Sharon Tate

A rising 60's actress and sex symbol, Sharon Tate (1943-1969) is most noted for her senseless slaying at the hands of the Manson Family while nine and a half months pregnant. In life, Sharon was known for her incredible beauty, marriage to director Roman Polanski, and exceptionally sweet and gentle disposition. Her biggest role was in the 1967 film adaptation of 'Valley of the Dolls', playing Jennifer North, a character bearing striking similarities to herself. The brutality of Sharon's murder was further aggravated by the callousness of the press (who fabricated stories involving drugs, orgies, and occultism to tarnish the five victims) and the blitheness of the killers and their cult leader, Charles Manson.

"In death, they made a monster out of her. A monster out of the sweetest, most innocent, lovable human being. She was kindness itself to everybody and everything around her — people, animals, everything. She just didn't have a bad bone in her body. She was a unique person. It's difficult to describe her character. She was just utterly good, the kindest human being I've ever met, with an extreme patience. To live with me was proof of her patience, because to be near me must be an ordeal. She never had a bad temper, she was never moody. She enjoyed being a wife. The press and the public knew of her physical beauty, but she also had a beautiful soul, and this is something that only her friends knew about."
--Roman Polanski, on wife Sharon Tate (interview with Playboy magazine, 1971).

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