Sharon Tate Compared to Jean Harlow, Kerstien Matondang and New Video, Rare Sharon Photo, Sharon's Style and More on Polanski

I haven't done one of these for awhile so I thought I'd do another comparison article on Sharon and Jean Harlow:

Jean was born at 5: 40 pm-CST time while Sharon was born at 5:47 pm-CST time (close), but on a different date.

Both were part of the studio system and were designed to show off their sex appeal even though they really could act and do more if the role called for it. 

Both were very close to their mothers who were in turn, very protective of their children.  Their mothers were never the same after their children's deaths.  In addition, both had their mother's laid to rest with them.


Both had kind natures and would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it.


Both were generous to fans, happily signing autographs and answering fan mail--sending autographs.


Both worked for MGM and 20th Century Fox studios.


Harlow dated Max Baer, Sr while Sharon dated Max Baer, Jr though the second couple were actually more like good friends.

Other sex symbols/blonde bombshells have followed (including Sharon and Marilyn Monroe), but it is Jean Harlow who all others are measured against.


Both adored animals and had dogs.

Both were beautiful and married older men.


Both have been mentioned in song, for instance, Harlow was mentioned in Madonna's 'Vogue' song and Sharon was mentioned in The Aluminum Group song "Miss Tate."  Others have mentioned them in their music as well.


Both starred in bit parts in movies eventually leading to larger roles.


Harlow's first film, "Hell's Angels" was shot twice. Once with another actress as a silent film, then with Harlow as a talkie film.  Sharon had a similiar incident with her first major film when, Kim Novak backed out of filming "Eye of the Devil" and it had to be shot twice, the second time with Deborah Kerr in Novak's role.


Both displayed a talent for comedic performances and had a great sense of humor off camera as well.


Both were continuously on the ascendant in their careers, parts were starting to get better and show more range.


Neither wore underwear; Jean never did and Sharon stopped because she said Polanski didn't want the mark lines to appear on her beautiful body.  In addition, both were photographed in the nude.


Both smoked, Harlow's brand was Fatima while Sharon preferred Tareyton.

Both also appeared in fashion magazines and were cover girls on many of them.

Both lived at a time at the Chateau Marmont, the famous Los Angeles Hotel.  And both lived on Easton Drive in Benedict Canyon: this is where Harlow's husband Paul Bern committed suicide and years later, Jay Sebring bought the house and supposedly Sharon had a premonition there according to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ow3uOnkwcg

Both died tragically at the age of 26 and were buried in California. 

At the time of their deaths, everyone commented on how loved they were by so many and that neither had any enemies.

Do you have any to add?  Feel free to comment.

Kerstien's new video is ready!  Exciting! Here it is...

http://www.kerstien.se/sharoninart.htm

A rare lovely new photo of Sharon here:

http://rubenigga.tumblr.com/post/519070089/bohemea-sharon-tate

Sharon's style:

http://www.polyvore.com/sharon_tate/set?id=17972654

And can't Polanski have a nice afternoon with friends without being critized for it?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1267240/House-arrest-looked-better-Shamed-director-Roman-Polanski-enjoys-sunny-lunch-friends.html

Quote of the Week, New European Forum for Sharon, and How To Find Rare Sharon DVDs and More on Polanski

Here is our Quote of the Week:

From Leslie Caron:

"She was such a dear lovely girl,modest , sincere w/ a profound warmth. Blinding beauty and irresistable charm. She was also very sharp, an amazing precise, logical mind, not a fool, as some mistakenly felt, and she had alot of insight into what had happened to her. I adored her."

One of our contributors, Micaela has her own forum on Sharon now:

http://sharontate.forumfree.it/

Want to find Sharon's movies on DVD?  Like "Eye of the Devil" and "12 + 1 Chairs":

http://modcinema.com/

Some Very Rare German Lobby Cards for "The Wrecking Crew":

http://cgi.ebay.de/WRECKING-CREW-Fotosatz-MATT-HELM-ROLLKOMMANDO-lobby-69_W0QQitemZ360252914822QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_Filme_DVD_s_TV_Fanartikel?hash=item53e0bf3c86

Polanski called a 'Master':

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2010/04/18/Ghost-star-calls-Polanski-a-master/UPI-87871271584800/

And the victim has no say in current case?

