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If you ask the magic mirror
who was the most beautiful woman of the 60s,
it will certainly answer
Sharon Tate.
Her story begins like one of the Sixties, by a fairy tale.
But there will be no happy ending.
The smallest part of the body of Sharon was more
classy than any idiot who struts today.
Those that we're calling "it-girls"
have in fact nothing special.
She would have became a superstar.
A superstar
because she was,
she was unique. She would have exploded. She was superb.
She exuded a great kindness and gentleness.
She was a lovely young woman.
In my opinion,
she is my sister above all.
A big sister who has it all.
At 26 years old, Sharon Tate just married Roman Polanski
and her career is taking off.
She is about to give birth to her first child when the dream
turns into nightmare.
On the night of the 9th October 1969 (sic),
Sharon Tate was murdered in her home in Los Angeles.
Eight months pregnant,
she is stabbed 16 times.
In this upscale property Benedict Canyon,
police discovers four other victims.
It took two months for psychosis triggered by the quintuple ***
to end.
Four members of the Manson Family are arrested and sentenced;
Manipulated by the guru Charles Manson, they are not the only murders
they have committed.
For the police and justice,
Sharon Tate and her friends have been the unfortunate victims of a group of hippies
under the influence of an insane leader.
For many, the murders of 9 August 1969 and the impact they caused, put an end to the 60s.
Charles Manson became an icon.
Repeatedly condemned, he can barely read and write.
He considers himself as the incarnation of Jesus and Satan combined.
He still has many followers.
Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City,
Los Angeles.
For over 40 years, Debra Tate maintains the grave and the memory
of her murdered sister.
So, this is here where lies my wonderful family.
Some time ago,
I found a coffee can filled with broken glass.
Some followers of Manson emerged from the cave and told me that
I had to die.
Forever marked by the fate of Sharon and her unborn son,
Debra Tate gave herself a mission:
fight against the fascination exerted by Charles Manson.
Today nothing is over.
At one time, Charles Manson
stated that it was his act that made Sharon Tate famous.
I absolutely do not agree. It was him who, by killing Sharon,
became famous.
If this story has gone around the world, it is because of
the contrast between the beauty, the innocence of Sharon, and and the cruelty and the uglyness of
Manson.
It is the killing that made him become a star, and not the reverse.
Actress
and victim.
Many biographies describe Sharon Tate that way.
As her sister Debra says, her name is inextricably linked with the letter M.
M for ***.
Sharon Tate became a symbol.
Her life, her death and her films are emblematic of the 60s.
Sharon was born in 1943 in Dallas, Texas.
Her father is a soldier.
With each new assignment the family moves.
Every two or three years, she has to change city, school, friends.
During her childhood Sharon has two benchmarks:
her family
and the beauty contests that she wins wherever she enters.
My mother entered Sharon at beauty contests while
she was a baby.
For several years, Sharon was the perfect little doll of my mother
while my father was playing the soldier.
Sharon dreams of becoming a model.
The idea does not delight her father.
My father began to
worry when Sharon won the "Miss Stars and Stripes" contest.
She was about 15 years old and had been photographed
astride a missile.
At that time she was becoming
a young woman.
My father realized he would have to reject an army of
young men.
In the early 60s, the Tates settle in Italy.
At the American high school in Vicenza, Sharon is elected
Homecoming Queen:
the most beautiful American of Italy.
While visiting the set of peplum Barabbas,
she is engaged as an extra
and appears a few seconds on the screen.
Actors, especially men,
advise her to make films.
Shortly before her 18th birthday,
my parents allowed her to return in the United States
to try her luck in Hollywood.
Sharon sets out to conquer California.
With some recommendations in her pocket she arrives in Los Angeles,
Mecca of cinema.
She is alone,
her parents stayed in Italy.
Sharon does not get flustered.
Hollywood opens its arms to her .
An ambitious young producer takes her under his wing.
His name is Martin Ransohoff.
She had no professional training.
All I knew was that she was 19 years old.
It was a gamble: she had to be trained and invest at least a year.
But she had talent.
Filmways, the company of Martin Ransohoff
pays Sharon $ 750 per month. He pays to her singing, dance and
drama lessons.
