L'Europeo August 21, 1969
My meeting with Sharon Tate
by Adriano Botta
Continued...
The adventure of the body (if not the soul) for Sharon had begun very early in the second years of age. Sharon Tate is her real name. Her father, Paul Tate, was an officer of the American Army, department-- information. He lived in Dallas, making Sharon Texas-born. "In two years" her mother says, "I had her portrait taken with a bow on her head and her legs curled up on a round cushion. I sent the photos to a newspaper, for the Main Competition of Miss Baby and Sharon met her first triumph. She was Miss Bebe. All the moms from Texas were full of envy."
Little was in Dallas. His father was transferred frequently. California, Washington, Omaha, Italy. And Sharon was a department mascot on a training airplane in California, she was Miss Richland in the federal capital and Miss Nebraska at Omaha. Her career in films was born in Verona. She was seventeen years old and spoke good Italian. She buttoned her blouse too low and waited for a secret audition in Technicolor in Venice before her father came home. Renzo Avanzo was a long-time public relations man for Technicolor's film lab in Rome and a cousin of Roberto Rossellini. Avanzo was to do the audition. The audition and participation in a fleeting show of Pat Boone kindled her imagination. Returning to America for the new transfer of Paul Tate, who was now the rank of major, Sharon decided to try her luck in Hollywood. She was eighteen years old, her body was sometimes something of a spectacle. Major Tate was beginning to get tired of hearing the full regiments, the officers in his head, whistling to the passing of his daughter. Yes, it was time that she was on her own. The last time she buttoned her blouse too low her father said, "I recommend that you keep yourself covered in the best possible way. 'Now you're a woman.' "
More tomorrow as Sharon decides she does not want to be the Next Marilyn Monore...
Here is an interesting theory on why Polanski chose Shakespeare 's "Macbeth" after the death of Sharon.
http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/02/time-music-in-third-ear-bands_14.html
Paul Minns (Musician and was in the band, 'Third Ear Band', this band did the music for Polanski's Macbeth):
"Macbeth" was done at Air Studios playing live to black/white rushes. Often we repeatedly watched gory scenes. Polanski related quite a bit but was under pressure from the bankers as things dragged on. He had strong views about film music such as doing the complete opposite to that on the screen. This was contrasted with "cartoon" type sound for each action in the fight scenes. We spent a long time in the studio with very little material to show for it. The engineers didn't know what the hell was going on (I don't blame them). I was struggling and had to restrained from attending the last sessions. Buckmaster reminded us of his needing to protect his reputation and there was general jockeying for Polanski's favour. The Sharon Tate murder had happened not long before and I felt that by choosing "Macbeth" Polanski hoped to substitute one grisly act by another, so erasing his memory. My playing was very shaky on the record which I produced - everyone else having done a runner.
Also, some said that one of the articles on my blog said something about Sharon being Roman's first wife. This is apparently a mistake as Barbara Lass-Kwiatkowska was his first wife and Sharon his second. Hope that clears that up. Here is a photo of Barbara and Polanski:
A closer view of Lass:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/02/is-roman-polanski-really-no-different-than-leni-riefenstahl.html
And a great review of "The Ghost Writer" by Rolling Stone Magazine's Peter Travers:
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/32254953/review/32254955/the_ghost_writer
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