New Vintage Translated Article: The Tragedy of Sharon, More Screencaptures from FVK, and More New Books on Polanski

Here is another old article I have gotten translated. It is from our great contributor Andrea!  Thanks so much for this!

Sharon Tate: Her Fate Dealt Death

from Manchette August 1969 (A Portuguese magazine)

It was a beautiful day when the Tate family were joined together to discuss the future of the oldest daughter, Sharon, who had announced the choice to become an actress. The father, Colonel Paul Tate, was against it. The mother, Gwendolyn Tate, accepted it. The two younger daughters, Deborah and Patricia, were divided between whether or not to support the sister but at the same time, wanted to respect their parents.  Sharon insisted between all this that her friend, the actor Richard Beymer, thought she had talent.  Shortly afterwards, with the permission of her family, Sharon Tate began the great travel of her life.  The destiny was success, which surely was near.  But everything happened much too fast.  Sharon--lovely, famous and happy--would become a character of a tragedy that no filmmaker could ever have imagined.

The sexy image that was fabricated was soon to be changed for that of a young mother.

It took little time for Hollywood to start applying the actress for success.  She was the American Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe 's successor.  In synthesis, a new star.  Fox spent two million dollars to promote her.  But this was not exactly the reward Sharon was needing.  Besides her career, her marriage to Polanski had a big influence on her.  The rich hippie culture of Hollywood would also be present in the final chapter of her history. 

Sharon in front of Paul Bern and Jean Harlow's former home.

A Scenario of happiness would lead to the sad tragedy.

The first meeting with Polanski might not have been stranger.  The young director was in London, preparing to make his film "The Dance of the Vampires"--for which he had not chosen the principal actress yet--when he knew Sharon was walking towards the studio, he looked at her in fashion magazines.  He immediately called the producer of the film: "This is no Hollywood here.  In my movies, I choose the actresses.  Miss Tate must go."  So Sharon left.  But within two hours later, she was called by the director.  Some months later she was receiving another proposal, this one of marriage.  Her life was running with the speed that young persons always pursue.  And happiness would come, after marriage with a baby to be born in September.

At her funeral, hundreds of young people and Hollywood stars went to the cemetery to say a last goodbye to Sharon Tate.

"She was a good person," the Reverand Peter O'Reilly said while she lay in her coffin at the Church of the Sacred Cross, in Inglewood, Los Angeles, opposite to the mausoleum where it would be buried within moments.  "What can we do to make this death have meaning?  We can try to create a better world, for which that this never happens again. Sharon, may the angels take you to Paradise, and the martyrs help to show you the way. " Many friends of the celebrity couple gave the ultimate goodbye to Sharon Tate, like Yul Brynner, Peter Sellars, Kirk Douglas, Joan Collins and Warren Beatty, and great number of other men and women. Inconsolable, Roman Polanski cried during the whole ceremony, he stood beside the mother of Sharon, Mrs. Paul Tate, and of two younger sisters, Patricia and Debra. They all kissed the casket, and each one deposited on her a rose.

Her are the captions by the photos:

This photo so dramatic since the murder of Sharon shows the fact that she was pregnant of eight months and a half. Standing (in the photo, in front of the studio of Fox) she was never so happy as while be preparing to become a mother.

When making "Valley of the Dolls" director Mark Robson said she had great quality on film and was going to be an terrific actress one day. But Sharon cared more about having a family and could care less about the quality of the movie, even though she gained much publicity and had originally had a definite impulse to become actress.

Wearing dark glasses, Roman Polanski cried for the entire length of the funeral and had to be assisted by a doctor. 

Beside the mother and two younger sisters of Sharon (Patricia and Debra), Polanski was comforted by his doctor, Dr. Peter Thomas. He was in Europe when the tragedy took place.

Sharon looks a lot like Catherine Deneuve here.

