The Official Sharon Tate Fansite - What was Sharon Like?

What was Sharon like as a person?
What types of things did Sharon like to do?
What were her personal preferences?
These questions answered for the first time ever on Sharon's Birthday!

Debra shares some personal memories of Sharon in honor of her 60th birthday...some things only a sister knows...
What types of clothes did Sharon like to wear?
What ever happened to Prudence?
What was Sharon's favorite flower?
What was Sharon's preference for perfume, make up, lip stick, hand bags, shoes and accessories?
What brand of cigarettes did Sharon smoke?
What kind of music did Sharon like to listen to?
Did she have a sense of humor or was she serious?
Was Sharon a natural blonde?

What types of clothes did Sharon like to wear?
Sharon preferred Clean, Elegant, Simple lines... Not frou-frou at all. She particularly liked antique camisoles. She didn't like baggy clothes, she wasn't into Granny Coats like others were. She liked tailored clothes, even her Peasant Tops were tailored. She also had an Indian Wedding shirt tailored. She had blouses with hook and eye buttons made with spun gold. She wore jeans and pedal pushers.

How tall was Sharon?
Sharon was 5'6 tall. She wore a size 6 dress and her shoe size was 6 1/2.

What was Sharon's preference for perfume, make up, lip stick, hand bags, shoes and accessories?
Sharon wasn't into perfume, as she was scent sensitive. (I am, too.) She always had a clean, fresh scent. She loved this bath product called "Milk and Pearls". I have her last bottle.

Skin Care Products: She loved Erno Lazlo, which you can still buy and
she never went to sleep with her make up on.

Sharon's favorite Make up: Her fave Lipstick: Ready? Vaseline! She kept little jars in her car. Sharon also liked Yardley clear lip gloss, and used her brown Max Factor eye brow pencil as a lip liner.

Shoes: Sharon disliked wearing shoes...Whenever possible, she would go barefoot or wear ballet slippers. Classic Ballet Pink was the preferred color --but she wore black slippers, too. I definitely remember that she had a pair of red ones, because she wanted to match a red mini dress, so we spray painted a pink pair, and made it red.

Accessories: Sharon wore big wide belts that went over jeans or skirts. She loved Chanel and Gucci handbags. Same brand for shoes, too. She had a big heavy, gold, Cartier cigarette lighter.

Jewelry: Sharon loved big hoop earrings and thin Love Beads that were made of tiny glass beads...called Bugle Beads. She was not big on rings or heavy necklaces...I think she didn't like rings because they brought attention to her hands and she used to bite her nails. Her real jewelry was a Cartier watch with a black reptile band.

In her off time, when not working, Sharon was always fresh scrubbed and wore little or no make up, and often her hair in pony tail. She was not vain at all. It didn't matter to her if people saw her without her make up on.

What kind of music did Sharon like to listen to?
I remember Sharon listening to The Beatles, especially the Yellow Submarine Album over and over again. She liked Chicago and The Doors. When she was with Jay she started listening to Jazz, as Jay was a Jazz Connoisseur. She also enjoyed Classical Chamber Music.

Was Sharon a natural blonde?
Sharon's natural color was in between ash blonde and mousy brown.

What ever happened to Prudence?
After the murders, all the dogs were taken to the pound. We went to rescue Prudence and take her home with us and I saw Gibby and Voytek's dog, Tom, which was a Dalmatian puppy. I asked if we could keep him but my parents said no...Then I promised that if we rescued Tom, I'd find him a good home and I did do that.

Oh geez, do I have to tell this? I've been told that people want to know what happened to Prudence. Ok, I'll tell you. I accidentally ran over Prudence in my parent's driveway and killed her. It was awful! I was leaving after a visit, backing out of the driveway and I didn't realize that she'd run outside. I was twenty six when this happened so it was ten years after Sharon died. So now you know --Prudence is with Sharon.

What was Sharon's favorite flower?
Yellow Roses (as in the Yellow Rose of Texas)

What brand of cigarettes did Sharon smoke?
Sharon smoked Tareyton cigarettes.

Did she have a sense of humor or was she serious?
Sharon had a devilish sense of humor and she liked to play practical jokes.

Could Sharon sing or play any musical instruments?
No, Sharon couldn't sing. She liked to sing and she'd sing with the radio or records, but not professionally. Mother played the piano and sang, but all Sharon and I could do is play "chopsticks".

What was Sharon's favorite color?
Ecrue, which is a creamy white. Do I remember Sharon saying "I love Ecrue"? No. The reason I say that is because I still have a lot of her personal items from clothing to bedding and the majority of it is...ecrue!

What could Sharon not stand?
Inhumanity, injustice and animal cruelty.

Did Sharon know the sex of her baby before she died?
No, sadly she did not know she was carrying a baby boy. Back in those days it was always a surprise, as they didn't do all the prenatal testing that they do now. Sharon would have been surprised and delighted to have a boy. However, she didn't hold out much hope that she would have a boy --since we were a family of three girls.

What do you think she would have wanted to be remembered as?
1) a great parent 2) a humanitarian/philanthropist

Was Sharon fluent in any other languages?
Sharon was fairly fluent in Italian.