The investment should pay for itself in seven years,
the time for Sharon to become a star.
Sharon did not have to be ambitious.
Everything was heaven-sent.
But she was extremely conscientious.
It's true, she has been lucky in her career
but she took it seriously enough to study with Candice Bergen,
read Shakespeare
and strive to become a good actress.
She did not rely on her looks.
Meanwhile, Sharon begins as a secretary in the TV series
"The Beverly Hillbillies."
Martin Ransohoff imposes her a black wig.
The producer intends to hide as long as possible this pearl
to his colleagues.
It was really absurd to see her
with this wig on. It was anything but natural.
I teased her a bit with it.
But I ended by saying that, after all, it was a start.
A beginning followed by a first important role in 1965.
Sharon plays in Europe
with David Niven and Deborah Kerr.
Director J. Lee Thompson later said he doubted the talent of
Sharon
and that he had even planned a stand-in just in case.
After a few days of shooting,
no question of replacing the beginner.
From this moment, our parents were reassured.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr were two huge stars.
A young actress could not have hoped for a better start.
Miss Tate's career gets off
to a great start.
And sixties are looming particularly cheerful.
Sharon enjoys her new notoriety.
Her lifestyle is affected.
She continues her ascent.
Since 1963 she's going out with the hairstylist of the stars,
Jay Sebring.
Until the end he will remain a close friend. He will be even present and murdered
the night of the ***.
Carefree, surf and sun.
Waves of Californian beaches sweep conventions.
With the Sixties, the Flower Power arrives in the US
society.
The anti-Vietnam War mouvement reaches its peak.
One watchword:
absolute personal development.
Nobody doubts that this total freedom, which advocates free love, the
drugs and community life has its dark side.
In Spahn ranch,
a few miles from LA,
Charles Manson gathers his disciples, his family, around him.
The new film by Sharon Tate "Don't Make Waves"
trade is the answer to this new Hollywood trend.
Thirty years before Pamela Anderson, Sharon plays rescuer
and has the privilege of rescuing Tony Curtis.
The film relies heavily on the physic of the actress.
Although production evokes vaguely hippie culture, there's no political
message.
After this film, Sharon will struggle to shed her image of sexy blonde.
She then flies to London, where a young filmmaker seeks an actress
for his new feature:
"The Fearless Vampire Killers."
His name is Roman Polanski.
At first, he is not convinced that Sharon is the one
he's seeking.
This is not counting on his penchant for pretty girls.
As a producer I reserved the
hotel rooms for actors and members of the technical team.
Roman was staying in a hotel
and Sharon another one.
He came and asked me if I could get a room for Sharon
in the same hotel as him, preferably adjacent to
his.
I obviously satisfied the request of my friend.
This is how their story began.
Roman Polanski is very demanding,
perfectionist.
I remember that for a small scene,
he took 55 catches.
I do not think it was really necessary.
The dialogues are a double meaning, and emotion warranty.
Their love story is reflected on the screen.
London has found a new glamorous couple:
an American and a Pole.
Sharon broke up with Jay Sebring and moves in with Roman Polanski.
Together, they were in the news
without worrying about their reputation.
It was characteristic of the Swinging London.
You're too young to have known, but that was it!
People got all dressed up and had a good time.
There was a great atmosphere in London.
Sharon and Roman were integrated perfectly in this so
particular period.
The lovers decide to marry.
Polanski wants to do things in the rules:
towards the United States to meet the family of Sharon.
I loved him. I met him before my parents because Sharon
invited me to the hotel in Sausalito.
He was very funny and extremely intelligent.
He dragged the bed and we laughed together.
Obviously when it came to meet my parents he's been tactful,
especially with a military future father-in-law.
He was entitled to the full. Dad inspected him from head to toe,
and he did it well.
Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski married in 1968.
This is a media event.
More photographers than guests, says the director in his
autobiography.
The party takes place at the Playboy Lounge: one of the most
trendy places at that time.
On the guest list: the cream of the jet set.
According to the rumor, the newlyweds are among the first to leave the party.