And here are some more screencaptures from Micaela:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/sharon+tate/omgxsharontate/Sharon%20Tate/vlcsnap-2010-04-03-22h04m30s112copi.jpg?o=4&filter=newest

Tammie, another wonderful contributor told me about this new book on Roman:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313377804/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0V289AAMZXYV3Y3GEX5T&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

Here is another strange one I found:

http://www.amazon.com/BURDEN-BEING-POLANSKI-MOMENTARY-REASON/dp/0557142946/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2#noop

Has anyone read these books?  Any comments?

Sharon Tate Article Nouvelle Starlet and Kerstien Matondang's Coppertone Ad

Here is another article from my collection that I hope you enjoy:

From: Films of the Golden Age, Fall 1997

Sharon Tate - Nouvelle Starlet

By Eve Golden

In the late 1960s, she was one of the most promising starlets in Hollywood.  Breathtakingly beautiful, hard-working and genuinely well liked, Sharon Tate had a future easily as bright as other newcomers like Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway and Candice Bergen.  But a handful of lunatics changed all that, and Sharon became better known as one of the decade's most famous murder victims.  She only made nine films, but Sharon had been on her way to becoming one of the industry's brightest stars as the 1970s dawned.

She was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 24, 1943, the daughter of Major Paul Tate and his wife, Doris.  Already a beauty at six months, she won the Miss Tiny Tot contest.  Sharon and her two younger sisters had adventurous childhoods: their father, working with Army Intelligence, spent much of the 1950s moving his family from Dallas to Tacoma, Houston, El Paso and San Francisco.  In 1959, when Sharon was 16, they moved to Verona, Italy, where she attended high school and quickly became multi-lingual.

 

It was in Italy that she also began mulling over an acting career.  Richard Beymer was making a film near Sharon's school, and introduced the teenager to his agent.  Nothing came of this, but Beymer had put a flea in her ear.  She came back to the U. S. in 1963 and began seriously looking for work.  "I was shy and bashful when I reached Hollywood," she said in 1965.  "I only had enough money to get by and I hitch-hiked a ride on a truck to the office of an agent whose name I had."

 

An audition for the TV series 'Petticoat Junction' didn't pan out, but her test was seen by Martin Ransohoff of Filmways Productions.  Impressed, he put her under a seven-year contract and set out to "develop" her in the old-fashioned Hollywood manner.  Ransohoff sent Sharon to New York's Actor's Studio, and to classes in dancing, singing, body-building and modeling.  "I'm sure the three years I spent in training to be an actress will pay off," Sharon told The New York News in 1966.

 

By that time, she had also gotten her first few jobs.  She can be briefly glimpsed guesting on 'Mr. Ed' and as secretary Janet Trego, Mr. Drysdale's secretary, in a few episodes of 'The Beverly Hillbillies.'  She did commericials, including one for cigarettes which nearly did her in: "The commericial required many takes," Sharon recalled. "Just when they were ready fro the final one, I passed out from taking too many puffs on my first attempt at smoking."

 

Ransohoff helped get her small roles in 'Separate Beds' (1963), 'The Americanization of Emily' (1964), and 'The Sandpiper' (1965), to help her get accustomed to filming.  Her first major role was in the dreadful, pretentious British-made thriller from 1965, 'Eye of the Devil', also known as '13'.  The film starred David Niven and Deborah Kerr as a middle-aged couple living in a chateau.  Sharon was thrilled to be in such company, even in a less than sterling project.  She portrayed Odile, a spooky local girl who wanders about looking creepy and uttering ominous  lines.  No one got much of a chance to act in this film, and it made no real impact on the budding starlet's career.

Sharon Tate was an odd duck in the swinging Hollywood of the mid-1960s.  Strictly brought-up, she was sweet and innocent in a town that was neither.  One actor called her "one of the toughest lays in town.  Strictly a one-man woman."  She reportedly had an unhappy relationship with a French actor for two years, then was briefly engaged to her hairstylist, Jay Sebring. The two broke up, but remained friends.  Then, at a London party in 1966, she met Roman Polanski.