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10399823

Photo Comparison of the Week, Sam Peckinpah and Polanski, Who Went to the Same High School as Sharon? A mention of Doris Tate and Emmanelle Seigner's Sexy Album

Here is our Photo Comparison of the Week:

A model who looks a bit like Sharon, especially the hair from "12 + 1":

Apparently, Director Sam Peckinpah was upset about Sharon's death and even wrote a touching letter to Roman about it:

http://arethehillsgoingtomarchoff.blogspot.com/2010/04/wild-bunch-1969-film-by-sam-peckinpah.html

Here is a site listing of famous students who went to Hollywood High School and  it mentions Sharon:

http://www.fuzzytravel.com/yoliclive2010/15037-hollywood-high.html

From our contributor Tammie, here is a web mention of Doris Tate:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/for_25_years_victim_advocates.html

And here is a great teaser video of Emmanuelle Seigner singing.  Look at how much her style resembles Sharon, especially her clothes.  I can see Sharon wearing these clothes and boots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N5_sdHzv0E

Thanks to Muriel for that one! ;)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

For Friday April 16, Photo of the Week, More New Books, New Vintage Translated Article: Sharon Tate and the "Hollywood Star System", A Dedication Video to Sharon and her baby, A Look Back at the Year 1969, End Game For Roman Polanski?

Sorry I got back a little late tonight...

Here is our lovely photo of the week:

From Photoplay magazine.

Here are some items contributed by Sharon fan Micaela:


Two new Spanish books that mention Sharon:

Polanski: Un Genio Maldito (This one is translated: Polanski: An Evil Genius).

Sangre en el Paraiso by Manuel Penella (Title translated: Blood in Paradise).

If anyone has read these please let us know what you think?

And a new vintage translated article:

King Magazine Italy 1966

$500,000 for Sharon Tate

Now look at her, this is Sharon Tate, incredibly lovely, delightfully blonde and sure of herself.  Ready to front the paths of the glory of celluloid.

Well, we must reveal to ourselves the secret: she is the classic product of the rigid "Hollywood Star System."

Sharon was, two years before, a simple lovely girl but no more.

Its luck is due to one man alone: of the noted Martin Ranshohoff, director of Filmways, a mass-producer of TV series. 

Immediately Ransohoff put the young Tate under contract for seven years and spent $500,000 (that is 300 millions of lira--Italian money).  For such a young lady Sharon began very hard work: lessons of song, dance, diction and performance.

When the $500,000 had been spent, from their ashes was born Sharon Tate, the star of tomorrow.


This is a Sharon that is beautiful everywhere and not afraid to show herself undressed.
In little time, we will see her in a film with Tony Curtis and Claudia Cardinale called "Don't Make Waves," a film tease of the crazy life in Southern California.

Many the shots here, all of our Sharon, show her in a small, colored bikini. 

If you were to ask the young lady Tate today what was the thing that makes her laugh about her life, the sculptural girl answers without hesitation:  "It was when, after seeing he had spent the $500,000, that Mr. Ransohoff had me do parts in five or six different series on TV with a black wig on."  *Even though he had spent so much money on her she was still starring incognito.

After "Don't Make Waves", Sharon Tate is ready for the big producers.


At present, she just finished filming "The Fearless Vampire Killers," directed by the teacher of fear, Roman Polanski.

In the latest issue of Playboy and from the set of the film, Sharon Tate appears nude.
Thanks so much for these two items, Micaela!

Here is a lovely dedication to Sharon and her baby Paul:

http://inewmovie.com/11986/in-loving-memory-of-sharon-paul-richard/

Serge Gainsbourgh and Jane Birkin: One of the great 1960s couples.

A nice article on looking back at 1969:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/1969-the-year-everything-changed-1752220.html

And an interesting new article on Roman Polanski:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/apr/15/roman-polanski-exile-ghost

Sharon Tate: Cinderella is a Colonel's Daughter and Another Part Sharon Would Have Been Good For...

I found this while going through some old Stars and Stripes Military Newspaper Archives:

The Stars and Stripes Sunday, January 1, 1967

Cinderella Is a Colonel's Daughter

By Harold Heffernan, NANA Staff Writer

Yes, Virginia, once there really was a Hollywood where magic happened almost every day.  That was when the movies were young and romantic and their wide-eyed audiences would buy glamourized waitresses for goddesses, and fumbling producers lately come from the garment trade found themselves endowed with princely wealth--and power--overnight.

Now the movies are as cannily industralized as General Motors, and audiences are wiser, and between them they seem to have lost the magic somewhere along the way.  Then comes a story that can almost make a fellow believe in Hollywood legend all over again. 

The story, for instance, of Sharon Tate, the "instant star."

Sharon doesn't look like any waitress, but exactly like a princess--golden-haired, slim, and lovely, with wide-apart, believing eyes and a voice that makes her sound like she came right out of the blue.  And, sure enough, she did!

