Sharon Tate may have become a household name for being one of the approximately 35 victims brutally murdered by the Manson Family – but she had her sights set on achieving fame for an entirely different reason.
Sharon was a prolific actress in her time, making her name as Jennifer North in the 1967 cult classic flick Valley of the Dolls.
The tragic 26-year-old was murdered at the home she shared with her film director husband Roman Polanski.
The Manson Family cult headed to her home on August 9, 1969, and brutally murdered Sharon while she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
The cult didn’t stop with Sharon’s murder, as they also took the lives of four others at her house.
As the anniversary of her tragic killing comes around again, we take a look into Sharon’s life, from her iconic acting career and marriage to her brutal murder.
Childhood beauty pageants
(Image: Getty Images)
Sharon was born on January 24 in 1943, the eldest of three daughters.
She was never a stranger to the spotlight, having been thrust into the world of beauty pageantry aged just six months, and going on to be crowned victor of the Miss Tiny Tot of Dallas Pageant.
Sharon went on to achieve a whopping five titles in 1959 – Miss Frontier Days, Miss Richland, Miss Tri-Cities, Miss Water Follies and Miss Auto-Rama.
The star also wanted to compete in the Miss Washington show of 1960 – however, her family relocating to Verona, Italy, put a stop to her ambition.
Acting career
(Image: Getty Images)
It was in Italy where Sharon made her first foray into acting, starring as an extra in various productions.
But a move back to the US kick-started Sharon’s acting career, with her first big break coming as she landed the role of Janet Trego in The Beverly Hillbillies.
Sharon went on to appear in films including Eye of the Devil in 1966, The Fearless Vampire Killers in 1967 and Valley of the Dolls later that year.
Her final film role, released posthumously in 1969, was as Pat in adventure comedy 12+1.
Public indecency arrests
(Image: Getty Images)
It emerged in an interview with Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner that Sharon had actually been arrested in Italy for public indecency – all for wearing a short dress.
Speaking on Playboy After Dark, Sharon sat down with her husband Roman Polanski to discuss nudity in Hollywood.
Sharon explained: “I was arrested on a train going to Italy, where we were shooting.
“I was in a compartment with all the windows closed, you know, and my dress was like to here,” she added, gesturing to her mid-thigh.
(Image: Mirrorpix)
Cheekily, the actress added: “Well, stop opening the windows and looking at us and you wouldn’t know I had a short dress on!”
But it clearly wasn’t the only time Sharon caught the wrong end of the law, as her husband Roman quickly added: “And you were arrested here for wearing a bikini.”
Hugh Hefner put in: “It’s hard to realise that America was so far behind Europe, it was not until a couple of years ago the bikini really gained acceptance on public beaches.”
Marriage and infidelity
(Image: Getty Images)
Sharon tied the knot with famous film director Roman Polanski in 1968, after they met on the set of The Fearless Vampire Killers.
At the time of their meeting, Sharon was already engaged to Hollywood hair stylist Jay Sebring.
Sharon reportedly dropped acid in a hotel room with Roman, before the two had sex and later fell in love – before heading back to America to break off her engagement.
(Image: Mirrorpix)
In a twist of fate, the trio decided to sit down for dinner together so Jay could check she was making the right decision.
And all three remained friends throughout Sharon’s relationship with Roman and their marriage, which took place in London in on January 20.
However, it wasn’t love at first sight, as Roman wasn’t even impressed with Sharon’s acting talents – claiming it took around 70 takes to get a “decent scene” out of her.
(Image: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
But despite their impressive social circle of movie stars, rock stars and various other members of the Hollywood elite, the infidelity in their relationship was wearing on Sharon.
Though they embraced a free love, hippie lifestyle, Sharon reportedly wasn’t happy with Roman playing away when their filming schedules forced them apart.
She was quoted as saying: “We have a good arrangement. Roman lies to me and I pretend to believe him.”
Sharon fell pregnant with Roman’s baby in December that year, and was eight-and-a-half months pregnant at the time of her murder.
Murder
(Image: The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
While her husband was staying in London, Sharon dined out at El Coyote Cafe in Los Angeles with her former fiancé Jay Sebring, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger, heiress to Folgers Coffee Company.
The group returned to Sharon’s home at around 10:30pm that night, and all four members of the party were viciously murdered by members of the Manson Family, their bodies discovered the next morning by a housekeeper.
Steven Parent – a young man who had travelled to the house to sell a radio – was also found shot dead in his car on the driveway.
Perhaps more shocking was the word PIG written in Sharon’s blood on the front door, which her husband Roman was later photographed beside – attracting widespread criticism, though he claimed he wished it would shock viewers into volunteering information.
The property’s caretaker, William Garretson, was taken in for questioning as the only survivor of the incident, but was quickly released after a polygraph test and interrogation.
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
