Sharon Tates brutal murder under the orders of Charles Manson 50 years ago is revisited in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, the Quentin Tarantino film released today starring Margot Robbie as the celebrated actor.
Suicide Squad and Mary Queen of Scots star Robbie turns her attentions to Tate in the film, alongside fellow Australian Damon Herriman as Manson and performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
Although Tate will always be known as one of the Manson familys numerous murder victims in 1969, she is more happily remembered for a remarkable life in Hollywood and as a celebrity in swinging London.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: What films is Sharon Tate famous for?
Born in Dallas to a US army officer who gave her a nomadic upbringing, Tate started out as a model who won beauty pageants before picking up several television roles.
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After deciding to pursue her acting career, Tate almost starred alongside The Great Escape star Steve McQueen, missing out following a screen test for his 1964 film The Cincinnati Kid.
Her major breakthrough was in Eye of the Devil, a British 1966 thriller set in France which saw Tate play a witch with a mysterious hold over a landowner played by David Niven, of Pink Panther fame.
She went on to appear in Valley of the Dolls, which earned her the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performance as a thespian hopeful embroiled in Broadways seedy underbelly.
As part of the promotion for the film, a documentary was released telling the story of rising star Tate, whose talent was described as tremendously exciting by director J Lee Thompson.
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In one scene in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Robbie portrays the glamorous Tate watching one of her own films, The Wrecking Crew.
Released a year before her death at the hands of the Manson family, the movie was her penultimate major film, in which she joined a cast including Thats Amore singer Dean Martin.
The last film she ever appeared in was the comedy Twelve Plus One in 1969.
Who was Sharon Tate married to?
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As her fame escalated around the release of Eye of the Devil, Tate became a fashion symbol and socialite in mid-1960s London.
While there, she was cast in The Fearless Vampire Killers, a horror comedy shot in Italy and other European locations in which Tate wore a red wig in the female lead role.
The films co-producer, Roman Polanski, was initially impatient with the inexperienced Tate, although the film crew benefited from her ability to speak fluent Italian.
Despite their rocky start, Tate impressed Polanski as production progressed and the pairs increasingly warm relationship extended to living together in London after the films release.
Although they would live in different countries during the years that followed, Tate and Polanski married in a high-profile wedding in the capital in January 1968.
The couple were almost constantly at the centre of society gossip and had an unconventional marriage, with Tate admitting that she allowed Polanski to be unfaithful.
Tate described Polanski as such a beautiful, mad human being, saying: Sometimes things are difficult, sometimes good. But it makes life twice as interesting.
How did Sharon Tate die?
On the night of her death in August 1969, heavily-pregnant Tate had dined at her favourite restaurant before returning to the Los Angeles home she shared with her husband.
At some point between 10.30pm and midnight, Tate and guests Jay Sebring, WojciecRead More – Source