Julie Newmar, co-starred with Tony Curtis and Claudia Cardinale in a movie called "Don't Make Waves," had suddenly bowed  out of the cast for the oddest reason.  She couldn't lift Tony Curtis. She'd been set to play "the Diana of Muscle Beach" in the story, but strained her back in a dance routine and withdrew.  So, Producer Martin Ransohoff, in charge of the Filmways-MGM movie, announced he was flying Sharon Tate from London to take Julie's place.

And who, everyone wanted to know, might Sharon Tate be?

"I'm a girl," said Sharon, "who met Richard Beymer in Italy, where my father was stationed.  He's an Army colonel.  Richard was making a film, and I was 18.  And he thought I could do something in pictures, so when we came back to America and settled in Los Angeles, he put me in touch with his agent.

"And I used to hitch-hike to the studios to try out for parts.  One day I went by milk wagon to audition for a bit in 'Petticoat Junction,' the TV show, and well, I got it.  But when they took me in to see Mr. Ransohoff, he said 'No.'  He said, 'I'm going to make this girl a star,' and put me under long-term contract.

"But for 30 months nobody outside of Filmways knew I existed.  I was told I was a secret.  I was being taught speaking, walking, dancing, fencing, calisthenics, and, of course, acting.  And sometimes Mr. Ransohoff would give me a TV bit, but always in a black wig and under another name.

"Finally, he said I was ready.  So I was shipped off to London to co-star with David Niven and Deborah Kerr in '13' ."

What about the co-star arrangement?  Here was a girl who'd never faced a movie camera before in her life, or even been billed on TV under her own name.  She went from complete obscurity to star status overnight.  And do you think she flopped?  Not at all.  Ransohoff liked her performance well enough to hand her the co-starring role in "The Vampire Killers," also made in London.

Then, with '13' and 'Vampire Killers' unreleased, and Sharon still totally unknown in the United States, our girl was brought home to replace Julie Newmar--and on a flying red carpet, with fanfare, a sure-enough Hollywood star the moment she touched ground.

"I'm a trick," Sharon laughed, explaining herself, "done with wigs, aliases, teachers, and, I guess, a lot of money."

Of course, she couldn't lift Curtis, either.  That made no difference in her charmed life.  The script somehow got rewritten so all she had to do was drag him up to the beach from the surf by the heels, and then the camera crew and the property department conspired to give her an unseen hand.

Magic and trickery, of course.  But the main thing is that once more in a subdued Hollywood, Cinderella rides again!

Here is another blogger who says Sharon would have been better for a part in 1966 film "The Oscar" in the Elke Sommer role.  She says:

Kay Berdahl could have been played by Sharon Tate. Kay needs to be beautiful yet vulnerable. Tate had that quality of being insecure and tender despite her gorgeous face and figure. Unfotunately, Kay was somewhat of a cold fish as played by Elke Sommer.

To see her other recasting pix for the film check here:

http://randomramblingofabroadwayfilmtvfan.blogspot.com/2010/04/do-you-ever-start-recasting-movie.html

So possibly that would have been another interesting part for Sharon ...

New Vintage Translated Article: The Tragedy of Sharon, More Screencaptures from FVK, and More New Books on Polanski

Here is another old article I have gotten translated. It is from our great contributor Andrea!  Thanks so much for this!

Sharon Tate: Her Fate Dealt Death

from Manchette August 1969 (A Portuguese magazine)

It was a beautiful day when the Tate family were joined together to discuss the future of the oldest daughter, Sharon, who had announced the choice to become an actress. The father, Colonel Paul Tate, was against it. The mother, Gwendolyn Tate, accepted it. The two younger daughters, Deborah and Patricia, were divided between whether or not to support the sister but at the same time, wanted to respect their parents.  Sharon insisted between all this that her friend, the actor Richard Beymer, thought she had talent.  Shortly afterwards, with the permission of her family, Sharon Tate began the great travel of her life.  The destiny was success, which surely was near.  But everything happened much too fast.  Sharon--lovely, famous and happy--would become a character of a tragedy that no filmmaker could ever have imagined.

The sexy image that was fabricated was soon to be changed for that of a young mother.

It took little time for Hollywood to start applying the actress for success.  She was the American Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe 's successor.  In synthesis, a new star.  Fox spent two million dollars to promote her.  But this was not exactly the reward Sharon was needing.  Besides her career, her marriage to Polanski had a big influence on her.  The rich hippie culture of Hollywood would also be present in the final chapter of her history. 

Sharon in front of Paul Bern and Jean Harlow's former home.

A Scenario of happiness would lead to the sad tragedy.

