Sister remembers Sharon Tate ahead of 50th anniversary of brutal murder

Next summer marks the 50th anniversary of the brutal murder of Sharon Tate. As her most intimate possessions go on display at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge,

She was the iconic star and unique talent whose tragically short life is rarely discussed without recalling the shocking circumstances of her death. When Sharon Tate, her unborn child and four others were violently slain by members of the Manson Family cult, the world was left reeling from the attack on the then-wife of film director Roman Polanski.

For her sister, Debra, the murders were all the more life-changing, devastating and personal. For the actress well known to many she knew best of all. Just a teenager when her big sister was so senselessly taken from her, Debra is now celebrating the life and style of her sibling, by sharing a number of her most intimate possessions in an exhibition at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

“Sharon had a very unique sense of style and a lot of things that are going to be on display are evident in that even though they may have been created by what would eventually or in later years become premier designers, couturier houses, at that time they were just starting out,” she said.

“They were in very small boutiques and instead of just buying whatever was being shown in that small boutique, Sharon and I would walk in and we would ask them if we could change things up a bit. In that process we changed what was being offered in the humble beginnings of what were to become great designers the world has come to know today.”

The exhibition, including many items of fashion, books, photographs and personal possessions, give a sense of only of Tate’s iconic style but the history of the period. “Among the pieces you will see a lovely tiered Christian Dior dress. I was going to school, I wasn’t at her side unless she was here in the Los Angeles area. But I was privvy to a lot of it,” said Debra.

“One thing that was extremely important to Sharon was comfort. We have to take into consideration the evolution of style, that Sharon’s generation coming from the 40s and 50s was very buttoned up.

“That’s when women were wearing girdles and brassieres that were, I call them industrial undergarments and even stockings garters, belts.

“So when it became possible in the freedom of the mid 60s perhaps we took it to another step. You will be seeing items like that Christian Dior dress that contained an interior bustier but that’s it. So even though it’s very high fashion and strapless it’s a garment that would allow the wearer to move freely and be very comfortable, to sit or stand and do all of the things that one would have to do at a movie premiere without suffering like the women do in today’s red carpet events.”

Next summer will mark the 50th anniversary of the brutal murders, carried out at the family home while Polanski was away shooting a film. Members of Charles Manson’s notorious desert-commune cult carried out the attacks using knives and guns. It was a terrible case of mistaken identity and the victims were in the wrong house at the wrong time - the target was a man who Manson bore a grudge against who used to live in the house.

Charles Manson

For Debra and others, it has been a life-long loss. She remembers her big sister with great love and affection. “Sharon was just simply one of the most unique people that I have ever met. I’ve never met anybody that held all of the qualities that she did,” she said.

“Not only was she physically exquisite, her inside, her heart, her soul, her kindness, her humanity - all of that was as beautiful as the exterior. She was kind, loving and giving. She had a unique quality to make anybody, and I mean anybody, feel as if they were the only person that mattered in the whole world. And that could be a beggar in the street. She just had a very warm personal and genuine concern for people.

“Our dynamic was very unique even for sisters because of the circumstances of our family. My father was a military man and a high ranking officer and because of his job which was intelligence and counterintelligence we literally moved every three years our entire life.

“So when you do that, and that includes foreign country travel, when you do that very early on in life you become very aware that the only permanent relationships you’re going to have are that of your family. So as her little sister I was much closer to her than most other sisters are. Really she was my everything. Because my mother was an officer’s wife and had to do the bridge club, the teas, Sharon really took on a lot of my rearing.

“We were also 10 years difference in age. I mean there are pictures of us together where it literally looks like she’s my mother. So she was my mother, my sister, my advisor, my confidant, my best friend.

She nurtured me in a way that allowed me to be me and what I was was extremely creative and very outgoing. I was a swimmer, I was a dancer, I was physical. And also was physically an artist, I would draw and I would paint. She liked and nurtured that independent bold view of life that I had.

Now in her sixties, going through her sister’s possessions for the exhibition has sharpened certain memories of her sibling. On a personal level, seeing photographs of her teenage self following the murders have brought other realisations.

“I can never forget. I have to tell these stories often and by repeating it it almost becomes a little bit superficial. But I’m going to share something with you - recently in going through archived pictures, I came across pictures of myself and my family that had not been made public at the funeral. And I could see in recognising my self that I was a walking zombie. I was literally an empty shell. In my own analogy of myself, looking back I think I handled things like a champion. But when I look at those pictures which has been in the last few months, I look at myself and go: ‘Oh my God I didn’t realise how bad off I was’. And so just recently I had an opportunity to revisit to and capture exactly how bad it was because it is psychologically damaging if you if you don’t embrace the reality of everything.”

On behalf of her family, who have been forever impacted, and the families of the other victims, Debra remains “very active” in campaigning to ensure those convicted of the murders remain behind bars. She says she will continue to do so and runs an online petition that is supported by people all over the world.

“I go to a parole hearing every single year on these people and I’m working very hard to try to keep them behind bars because they still are sociopathic. Segregated in a controlled environment, that’s where they need to stay. I have a website called No Parole for Manson Family where people all over the world sign and I present that to the governors or the judges to remind them how the world feels about these people.

“I really need every bit of help I can get at this moment. They have a parole hearing every single year but I fight them. When I say we it’s not just me, it’s the other families, the victim’s family members. I fight and have the governor overturn it and then they appeal it and all of this is on taxpayer dollars. Right now it’s sitting with the superior court in California and before that decision comes in there will be another parole hearing.”

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the Manson Family murders and Debra is aware there will be additional focus on events, with a number of films and TV shows being planned. They include a film by Quentin Tarantino, starring Margot Robbie as the actress, which is currently in production. She has met Robbie and the film’s other A-list stars.

“Quentin reached out to me and offered to let me read the script and I promised that I would not give anything away,” she said. “So I will be very limited in that. I have met Margot Robbie, Leo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino. Unfortunately we just lost Burt Reynolds, prior to his role being shot. But I will be involved every step of the way.

I approve of it. It will be a surprise. It’s not what I thought it was going to be when I read the script. Of course you hear the name Tarantino and Manson in the same sentence and you formulate what you think it will probably be like but that’s not it. It’s not at all what people are expecting it to be.

The Sharon Tate exhibition at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge will run from October 8-25