What were some of Sharon's favorite vacation destinations?
The Italian Rivera, The French Rivera, The French Alps

Did she know about 'Malibu Barbie' being inspired by her--and what was her reaction?
No, as Malibu Barbie came out in 1971. Mattel has never stated as fact that the doll was named after Sharon's character, but I've heard that rumor for most of my life. It makes sense if you think about it, though. To get the doll on the shelves by 1971, it had to have at least a year in development. Sharon was in many ads for Coppertone and promos for the movie "Don't Make Waves" with Tony Curtis was being advertised... some Mattel exec probably took notice and lo and behold, Malibu Barbie was born. Barbie's swim suit was the same color as the one that Sharon wore in the film. Just a coincidence?

Who were some of the stars that used to pal around with Sharon and Roman?
Everyone who was anyone back in the 60's! Sharon and Roman were definitely "A-Listers" and you never knew who they'd be out with or who they'd have over, as they were very social. One particular memory stands out.... Sharon and Roman hosted a party at the Chateau Marmont and the Beatles were there. Why this stands out in my mind is because Sharon also invited our parents. Talk about severely diversified generations...it takes a sophisticated sense of humor to imagine the irony of seeing the Beatles and Mom and Dad (who were straight out of the 1950's)--in the same marijuana smoke filled room.

Are Roman and Debra still in contact after all these years?
Yes. We will always share a special connection through our love and memories of Sharon. As a matter of fact, we just spoke today! (1/21/03)

Does Debra feel Sharon's presence (in spirit) in her life today?
Absolutely, I do --and Mom's and Patti's, too. Love is not bound by the death of the physical body. Our spirit is made of energy and energy does not die.

What were Sharon's favorite restaurants?
Sharon liked the Delores Diner, Hamburger Hamlet and El Coyote.
El Coyote became famous for a dish they served for one month out of the year. "Blue Corn Tortillas" and yes, the corn is actually blue. Sharon loved that dish! (See food story below.)

Is Debra in contact with any of Sharon's old friends?
Yes, I've recently spoken with Michelle Phillips and Sheila Wells and some others.

What religion was Sharon?
Our family is Catholic and that is what Sharon identified herself as.

Who was Sharon's best friend?
Sharon was close with many people --but she had special connections with Wende Wagner and Sheila Wells.

Was Sharon artistic? Did she draw, paint, etc?
No, she really wasn't. Patti and I were the artistic, 'crafty' ones in the family.

Is Col. Tate Still alive?
Yes --and he's as cantankerous as ever! Anyway, that's what I tell him when I am perched on the arm of his recliner, with my arms around his neck.

Did Sharon and Roman really have dinner with RFK two days before he was killed at The Ambassador?
Yes, she and Roman had dinner the night before RFK was assasinated at the home of John Frankenheimer (a director).

What ever happened to Sharon's cars?
The Red Ferrari: Roman gave the Ferrari to Dad and he drove it.
Dad eventually sold it a neighbor who was a collector and he restored the Ferrari to mint condition. The neighbor drove the car for many years but unfortunately he ended up totalling it.

The Bentley/Rolls Royce went to Sandy Tennant, Roman's agent's wife. Sandy asked for the car and Roman obliged.

Debra would like to Thank everyone who still cares enough
about Sharon, thirty three years after her death to ask questions
about her life, --what she liked and what she was like.
We received hundreds of questions and it was impossible
to answer every single one. However many of the questions
were asked over and over , so we tried to get
to "the most wanted list".

Debra fondly remembers...

Yummy, greasy burgers...
Sharon used to take me to the Delores Diner in W. LA... It was a 50's style Diner and they had car hops on roller skates...I heard it recently was torn down... at Wilshire and Fairfax? Sharon absolutely adored the hamburgers at Delores' Diner and she would order it laden with chili and the chili would drip down her arms ...and she'd lick her arms as she ate! It was always the first place she'd go after returning home from Europe.

***

Running around town...
I remember often running errands with Sharon. Her favorite Drug Store was REXALL at the corner of La Cienega and Melrose. We'd go and get sandwiches from Greenblatt's Delicatessen and then run over to the Dry Cleaners.

***

Have a cigar...
Sharon tried to teach me the fine art of smoking stogies. It was New Years Eve, and we were in Italy. Sharon was around eighteen or nineteen and I must have been around nine. We sat on the floor, cross legged, facing each other, and smoked one of Dad's big cigars. We both got sick and turned green. Sharon was fine the next day, but I was sick for about three days. For years after Sharon would poke fun at me for not being able to 'tough it out' and she'd call me the "Green Goddess".

***

Phony Sandals...
Sharon hated wearing shoes, so she went barefoot as often as possible. 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".

***

We helped paint the mural at the Aquarius Theatre.
The "Aquarius Theatre" during the Los Angeles run of "HAIR".
"HAIR", produced by Michael Butler. As a member of "The FOOL", Marijke created what was at the time the largest mural in the world. It took two months to complete with the help of several Los Angeles art students.
The FOOL was the name of a Dutch Group that played musical instruments and dressed like court jesters and gypsies. They were much greater artists than musicians... The helped create the style of the times, they were contracted to create the look... You had to be invited to help and Sharon was friends with these people, so they invited her to paint and I went with her.