Former Actress Kathy Kersh, who starred along side Sharon in "The Man From UNCLE" episode, The Girls of the Nazarone Affair, remembers her fondly.
Kersh was actually the first actress Martin Ransohoff of Filmways put under contract. The second was Sharon Tate.
"I adored Sharon Tate," recalls Kersh. "We were rivals in a way but it didn't matter. We were both nice people. Physically, Sharon was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. And in the business you see everyone without makeup. She was a gorgeous, stunning woman. She was not a great actress but then she didn't have to be. We stayed good friends and she even fixed me up with Jay Sebring."
She remembers The Man From UNCLE show she and Sharon did together well. Both Kersh and Tate played the villainous THRUSH girls in the episode. The episode called for Kersh and Tate to beat up Napoleon Solo. "Sharon and I had never done a fight scene before. The stunt people choreographed it."
Kersh and Tate rehearsed the fight scenes with actor Robert Vaughn and the stunt men. (Kersh says Vaughn was rather full of himself and pompous even though she did have respect for him as an actor). "At one point, Sharon was suppose to hold his arms back and I was suppose to punch him in the stomach," says Kersh. "In the rehearsal I didn't hit him very hard. I didn't have a lot of experience doing this so he stopped the scene and said, 'Now look, you can hit me as hard as you want. Hit me as hard as you can.' He was holding his stomach in tight. So I hit him and he said, 'See you can't hurt me.' He was a little annoying the way he carried on and on.
"Before we actually went before the cameras, I said to Sharon, 'When you grab his arms from behind rather than just grabbing him--I want you to grab his arms and snap him back. And then quickly stick your knee right in the small of his back. Then I'll hit him in the stomach.' Sharon was very athletic and she thought it was a great idea. And that's what we did. Sharon snapped him back, which he totally did not expect and I punched him good in the tummy. He doubled over. We really didn't hurt him--that wasn't the point--it was his pride that was injured. I remember some of the cast and crew turning away so as not to laugh in front of him. After he got up he said something like, 'Maybe you shouldn't do it like that.' Sharon and I had a good laugh about that one."
--from Film Fatales by Tom Lisanti
I have wondered about Kathy Kersh and many other actresses who have worked alongside Sharon. Nice remembrance and a good story, too-lol. I never knew that Ms. Kersh was the first one to be put under contract by Martin Ransohoff. Ms. Kersh was also a guest star on "The Beverly Hillbillies". I remember her as the caterer in the episode "The Giant Jackrabbit". Sharon was in that one, too.
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