A year earlier, Sharon, photographed by Polanski, was shining on
the beautiful pages of Playboy.
A wind of freedom blows.
A trend that Sharon Tate became an emblem of.
This was the reaction of an entire generation,
not just us.
A generation that grew up with
instruments of torture:
white gloves, girdles and bras into wedges,
and finally discovered personal freedom.
Roman and Sharon have two home bases : London and Los Angeles.
The couple knows an idyllic happiness.
When you live at the luxurious Chateau Marmont, it is a proof of a successful
social life.
They are guests appreciated by a wide circle of friends.
It was an open door policy.
I've lived my life that way, as well
I never shut the door and people could come
at any time.
We had nothing to hide.
We opened our home to everyone and our friends could come whenever they wanted.
An innocuous dolce vita that would feed later some sordid rumors.
Drugs, ***.
According to press reports the couple Polanski would have devoted themselves to the worst.
With his new film,
the first made in Hollywood, Roman Polanski gives the media a
new bone to gnaw at.
Because of some Satanic scenes
Rosemary's Baby is violently rejected by some people.
The film is a great success, yet. But Sharon is only
a spectator.
This is Mia Farrow who inherited the lead role.
The following role earns Sharon to be nominated for Golden Globes
but also to confront her image.
In The Valley of the dolls
she plays a starlet who is unable to become famous as
an actress,
she is reduced to a single physical.
I think for the first time,
Sharon realized the difficulty of the job,
and how the scenes of cinema are
physically demanding.
Sharon takes it all with detachment
dubbing herself, not without irony, Sexy Little Me.
About Polanski, she says that he is her better half.
She now runs alongside the greatest.
In the parody of James Bond, "The Wrecking Crew", she joins
Dean Martin and Elke Sommer in front of the cameras.
It was the kind of movie that did not require an incredible talent.
You just had to be physically
divine,
very well balanced,
and look pretty on the arm of Dean Martin.
Moreover, the camera does not tire of filming Sharon's curves, what
satisfies the male audience.
I had a great death scene in this film, I have been
shot.
Sharon did not even have that chance.
When we're working, we must tell ourselves that it's going to be awesome.
Otherwise we don't do a good job, but there she had no
challenge as an actress. And that's actually how she
acted.
I am sure she had talent.
I do not know if she would become
a big star.
I can not judge but personally I
think not.
In this role Sharon can at best says her talent for comedy
the she has already shown in "Beverly Hillbillies".
She would probably have preferred to play
more demanding roles,
which would have given her maturity.
She did not love her profession yet.
This is probably why she did not feel strong
neither as a woman nor as
an actress.
There have been rumors about the Polanski couple.
Everyone knows that the director courts other women
and claims her *** freedom.
In his autobiography he talks openly about the existence of a video
showing him frolicking with Sharon.
The way of life of Roman posed problem.
To put it elegantly, Roman was a
womanizer.
Women were attracted by the
successful director and the man
terribly cute.
There have been difficult times
for newlyweds.
But those who knew the couple knew they would never
break up.
In the family there is not
the kind of divorce, I know something. It would never
happened.
She was unhappy and did not want to
be, of course.
Who wants to be unhappy?
But she could not find solutions to the problem.
She came to see me because she trusted me,
otherwise she would never have told what was happening in
her couple.
What junk this guy is.
Difficult for the couple not to lose ground.
In full *** liberation, between jet set and Flower Power, between
two cities, two careers, two ways of seeing things.
1969 marks the end of the crisis,
and announces a happy event.
She was ecstatic, she danced on the spot.
She took me by the shoulders and said "I'm pregnant, I am
pregnant! "
And then she stopped dancing and
returned serious.
She told me "You must go back home, I gotta tell Roman."
And I left before Roman came back
so that Sharon could tell him in person.
In his autobiography, Polanski says that the new was immersed him in
the greatest distress.
Sharon thinks of the practical things. Her family is going to need a roof.
She moved often, traveling too.
She never really got Home Sweet Home
Now she wants to settle for good.
She finally found what she's looking in the hills above
Hollywood, chic Cielo Drive.