 

The 33-year-old director and actor was already famous for his dark films 'Knife in the Water' (1962), and 'Repulsion' (1965).  He also had quite a reputation: one ex-girlfriend described him as "the quintessential male chauvinist pig.  He treats women like objects, like toys, like his latest pet car.  It can be fun to share his limelight for a while, but ultimately it becomes boring."  Ransohoff loaned Sharon to Polanski for his horror comedy film 'The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967).  Sharon and Polanski became involved, despite their obvious cultural differences.  He himself later said, "It took the longest time for me to get her to go to bed with me.  She was not someone who went easily to bed with a man."  They moved in together in Belgravia, London, and Sharon learned to love London's Swinging '60s scene:  "There are so many talented young people with fantastic, original ideas here," she said in 1967.  "...The Mod Look, the long, straight hair for girls and long hair for boys, mini skirts...it all started here and eventually got to America.  Americans are too inhibited but they are slowly coming around to realizing what a swinging world we live in."  But the fast Polanski crowd was too swinging even for her.  According to Mia Farrow, Sharon experimented with pot and LSD, but never really got into drugs.

 

Sharon's only film with Polanski turned out to be something of a disappointment.  Visually, it was stunning, capturing a vision of 19th century Eastern Europe in the dead of winter.  But the performers were given little to do.  'Vampire Killers' veered between bad sitcom dialogue and gory thrills, and never seemed to quite settle on a style. Sharon, in a red wig, looked beautiful and somewhat detached.  The film did not do well in the U.S., and Polanski tried to help it along by shooting nudes of Sharon for the March 1967 issue of Playboy.  Aside from raising questions of taste, this did nothing.

 

Sharon's first real U. S. exposure came with MGM's big-budget beach comedy 'Don't Make Waves' (1967), starring Tony Curtis.  Sharon had a small but showy role as Malibu, a sky-diving beach bunny whom Curtis steals from her body-building boyfriend.  The film wasn't up to much, but critics noted Sharon's combination of beauty and deadpan humor.  She, however, did not share their enthusiasm.

"It's a terrible movie," she accuarately noted before it had even been released, then admitted that "sometimes I say things I shouldn't.  I guess I'm too outspoken."

To be continued tomorrow...

I don't think Sharon's films were that bad.  At least she showed potential especially in comedic roles.

Her venture into the 'Valley of the Dolls' and more will be discussed in the article tomorrow.

 

I noted Kerstien Matondang's great video site yesterday and today she told me she has added another.  This time it is with Sharon's voice and images doing a Coppertone ad for when she made 'Don't Make Waves.'  Please be sure to comment on it and tell Kerstien what you think?  Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLf-HaeuVqo

Quote of the Week, A Fan Dedication in Photos, Keira Knightly in the March Elle Magazine and more

Here is the quote of the week:

Sharon's friend actress Mary Winters:

"When I think of Sharon, I remember all the happy memories, so loving, vulnerable, and very disciplined when it came to her career. She was very family orientated; we'd often drive to Palos Verdes Estates
and have dinner with them. She was especially close to her mother. Sharon evoked a kind of warmth. Everybody felt very protective towards her. I guess we lived at the Hollywood Studio Club for about six months, then Sharon took an apartment on Fuller street in the building that Richard Beymer's mother managed."

Here is a lovely 3 part photo series on Sharon from a fan:

http://xmaniac.net/?p=102

On the top of the page see Especial Sharon Tate - Parte 2 and there is a 3 as well.

Keira on the Elle cover for March.

Sharon Tate look-a-like, Keira Knightly appears on this month's March edition of Elle magazine.  She has appeared on Elle before and I found a quote from her that was interesting:

Asked if the Oscar nomination for "Pride and Prejudice" had changed her life?

Knightly: "For ages and ages, everybody was going, 'Oh, she's just a pretty face.  She absolutely can't act.'  And I was going, 'Well, maybe they're right; I don't know.'  So that (Oscar nod) at least shut them up for a while."

This is the magazine that the quote comes from.

This reminds me of some of the people who have said the same thing about Sharon.  'Oh, she's just a beautiful face, she never could act.'  I really genuinely think that had Sharon lived, she could have proven all these people wrong too.  But, unfortunately, we'll never know.  I think she did well in the films she did make, don't get me wrong.  But I think she would have really shown us so much more.  She certainly was on her way up and out of the contract with Ransohoff so she could do more classy films like "Tess" to showcase her acting talent.

