Facts
Name: Sharon Marie Tate-Polanski
Birthday: January 24, 1943
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas
Death: August 9, 1969, in Beverly Hills
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Ashy blonde
Measurements: 36-22-35
Parents: Paul and Doris Tate
Siblings: Sisters Debra (b. 1952) and Patti (b. 1957)
Spouse: Roman Polanski (Jan 20, 1968)
Children: Paul Richard Polanski (unborn)
Pets: a dog, Prudence (died 1979)
Sharon was born at 5:47 pm-CST on a Sunday.
Sharon was fluent in Italian.
Malibu Barbie was modeled after Sharon's character, Malibu, in Don't Make Waves.
The character Felicity Shagwell from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was inspired by Sharon and her character Freya from The Wrecking Crew.
Sharon's favorite restaraunts was El Coyote. She loved their Blue Corn Tortillas. She also loved Delores Diner and Hamburger Hamlet.
Sharon and Roman had dinner with Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel the night before Kennedy was assassinated.
Sharon drove a 1967 red Ferrari and a Bentley/Rolls Royce. After her death, Roman gave the Ferrari to Sharon's father Paul, who gave it to a neighbor who restored the car to mint condition (and then totalled it). Roman gave the Bentley/Rolls Royce to Sandy Tennant, Roman's agent's wife.
The day of Sharon's death, she had found a stray kitten and had been feeding it milk with an eye dropper.
Sharon had a dog named Prudence. After the murders, all the animals were taken to the pound. Sharon's parents picked up Prudence, who died in 1979.
Sharon smoked Tareyton cigarettes.
Her favorite flowers are yellow roses.
Sharon loved the Beatles, especially their Yellow Submarine album. She also liked The Doors and Chicago.
The Beatles once attended a party thrown by Sharon and Roman at the Chateau Marmont.
Sharon loved to play practical jokes.
Sharon was 5'6" and her shoe size was 6 & 1/2.
During filming of Valley of the Dolls, director Mark Robson would often humiliate Sharon. He later told Roman she was a wonderful, vulnerable girl.
Sharon's Valley of the Dolls co-star, Barbara Parkins, was maid of honor at Sharon and Roman's wedding.
Sharon auditioned for the role of Liesl in The Sound of Music. She was told she looked too mature for the part, which later went to Charmian Carr.
The last book Sharon read was "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. Sharon convinced Roman it would make a great movie. Roman's 1979 film Tess is dedicated "For Sharon."
At the time of her death, Sharon was known as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood.
Sharon graduated Vicenza American High School in Italy in 1961.
Most of Sharon's personal items are ecrue, which is a creamy white.
Sharon couldn't stand inhumanity, injustice, and animal cruelty.
Sharon didn't hold out much hope for having a baby boy, since she came from a family of three girls.
Sharon loved to vacation at the Italian Riviera, French Riviera, and French Alps.
Sharon identified herself as Catholic.
Sharon's favorite drug store was REXALL.
Sharon hated wearing shoes and went barefoot or wore ballet slippers as much as possible. Her sister Debra said, "She devised a clever way for us to go run errands without us having to put on shoes... She had these elastic bands that were about seven inches long that had beads on them. We would take the elastic and step one foot into it, then twist it around the ankle and then do a loop over the second toe, it would look like a figure 8. ... it sort of looked like we had delicate sandals on... and then we would go into stores that had signs that said "No Bare feet"."
Sharon and Debra helped paint the mural at the Aquarius Theatre.
Before becoming involved with Roman Polanski, Sharon dated celebrity hair stylist Jay Sebring.
At the time of her death, Sharon was 8 & 1/2 months pregnant with her and Roman's first child, a boy. Because at the time they didn't do prenatal tests, Sharon didn't know it was a boy.
After she married Roman, Sharon's ambitions moved to second place when she learned she was to have a child. Her marriage and pregnancy became her whole universe. She redecorated the spare bedroom into a nursery for the coming baby.
Sharon and her son, Paul Richard Polanski, were buried together at Holy Cross Cemetary in Culver City, California.
In 1959 she was the winner of 5 different beauty pageants: Miss Frontier Days, Miss Richland, Miss Tri-Cities, Miss Water Follies, and Miss Auto-Rama.
Sharon lived in Pasadena, Texas from 1948 to 1951 and attended St. Pius V Catholic School from kindergarten to the second grade (1948-1951).
Sharon was a distant cousin of Bo Brinkman, Dakota Brinkman, Dennis Quaid, and Randy Quaid.
A January 25, 1965, brief in Daily Variety announced that she would play the lead, on loan from Filmways, in producer Sy Weintraub's Tarzan and the Valley of Gold. The role eventually went to Nancy Kovack.
Sharon was originally cast in the role of Christian Rudd in The Cincinnati Kid (1965) by producer Martin Ransohoff, who had her under contract. She was replaced with Tuesday Weld by the film's director, Norman Jewison, after Sam Peckinpah was fired several days into filming by Ransohoff. Ransohoff was dismayed by Peckinpah's desire to shoot the film in black and white and to feature Sharon in a nude scene.
Her friend Christopher Jones was emotionally devastated by her August 9th, 1969 murder by the acolytes of Charles Manson. Jones suffered what he described as a "nervous breakdown" and abandoned his acting career.
Sharon's salary for The Wrecking Crew was $125,000. For Don't Make Waves, she made $750 per week.
Thanks to Sharon's official website and IMDb for information.
