That Time I Discovered Sharon Tate

I was ten years old in 1969, the year Sharon Tate and others were murdered. My parents always had on the evening news during dinner, so I remember vague references to the murder, the search, the trial, etc; but the details never really registered with me.

About ten years later, I discovered the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls starring, among others, Sharon Tate. Love that movie. I bought the novel and read it. Love the book.

A few years later, I got the non-fiction book Helter Skelter about the hunt for the killers of Tate and the others. I was about half way through the book when my mind clicked into place that the “Sharon Tate” mentioned in this book was the same as the “Sharon Tate” who starred in the movie.

From that point forward, it was pandemonium: I wanted to know everything I could about Tate, her life, her films, her death. It was such a tragedy that the woman who made such an impression in the movie had been killed.

I have to admit I’m still a little fixated on Tate. She may not have been the best actor in the world, but there was something electric about her on screen. At least we still have that.