Here is Andrea's page of montage videos of Sharon:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/my_shared?z=409241fe839fff14f2ea96&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Be sure to check them out. 

Quote of the Week, A Mention of Bruce Lee and Sharon, An Interview with "The Ghost Writers" Olivia Williams and More

Quote of the Week:

Nan Morris-Robinson, friend of Warren Beatty's, on Sharon: "Gene Shacove and I double dated in 1964 with Sharon and Jay, who were going together. Gene and Jay, were both hairdressers and best friends. Jay was a little guy, sassy and fiery, he could do karate. Sharon had been brought into our circle by Richard Beymer. She was Richard's discovery, he got her an agent and introduced her around. I thought Sharon was the sweetest, most angelic creature, one who radiated gentility."

A mention of Bruce Lee and Sharon:

http://dr-hermes.livejournal.com/438955.html

Here is an interview with "The Ghost Writer" star Olivia Williams that mentions Polanski as well:

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/85476527.html

Here is some rare Sharon memorabilia:

Coming up this week... More translated articles...

Sharon Tate: New Sex Goddess Handle with Love

Here is an article I found among clippings.  It is probably around 1967-68.  It looks like it was in one those Screen Stories magazines or that type of magazine.

New Sex-Goddess Handle with Love by Bill Marks

Sharon Marie Tate was born in Dallas, Texas, and since both her parents are natives of Houston, she claims to be a Texan. Her father was (and still is) an officer in the U. S. Army, and the Tates, like most Army families, never remained in one place for very long.

When Sharon was six months old and already a beauty, she was chosen Miss Tiny Tot of Dallas. When she reached her teens, she was elected Miss Richland, Washington. Later she was named Miss Autorama in a beauty contest there. At the time, she had no aspirations for a career in films, and no one could have guessed that a few short years later she would become Hollywood's newest sex-goddess and most talked-about overnight movie star.

She attended high school in Verona, Italy--her father was stationed there for four years. She was a cheerleader and a baton twirler and--of course--Homecoming Queen and Queen of the Senior Prom.

"When I was in school," she recalls, "I dreamed about becoming a psychiatrist or a ballerina. Like most girls I would dream about being a movie star too. But those dreams are the impossible kind, the kind you don't really set your heart on.

"I guess you could say that I was somewhat withdrawn from my classmates. I spent a good deal of time being a loner. I suppose that had something to do with the way we lived--always on the move, never living in one town very long. It's very hard to make lasting friendships that way. And my father was rather strict with me and my two younger sisters. He insisted on proper behavior and very often vetoed our choices of boyfriends. There was always a curfew whenever my sisters or I would go out on a date--we had to be home on time or else. But I never resented his authority. In fact, I'm thankful for my strict upbringing; I feel it has helped me learn discipline--and that's very important in this business."

But how did the pretty Texas girl become Sharon Tate, ready-made star? It all started just two and-a-half years ago. Sharon returned to California with her parents. Then 18, she felt it was time to be on her own, to be independent. She took an apartment and any job that would help pay the rent.

Her newfound friends persuaded her to try to break into modeling. And Sharon did do a few commercials for Chevrolet and a cigar company. She worked for a wine company by dressing up in Irish costume to serve free samples to patrons of Los Angeles restaurants.

"When I was in Rome," Sharon says, "I met Richard Beymer. He was there shooting a picture. He told me that if I ever wanted to be an actress, that I should contact his agent in California. That's how I came to meet Harold Gefsky. Harold introduced me to Herb Brower, who was connected with the television show, 'Petticoat Junction'...

"At the time, I was hoping that I might be able to get a bit part on the show--I would have been greatful even for a walk-on, anything to tide me over till my next job. But he just looked at me and then he grabbed my hand and the three of us went running off to Martin Ransohoff's office."