The first meeting with Polanski might not have been stranger.  The young director was in London, preparing to make his film "The Dance of the Vampires"--for which he had not chosen the principal actress yet--when he knew Sharon was walking towards the studio, he looked at her in fashion magazines.  He immediately called the producer of the film: "This is no Hollywood here.  In my movies, I choose the actresses.  Miss Tate must go."  So Sharon left.  But within two hours later, she was called by the director.  Some months later she was receiving another proposal, this one of marriage.  Her life was running with the speed that young persons always pursue.  And happiness would come, after marriage with a baby to be born in September.

At her funeral, hundreds of young people and Hollywood stars went to the cemetery to say a last goodbye to Sharon Tate.

"She was a good person," the Reverand Peter O'Reilly said while she lay in her coffin at the Church of the Sacred Cross, in Inglewood, Los Angeles, opposite to the mausoleum where it would be buried within moments.  "What can we do to make this death have meaning?  We can try to create a better world, for which that this never happens again. Sharon, may the angels take you to Paradise, and the martyrs help to show you the way. " Many friends of the celebrity couple gave the ultimate goodbye to Sharon Tate, like Yul Brynner, Peter Sellars, Kirk Douglas, Joan Collins and Warren Beatty, and great number of other men and women. Inconsolable, Roman Polanski cried during the whole ceremony, he stood beside the mother of Sharon, Mrs. Paul Tate, and of two younger sisters, Patricia and Debra. They all kissed the casket, and each one deposited on her a rose.

Her are the captions by the photos:

This photo so dramatic since the murder of Sharon shows the fact that she was pregnant of eight months and a half. Standing (in the photo, in front of the studio of Fox) she was never so happy as while be preparing to become a mother.

When making "Valley of the Dolls" director Mark Robson said she had great quality on film and was going to be an terrific actress one day. But Sharon cared more about having a family and could care less about the quality of the movie, even though she gained much publicity and had originally had a definite impulse to become actress.

Wearing dark glasses, Roman Polanski cried for the entire length of the funeral and had to be assisted by a doctor. 

Beside the mother and two younger sisters of Sharon (Patricia and Debra), Polanski was comforted by his doctor, Dr. Peter Thomas. He was in Europe when the tragedy took place.

Sharon looks a lot like Catherine Deneuve here.

And here are some more screencaptures from Micaela:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/sharon+tate/omgxsharontate/Sharon%20Tate/vlcsnap-2010-04-03-22h04m30s112copi.jpg?o=4&filter=newest

Tammie, another wonderful contributor told me about this new book on Roman:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313377804/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0V289AAMZXYV3Y3GEX5T&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

Here is another strange one I found:

http://www.amazon.com/BURDEN-BEING-POLANSKI-MOMENTARY-REASON/dp/0557142946/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2#noop

Has anyone read these books?  Any comments?

Raquel Welch and Sharon Tate Friends? When Is the New Tate Biography to be Released? And Sharon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame???

According to Kirk Crivello 's book, "Fallen Angels" he writes that when Sharon was making "The Sandpiper" :  Sharon became friendly with the girl who photo-doubled Elizabeth Taylor in the beach sequences.  Her name was Raquel Welch.

Taylor was jealous of Sharon from the start and had Tate's scenes cut from the film.  I have also heard a rumor that one of the reasons Taylor did not want Sharon around was because of Burton's promiscuous behavior.  Had Burton got a good look at Sharon, would she have been competition for Taylor's man?  Could be?  Welch herself has recently confessed to having an attraction for Burton and this article shows that Burton was certainly a ladies man :

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/04/01/raquel-welch-reveals-her-passion-for-richard-burton-91466-26154509/

Raquel Welch reveals her passion for Richard Burton

By Robin Turner

SHE was the beauty who burst from her cave woman brassiere to become an American sex symbol.

He was the brooding, working-class Welshman who became one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars.

Now, 69-year-old big-screen veteran Raquel Welch has hinted she and Richard Burton could have been more than just friends on the set of their 1972 movie Bluebeard.

Welch – born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago, Illinois – appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in the US this week to talk about her new memoir Raquel Welch: Beyond the Cleavage (£12.99 Weinstein Book, released in the USA today and available in the UK soon).

She told the chat show host about some of the leading men she had dated and known including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Dean Martin, Burt Reynolds and Richard Burton. Welch wrote of Burton (born Richard Jenkins in Pontrhydyfen, Port Talbot): “He’s like a heat-seeking missile, a smoking hot romantic.”

Oprah Winfrey repeated the line then asked: “Who were you talking about there?”

Welch confirmed:“I was talking about Richard Burton, who I did a movie with in Budapest. He was just so charismatic and just really something.”