The house was nestled in the hills of Benedict Canyon,
a place where there were many young affluent of
the film industry.
When we trod this turf
green, it seemed to fall and end up in bed
Ivy plunging into the canyon.
When we looked left we had a view
views of the city lights
limited either side of the canyon.
It was incredible.
Everything is getting better for Sharon
she has signed a contract of 150 thousand dollars for a new film.
This is more than what her husband earned by directing "Rosemary's Baby".
One last trip to London,
last film to shoot,
and she then she will be devoted to his family.
We had an appointment in London,
where she lived with Roman Polanski
and they lived
in one of these houses in the "mews".
These small houses in London which are situated in
narrow streets. I was in advance,
because I am always afraid of being late, and I rang:
there is none.
Indeed, I came too early.
And I turn back,
and at the bottom of the "mews",
there was Sharon Tate.
The time she was taking to come closer
Plan to go
general close I knew that she was not anyone else to
role.
The comedy "12 +1" is on tour in London and Rome
two cities she loves.
When he had scenes ...
is still trying
forward scenes
where we saw the foot
but it was not ..
We could not make a schedule and more perfect we did not know
when we would
and we always invent stuff.
There were times when furniture there was a passenger who had been afraid
profile and was
so we put shelves were put stuff. So it was pretty ...
obviously in the picture if we took into account, of course.
But
it is said that pregnant women embellish so it was
the case
with Sharon too.
In the film Sharon's pregnancy is obvious.
She tries to hide it but seems proud and confident,
more than she has ever been.
We had one scene where she dives
in pool
(and I really)
maybe it is I who am naive
but right now, she said: "Really? Wanna make my T-shirt
glue on me. I know it, it has already been done!" Etc. ..
I said, "Really?" and then she did not want to believe it was not a
intention on my part to make her shown even more
"naked" than she was.
She made the scene perfectly. She leaves dripping water all
and everyone got an eyeful!
Is it dedication?
Or the actress accepted her image?
Unless she is resigned.
One thing is certain:
as soon as the shooting done, she wants to go home in Los Angeles.
I remember, it was as well
Roman Polanski
as me
We said to her: "Listen,
the film is finished.
We make the editing.
Go to a clinic in Switzerland.
Near the CERN, there is a hyper sophisticated clinic where
Sophia Loren gave birth too. Go there and make your baby.
Bue she wanted to leave, to go back to the USA for her baby.
Of course, afterwards we can always say: "If she had listened, it would have
not happened." She wanted Roman to return with her.
Her pregnancy was far advanced,
and her maternal instinct was commanding.
Roman had
a few days of work. He reassured her and
he promised he would do that for a few days, he would
be back right after and everything would be fine.
In his autobiography
Polanski remembers thinking at the time to say goodbye:
"I will never see her again"
Sharon returned by boat and reunited with her family after six months of separation.
The reunion was fantastic.
It was very hot and
Sharon was wearing a swimsuit and a very simple top
that revealed her rounded belly.
It was very beautiful to see.
These are the latest photos of Sharon Tate
taken after her return in Los Angeles in her Cielo Drive property.
The evening of the first steps on the Moon
we all settled on her bed and watched TV.
Dad remained standing at the door, he would have never
let go like that before us.
It was a wonderful time.
We saw the first steps of man on the moon together.
One giant leap for mankind
and the last meeting of the whole Tate family.
The night of 9 August 1969
the night of the murders.
Four members of the Manson Family break into the property of
Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate.
They cut the telephone lines, enter the house through a window,
and kill everyone present.
Steve Parent who was there "by chance";
Jay Sebring, the former fiancé of Sharon;
Abigail Folger and
Voytek Frykowski temporarily installed at Sharon's.
Sharon is still alive,
she begged the killers to spare her,
her and her child.
Response Susan Atkins, one of one of the killers:
"I do not care if you're going to have a baby,
you're going to die and I don't feel anything about it."
The news of the *** spread like wildfire.
My mother came into the hallway and she told me:
"Sharon is gone, Sharon is dead."
I replied: "What? What are you talking about? Tell me slowly."
She was devastated,
she trembled, her knees clashed, she could not
stand up any more.
