The Official Sharon Tate Fansite

Sharon's Friends Remember...

Dave Draper: I think of Sharon often as pictures of her during our filming of "Don't Make Waves" adorn the walls of my gym in Santa Cruz, California. The members are mesmerized. She's a star in the eyes of my heart not only because of her physical and internal beauty but also for her earthy courage and daring spontaneity. We first met on location in Malibu when we were advised to practice a trampoline dismount for the next film sequence to begin promptly. "Sharon, this is Dave. Dave, this is Sharon. Sharon, I want you to bounce on the tramp high as you can and jump into the arms of Dave standing right here. He's a sturdy fellow. Good." The instructions of Sandy McKendrick, cogent director assuming magic. We smiled, nodded, shook hands and she mounted the trampoline for the first time in her life, both of us revealing our shyness and willingness to please. Any fear or doubts the sweet girl had turned into resolve. Sharon bounced with all her might and within five minutes was leaping through the air like a gazelle. I didn't dare miss her. We were smiles and laughter. First take, "Cut. That's a wrap." I miss her now. A star on Hollywood Boulevard bearing Sharon's name would warm my heart. She has a special place there, indeed.



Kirk Douglas: I knew Sharon Tate. Beautiful, naive young girl. I heard it (Sharon's death) over the radio. The shocking story was the sort of thing you read about in fiction, see in movies. It doesn't happen to people you know. It was incomprehensible

Kirk Douglas - The Ragman's Son - Autobiography


David Niven: Sharon is a great discovery. First of all, she's a fabulously goodlooking bird and she's got all the fun and spark and go. She's a marvelous girl. She's up on cloud nine, Sharon is. And I think she's a very, very good actress. She's obviously going to make a big hit in this picture.

David Niven, Costar in Eye of the Devil -- Interviewed for: All eyes on Sharon Tate.


Sonny West: Please tell Debra that I was a fan of Sharon's and enjoyed watching her in the movies, most notably, Don't Make Waves, and the Matt Helm picture she did with Dean Martin, The Wrecking Crew. Elvis and all of the guys were extremely upset over Sharon's death, along with her friends. We knew Jay. He cut Elvis' hair in the mid-sixties and then a hair stylist in his salon took over the up-keep. Please convey our thoughts to Debra, even at such a late date, and anything I can do to help with the Star for Sharon, I will be glad to do so. I salute her for doing everything she can to keep Sharon's legacy alive.
(Sonny West was Elvis' Bodyguard)


Travilla: "Sharon Tate is divine, a real find. Just wait and see what happens when the critics and public see her in Valley of the Dolls. Sharon has everything Marilyn Monroe had- and more. She has the fascinating, yet wholly feminine strength of a Dietrich or a Garbo....a classically beautiful face, an exciting figure, the kind of sex appeal and personality appeal to become as glittering a star as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Elizabeth Taylor."

Travilla - Costume Designer Valley of the Dolls in Screen Stories 12/1967

Mark Robson: She's not a sexpot. She's a very vulnerable girl. The biggest surprise in the film (Valley of the Dolls) is Sharon.

(Director of Valley of the Dolls)




Leslie Caron: I was really very fond of her. She used to come to my house when my children started going to boarding school. She was such a dear, very lovely girl, modest, sincere, with a profound warmth. Blinding beauty and irresistible charm. She was very sharp, not a fool, and had a lot of insight into what had happened to her.

Leslie Caron - From the book, Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders, by Greg King




Jacqueline Bisset: She would walk into a room, she used to wear little ballet slippers, she had this, you know, lovely blond hair and she was just...angelic.

From A&E Biography Roman Polanski














Robert Viharo:
Everybody was competitive with everybody(on the set of the Valley of the Dolls). The only one that I felt was above it, was Sharon Tate. The sweetest, purest, most open spirit.

Costar Valley of the Dolls on AMC's Backstory Valley of the Dolls


J. Lee Thompson: Sharon was asked to play this very difficult role, of a rather witch like person. It was asking a new comer to do a lot. She takes direction beautifully. Very soon she began to realize that the camera was a friend. "Could she do it?", that was in all our minds. We even agreed that if after a first two weeks, Sharon was not quite making it, that we would put her back in cold storage. We started work.The moment that Sharon appeared on screen in her first rushes, we knew that this wonderful personality was going to make out. We all realized that here was a girl who was tremendously exciting. She had that thing that you can't really explain, Star projection. I think this girl is going to be a big big star.

Director of Eye of the Devil, in All Eyes on Sharon Tate

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