During that first meeting with movie maker Ransohoff, Lady Luck must have been standing next to the beautiful but frightened and bewildered Sharon. Ransohoff sat at his mamouth desk, studying the young girl who till then only dreamed about being a movie star. Then the silence broke like thunder.

"Draw up a contract," he shouted. "Get her mother. Get my lawyer. This is the girl I want." Later Ransohoff said, "I have this dream where I'll discover a beautiful girl who's a nobody and turn her into a star everybody wants."

Sharon Tate walked into that dream. There was no delay for a screen test, not even a still photograph was taken. She immediately signed a seven-year contract and Ransohoff personally took charge of his dream-girl. Sharon's impossible dream became a reality.

When Sharon wasn't filming bit parts for various TV shows, she studied acting with the best coaches, including the master himself, Lee Strasberg.

In very short order, Ransohoff sent her off to France for her first movie, '13', which stars Deborah Kerr and David Niven. In the film, she plays a chillingly beautiful, expressionless girl who has a witchy talent for putting the hex on people. (Completed last year, the film should be released soon--the delay possibly due to the Ransohoff strategy and sales pitch.)

Next came 'Don't Make Waves' with Tony Curtis--the first of her four completed movies to date which has already been seen by the public. She has also completed 'Your Teeth in My Neck' and 'Valley of the Dolls'.

But even before the public saw one foot of screen film, they saw her face on a dozen magazine covers across the country and in Europe. (All part and parcel of the Ransohoff ready-made star image.)

During the filming of 'Your Teeth In My Neck' (previously called 'The Vampire Killers'--a spoof of horror films) Sharon fell in love with the film's director, Roman Polanski. He also stars in the picture with her.

"Marty Ransohoff had to sell Roman on the idea of even considering me for the film," Sharon said. "He arranged for the two of us to have dinner. Roman never said a word to me--we just sat there and ate and he just looked at me. Then we had a second dinner meeting and the same thing happened. Later he took me to his apartment. He lit some candles and then excused himself and left me standing there alone. A short while later he came storming into the room like a madman and he was wearing a Frankenstein mask. I let out a blood-curdling scream and while I was still crying from the scare, he was calling Ransohoff to tell him that the part in the film was mine."

Since then, Sharon and Roman have been inseparable and close friends say that the two will marry. "She's very much in love with Polanski," confides a close friend. "He's the first man she has ever loved. People have always done things for her--ever since she was a child, someone always took charge of her. It's been her life's pattern. She's miserable when she has to come to Hollywood and Polanski can't be with her. She prefers London--or anywhere else as long as they are together.

"I think Sharon is a little embarrassed by her beauty--she feels that the public won't accept her simply because she has been turned into a Hollywood sex-goddess. She wants to be able to prove herself as an actress, too.

"Most of all she needs love--the love that only Roman can offer. I think she would give up her career--even though stardom is in her reach--if it meant losing the man she loves."

Sharon Tate's success as Hollywood's newest golden girl could very well depend on whether or not she gets that happiness in her private life.

Note: I apologize as for the last few months my scanner has not been working and I haven't had time or money to fix it. Anyway, a friend let me borrow his digital camera so I took a couple of shots of the photos that were in the article.  Hopefully, soon I can get things taken care of to show off better photos.

Photo Comparison of the Week & More on Polanski

A fan sent me some photos of another actress who resembles Sharon, Molly Sims:

Here is a copy of the article on Sharon:

Sharon Tate

Most people do a double take when Sharon Tate crosses their vision.  She's that movie actresssy-looking.  Ash blonde hair, hazel eyes, Sharon became accustomed to hearing people say: "You oughta be in pictures."  It wasn't until Eli Wallach, Susan Strasberg and Richard Beymer saw her in Italy that things began to happen.  They introduced her to the right people.  From Tv commercials to starring roles to "Valley of the Dolls."

Another blogger mentions Sharon as a fashion icon:

http://lost60s.blogspot.com/2009/12/60s-fashion-inspiration.html

The latest news on Roman Polanski:

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=445257>1=28101

Steve McQueen Picked Sharon Tate as the Next Big Star!