I have been called
and asked to come immediately without asking any questions. Something
terrible had happened. I had no idea what was
going on. I thought Roman had an accident, or something like that.
He was in shock,
and was asking me constantly:
"Did she know
how much I loved her? "
I reassured him, I told him that she knew.
He was in a terrible state.
He banged his head against the walls.
We had to get a doctor to calm him.
Finally,
an investigator told me that it was
*** and none of the bodies had been identified.
He asked me if an adult could come to
do it. It was out of
the question that my mother could have done that.
My father was still in Sausalito
and Roman in London. There was just me.
I said I would go, he just has to
send a car. Thanks God,
Bill Tennant, Roman's agent had heard the news on the radio.
He was playing tennis in Beverly Hills.
He has ascended up the canyon to Cielo Drive.
He asked if he could identify the bodies
and he said yes.
I think he never recovered from what he saw.
He became depressed.
I have been very lucky not to have had to
do it.
Sorry.
Thanks to a visa issued in emergency,
Roman Polanski takes the first flight to Los Angeles.
We find no trail for murderers.
The press began to speculate and launches multiple rumors.
Upon his arrival in LA Polanski must defend himself and his family.
It was the first time that such
a thing happened,
and the media had a tremendous time.
They even mention witchcraft. Why?
Because Sharon had played in "The Eye of Evil" whose main theme
was witchcraft. They peaked in horror.
They invented stories of drugs, sex,
*** and nothing was true.
If it happened, it is not under the roof of my sister.
I went to Cielo Drive, in the house where
the murders occured.
I then gave an interview in which I said that everything
I had seen were baby clothing.
They were so happy,
so ready.
She was to give birth to her child. And there was nothing
Satanic in there. That's what I said.
The police is perplexed,
speculation is rife.
The next day, the couple LaBianca is murdered, in the same way as
Sharon and her friends.
The murderers are part of the community of Charles Manson.
After the Tate and LaBianca killings,
nothing is like before. Fear invades California.
Sharon's death put an end to the movement
Hippy and Flower Power.
In Los Angeles, we now lock the doors.
Time recklessness is finished.
On 13 August 1969, in the presence of a crowd of journalists,
Sharon Tate is buried in a climate of terror
and anger.
The tabloids accused Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski to be responsible
of the drama because of their dissolute life.
The director is even suspected for a moment of having ordered the murders.
It was very violent, especially for my mother.
I did not take it seriously. They could not
me with their lies, but my mother has lost her mind
because of them. She became depressed, the lights are
off and she has regained consciousness ten years later.
Roman Polanski agreed to take the test detector
lies.
August 20,
it appears to the press at the Beverly Wilshire.
Friends and relatives promise a reward to anyone who will provide
slightest clue about business. Roman Polanski conducts its own investigation.
Everyone was desperately trying to find meaning in
this story.
But it had none.
Even when we was found responsible for these murders,
and even today it makes no sense.
It was not an rational act.
This is nothing else than madness
murderous sociopaths who never leave their state of
sociopaths.
There will always be people who think that their needs are more important
than society or God. This is the very definition of sociopathy.
Nearly three months after the killings, the perpetrators are arrested by chance.
Charles Manson and his followers were sentenced to death.
The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Sharon's mother, Doris, a new reason to live.
She wants to, she and other victims of crimes, testify when considering
of release of offenders.
it creates chômag
Defend our values,
define what is right and what is wrong is our duty.
If we don't do it, the society collapses.
After the death of her mother and her second sister Patti,
Debra Tate takes only family heirloom. She is regularly
confronted with Sharon's murderers.
Whenever I go to the review of an application
to release my mother with me and Sharon.
A few years ago created the Debra Tate Family Foundation
who defends troubled youth to prevent them from falling into the
crime,
on behalf of Sharon Tate.
What is amazing is that it was actress
is that it relives every time I watch one of his films.
I can laugh, smile and remember.
These are my little bizarre rituals,
and not only for herself, but for my mother, my sister and my
father.
We are a family, they are still part of me as I
am a part of them.
Excuse me, I do not have a tissue.
My makeup sank. I'm glad it's over.