1960s


Sharon Tate, 1968.

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Sharon Tate - Terry O'Neil :: John Cale 'Leaving It Up To You'

 

SHARON TATE photographed by TERRY O'NEILL in London, 1968.

There is a quite recent trend among blogs and webpages and sites to share pictures of Sharon Tate in recent years and I approve having done loads myself [ click on the links in the bottom to view my other posts] but I find it fascinating that others and presumably much younger folk are posting her image all over the blogosphere and that is as it should be IMHO and I have no real handle on why that would be. 

She is of course highly deserving of our not forgetting her. She is a tragic figure married as she was to Roman Polanski and whilst heavily pregnant with their first child, she returned from Europe to prepare her 'nest' at their rented house in Cielo Drive, Los Angeles seemingly randomly selected by the Manson Family (so called) a disparate bunch of acid freak dysfunctional misbegotten unfortunates who slaughtered all the residents therein (possibly looking for Terry Melcher and then girlfriend Candice Bergen who used to live there and who had knocked Charlie back on a record deal when finally realising he was batshit crazy!) and made particular display of Tate tying her with ropes around her neck and stabbing her multiple times. Clearly pregnant she pleaded with the psychopaths for mercy not the least for her unborn child. It fell on deaf ears and they stuck a fork in her 8 month pregnant belly. Their unborn son the rarely mentioned other victim here

There are photos by Terry O'Neil like the one above that are amongst the most heart breaking I've ever seen showing her purchases of baby clothes and presumably this was the destination for this teddy also see previous posts for details and examples. I cannot she the terrifying sadness they present nor the untold depths of dep[ravity the murederers sank to in killing an unborn child alongside the almost matter of act casualness of the other slaughters. There were it would seem many more that we do not know of . . . . . . . . . . 

The year before this horrific she went on record with almost prescient pathos as saying:

“I’m very sensitive to ugly situations. I’m quick to read people, and I pick up if someone’s reacting to me as just a sexy blonde. At times like that, I freeze. I can be very alone at a party, on the set, or in general, if I’m not in harmony with things around me.” 



— Sharon Tate, quoted in Screen Stories magazine, 1967.

The Manson Family misguidedly (sic) believed they were striking a blow against the "establishment" little understanding that they were attacking counter culture heroes that they really should have been supporting 

When the women followers of Manson were sentenced to the death penalty they laughed and left the court room smiling . . . . . . . . . 

Musical connection? I have posted before but John Cale's brilliant song 'Leaving It Up To You' has the most haunting reference to Sharon Tate that sends shivers up my spine every time I hear it still on every playing.  It more than many other object d'arts about News Media and how we get our information and watch live as people fly into The Twin Towers or Trumpian Fake News and conspiracy theory madness made me realise the hippie dream was over and we needed to batten down the hatches, watch out for monsters (that are in fact real!) and the belief that drugs did not contain the 'answer'  but could distort and destroy all that was good about the counter culture. 

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Muses and Girlfriends No 11 - SHARON TATE -

 Famous Muses & Girlfriends in Filmmaking Pt. 11


GIRLFRIEND: Sharon Tate (full name Sharon Marie Tate)

Note the text is not by me here and I don't agree with much of it especially around Roman Polanski but the terrifyingly sad pictures here of the heavily pregnant Sharon in 1969 (taken by legendary fashion photographer Terry O'Neil) just prior to returning home and being slaughtered by the clinically insane psychopaths the Manson Family (so called) believed they were attacking the establishment (they weren't, they really weren't) they were in fact attacking their own (not least humans but also the young hip arts based creatives that Manson sought ins towards with his 'music'!) not to mention the radical counter culture aspects of the circle they moved in, there is much evidence that didn't they even know who they were killing. It is worth recalling Manson died in prison which frankly is where he belonged and the 'girls' when sentenced to death for murder (reduced to life) was to laugh, they had just slaughtered several of their contemporaries and one of which was a beautiful young pregnant woman and her unborn son. Her unborn son! Just let that sink in a moment
Beyond the descriptions of Hell by most people with any sensibilties standards. 