This is a very rare article from a British magazine called Tit-Bits for December 19, 1964:

Showpiece Special: Steve Finds Another Swinger!  By David Hunn

"What makes a star?  The ingredients are as unknown as what two flies say to each other on a window sill.  Either you have it or you haven't.  It's that simple--and that tragic." --Fred Astaire

The question of star quality, magnetism or magic (call it what you will) has intrigued the world of entertainment since kings and queens kept court juesters.

Now David Hunn, the brightest and best-informed writer on the show business scene, tries to find some of the answers from the stars themselves.

He presents today the first of a sizzling series of interviews in which 'the international stars of today' give their choice for 'the stars of tomorrow.'

David Hunn:  Steve McQueen didn't hesitate.  But when he picked his winner he put the lights on a mystery.  His tip for the top is a girl unknown in Britian, a find so hush-hush that her Hollywood studio did their best to stop TIT-BITS taking the wraps off her.

"The name is Sharon Tate," said Steve.

"You've never heard of her, but you will.  She has everything she needs for success, including two qualities that do not often go together--a wonderfully pure simplicity and very great beauty."

Producer Martin Ransohoff--now shooting 'The Sand Piper' with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton--discovered Sharon.

As soon as Steve met her, he wanted her to play opposite him in "The Cincinnati Kid," which he is soon to make for Ransohoff.  It was one swinger's compliment to another.

But Sharon's lack of experience cost her the part.  Steve said: "I even did the screen test with her"--a rare occurrence for a star.

"I was proud to do it.  That girl looks really good.  I'm sure she could have done the part, but of course I don't have the final say."

In Martin Ransohoff's office in Los Angeles I found the attitude: "Sure she'll be a star, but she'll make it when we're ready."

They refused to release any pictures of Sharon, and her agent denied even having any. 

But here we present pictures taken of Sharon with Richard Beymer.

Making a film with Steve would have been a great start for Sharon.

His is one of the most exciting talents in the cinema today.  A casual, gritty actor, he hides a Gary Cooper charm behind a Humphrey Bogart magnetism.

(The rest of the article is a rundown of Steve McQueen's career.)  For more on Steve McQueen click on these links:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McQueen and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000537/

I think it was wonderful of Steve to back Sharon up at a time when she truly needed it.  I think she would have been 'the next big thing' had she lived.

News Links for the day:

French Rock Star Johnny Hallyday Defends Polanski:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5AQ13DgIAt44wU-QcB3Jl206E6g

For more of the best Halloween movies to watch go to this link, it includes "The Fearless Vampire
Killers." ;)

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-19160-scared-silly.html

Want a run down of what's on TV this Halloween. Here is a great link:
http://www.cliqueclack.com/tv/2009/10/28/the-cliqueclack-tv-guide-to-halloweens-tricks-and-treats/

If you still haven't seen "Wanted and Desired" here is a review:
http://mysticaljett.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/roman-polanski-wanted-desired/

And if you still haven't seen "Rosemary's Baby" here is another great review and it has some nice photos:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathy-whitlock/em-rosemarys-baby-em-revi_b_333706.html

Did Paul Newman make a pass at Sharon Tate? And photo comparison of the week

There is a new tabloid style biography written by Darwin Porter called "Paul Newman: His Secret Life Exposed."  Some of the gossipy tidbits include having an affairs on wife, Joanne Woodward,  claims of bisexualality, among others. 

There are also a couple of pages on our lovely Sharon Tate.  Thankfully though, her image is not drug through the mud in this.  Basically, it says that 'It was Paul himself who made a pass when he met a beautiful young girl named Sharon Tate.'  However, he quickly found out that Sharon was dating his co-star from "Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man," Richard Beymer.  Since Newman knew they were together he didn't pursue Sharon.  Sharon had told Paul how she was looking forward to being an extra in the film.

If it's true, who can blame ol' blue eyes?  I don't know of anyone who could honestly resist a little flirting with Sharon?

Here is the photo comarison of the week.  It is from a Gucci ad.  The girl on the right, model Natasha Poly, reminds me a bit of Sharon.