When Welch admitted to spending time with Burton while they filmed Bluebeard Oprah Winfrey said with raised eyebrows: “Spending time with, I love that expression.”

Raquel Welch’s career as a sex symbol really took off after her scantily-clad appearance in the 1966 box office hit One Million Years BC.

Her marriage to former manager Patrick Curtis was just about over when she started filming Bluebeard in 1972 and she would divorce Curtis later that year. Her leading man, Richard Burton, playing a murderous World War I era German aristocrat, who had a reputation for flirting with his leading ladies.

His Henry VIII film with Genevieve Bujold was known in the acting circles as “Anne of a Thousand Lays”.

And former film publicist Michael Munn said in his book on Burton, Prince Of Players, that the Welshman had flings with Marilyn Monroe, Jean Simmons, Lana Turner, Claire Bloom and Susan Strasberg.

“I was like a hungry bear with salmon jumping into my paws, Sybil (his first wife) was incredibly tolerant,” Munn claimed he told him.

Raquel Welch said of Bluebeard, in which she played a former nun: “I gave up my habit for Richard Burton. My nun had some rather libidinous leanings, she was kind of a sexpot underneath.”

Until now, Welch has never hinted at any romance with the late Welsh actor, who at the time of the movie was also going through marital problems. Like Welch, Burton would also get divorced that year when he finalised his first split from Elizabeth Taylor.

Author and journalist Penny Junor, who has written a biography of Burton, said: “I think any affair that Burton might have had is credible. He was very promiscuous.

“He had an awful lot of women in his time. He made it a rule to try to conquer any leading lady that he had in the early days. The reason he ended up with Elizabeth Taylor was that she had a similar rule that she would only sleep with men she married.”

Swansea-born author Paul Ferris who also wrote a Burton biography, yesterday thurs said yesterday: “I did not know of any liaison with Raquel Welch when I wrote my book but his family, who helped with the biography, were understandably protective of him at the time because he was still alive and they were very fond of him. But it would not come as a surprise if there was a romance there as he was very attractive to women and I’m pretty sure he’d have been attracted to someone like Raquel Welch.”

Joan Collins wrote in her memoir that when she rejected Burton’s on-set advances, he embarked on a series of liaisons with other women including workers on the set. Collins playfully told Burton that she believed he would sleep with a snake if he had the chance, to which Burton is alleged to have replied “only if it was wearing a skirt, darling”.

Burton was born in 1925, the 12th child of a miner. His home in Pontrhydyfen was so crowded he was farmed out to relatives in Taibach, Port Talbot, where he grew up.

Though he made his name on the London stage as a brilliant young actor, Burton became an international star as much for his marriages to Elizabeth Taylor as his movies.

Replete with yachts, jewels and drunken fights, the Burton-Taylor alliance was even condemned by the Vatican for “erotic vagrancy”.

Burton, a heavy drinker who smoked five packets of cigarettes a day, died in 1984 aged 54.

He was buried in Celigny, Switzerland with a copy of Dylan Thomas’s poems.

In her book Raquel Welch: Beyond The Cleavage, the star reflects on her life from growing up in California and bursting onto the scene in One Million BC to a failed marriage to becoming a single mother and, at last, becoming a famous actress.

She starts the book by saying: “Contrary to popular opinion I did not hatch out of an eagle’s nest, circa One Million Years BC clad in a doeskin bikini.

“In fact, I was more surprised than anyone to find myself on location in such an exotic setting, high atop a volcanic mountain in the Canary Islands.”

“With the release of that famous movie poster, in one fell swoop, everything in my life changed and everything about the real me was swept away. All else would be eclipsed by this bigger-than-life sex symbol.”

Now separated from her fourth husband, Welch made a string of movies after Bluebeard including the Three Musketeers and the Four Muskaeteers, Bedazzled, Legally Blonde and Forget About It.

Also, here is an interesting interview with Welch on her new book:

http://entertainment.msn.com/video/?g=6f4fb1a4-bd82-4456-99f6-6e75d15046d6&from=en-us_msnhp>1=28101

A fairly recent photo of author Sanders.

According to Amazon, the biography of Sharon by "The Family" writer Ed Sanders is due out February 5, 2011.  So be on the lookout for that one.  It is officially titled: Sharon Tate: The Biography.  Let's hope it is a good one for those of us who can't get enough Sharon. ;)

And even though this is an interesting article on Sharon, it says at the bottom that she did receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?  News to me?  Although, of course, she certainly deserves it.

http://www.hollywoodusa.co.uk/HolyCrossObituaries/sharontate.htm