"Sharon was born January 24th, 1943 in Dallas, TX to Col. Paul Tate, a US Army officer, and Doris Gwendolyn, a housewife. Sharon and her sisters Debra and Patti grew up as military brats, living all over the world because of their father’s position. They lived in El Paso, TX; Richmond, WA; and finally Verona, Italy, where Sharon would finish high school and become fluent in Italian. She started her career as a teen participating in beauty pageants and modeling, and by 19 she moved to Los Angeles, CA to get a Hollywood agent. Though Sharon’s colleagues worried her shyness was affecting her acting range, she was still ambitious and motivated enough to seek roles. Her first on-screen gig was a bit part on a 1963 episode of the popular sitcom “Mr. Ed,” and that same year she landed a supporting role as pretty, local bank teller Janet Trego on the megahit sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1963-65). In film, Sharon appeared in the horror flick Eye of the Devil (1966) and the B-movie comedies Don’t Make Waves (1967) and The Wrecking Crew (1968). Her biggest success would end up being the critical flop Valley of the Dolls (1967), which now lives on as a cult classic. Sharon’s best friend was Dolls co-star Barbara Parkins, who was even the maid of honor at Sharon’s wedding to Roman Polanski. 

 


In her love life, Sharon’s relationships were pretty exuberant. There were flings with stars like Richard Beymer and Steve McQueen, and her first fiancĂ© would be French actor Philippe Forquet in 1963. The two would apparently argue frequently, so they broke up not long into the engagement in 1964. Her next serious boyfriend was famous hair stylist Jay Sebring in late ‘64. Sharon and Jay were reportedly very much in love and Jay was also usually on location with Sharon during film shoots. Jay wanted to marry, but Sharon had plans of ending her career with marriage and kids, and now felt it was too soon for that. In 1966, Sharon traveled back to Italy alone to film the foreign horror satire The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) directed by Roman Polanski. The actress and director briefly met before production started, but Roman was disappointed that Jill St. John couldn’t sign on to Vampire Killers and wasn’t impressed with Sharon’s acting, while Sharon thought he was a snob. As filming went on, the two grew to like each other and Roman felt Sharon’s performance improved by the end. Sharon also posed for her only Playboy photoshoot on the set, wearing just her character’s red wig, and photographed personally by Polanski. When the film wrapped in early ‘67, Sharon officially broke up with Jay and moved into Roman’s London apartment. 

 


According to their friends, Jay was devasted Sharon chose Roman, but ultimately agreed with her request to stay friendly. Not long after, Roman’s next project, an adaptation of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, was greenlit and he wanted Sharon for the lead. But Paramount Studios wanted Tuesday Weld, and eventually Sharon’s friend Mia Farrow would be cast. Though Roman and Sharon regularly socialized and threw parties at their home properties, their relationship wasn’t entirely happy. Sharon was quickly getting baby fever in autumn, but Roman wasn’t interested in kids and saw other younger women on the side. Sharon secretly hoped that he would lose interest in bachelorhood, but whenever family or his affairs were brought up in conversation, Roman would just shrug it off as ‘Sharon’s big hang-up’ (douche). At this point, Sharon was also turning down roles and not using birth control, but to no avail. “I want a hippie, not a housewife,” Roman was quoted the week of their wedding on January 20th, 1968. 

 


 By the end of summer, the newlyweds completely relocated to Beverly Hills and Sharon started acting again. She finally discovered she was pregnant in December 1968, and supposedly Roman warmed up to the idea of being a dad after a while. In March 1969, the couple moved into a house in Benedict Canyon previously owned by Sharon’s friend Candice Bergen and her boyfriend Terry Melcher. On August 8th, 1969, Sharon invited Jay and a few other friends over to her house for a small get-together while Roman was away for work. Around midnight, the group experienced a home invasion from the cult known as the Manson Family, who were targeting music producer Terry Melcher. Terry had apparently upset their leader, Charles Manson for not signing him a record deal, but the Family didn’t get the news that he had moved out. Rather than go looking for Terry, the members stayed and brutally murdered everyone in the house. Allegedly Jay instantly jumped over to Sharon to protect her and her 9 month old fetus, but it was too late. :’( It’s kind of crazy to think how much history literally could’ve changed if Jay and Sharon had never broken up… 

 


Asshole or not, Sharon’s tragic death had huge emotional affect on Roman’s life and reflected in his adaptations of MacBeth (1971) and Tess (1979). The gruesome murders also influenced Roman to push for screenwriter Robert Towne to change the original happy ending of Chinatown (1974) to the now much bleaker conclusion."