In those years A Clockwork Orange by Kubrick was a very disturbing film as Rosemary’s Baby was, but what happened to beautiful and sweet Sharon Tate and her friends was something totally schocking : noboby had never even figured out that such unmotivated cruelty could take place if not in wartime. Those children of Satan were the reverse of the children of flowers as devils were to angels, but than they had sprung off from the same sources. I think this frightening slaughter put an end to many dreams.

I was not quite 7 when it happened, but it also made an impression on me. But the date that remains branded in my brain is December 8th — the day John Lennon was murdered. For me, that was the end to many dreams, as attilio says.

I probably have not prowled the interweb for its offerings of articles on Sharon Tate’s death (so do correct me if I’m wrong), but compared to the victims and cases surrounding other serial killers (Ted Bundy, Son of Sam, the Night Stalker, Jeffrey Dahmer etc), there doesn’t seem to be the same tone of sensationalism (?). The Charles Manson side of it, sure–he’s probably been mythologized and demythologized and pitied five times over.

Just in terms of the “facts” of what happened to Polanski’s friends and loved ones, I think “sad” is an appropriate word.

I saw Clockwork Orange back when it was first rated X and had some pretty disturbing scenes in it. Later on they re-rated it R.
I remember The Tate-Bianco murders on August 9, 1969, my little brother turned 4 years old on that day.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly glad that Charlie Manson is warehoused in a secured area for I hope the rest of his life But I find it amazing that he’s STILL in prison considering he never did any of the actual killing. I have a strong suspicion that if his victims had been ordinary, middle income people and not wealthy Hollywood celebrities, Manson would have been out of prison many years ago.

I was not quite 7 when it happened, but it also made an impression on me. But the date that remains branded in my brain is December 8th — the day John Lennon was murdered. For me, that was the end to many dreams, as attilio says.

To this day, I do not watch horror movies, precisely because they etch their gruesome scenes on my brain in a way that is quite unlike anything else. As a child, in the 60s and early 70s, I was subjected to one or two which I will never forgot (including the Omen). I subsequently made a choice to “just say no.”

Traveling through Eastern Europe at 16, I saw Auschwitz, some 30 years after its inconceivably horrific usage. Human history and our own lives subject us to enough tragedy and violence without adding indelible cinematic images to the mix.

I have a strong suspicion that if his victims had been ordinary, middle income people and not wealthy Hollywood celebrities, Manson would have been out of prison many years ago.

Maybe, maybe not. The savagery of these killings (and keep in mind, the La Biancos were well off but certainly not celebrities) had a lot to do with the ruling but society was also deeply afraid of the Pied Piper implications of Manson’s influence on young people. And he played to those fears during his trial. It’s been said and I think it’s probably true that prison was the only home Manson had, so he had no fear of going back in and staying there.

Lately I’ve been hearing more about the Manson and it’s really made me curious about the case and what all the fuss is about. I honestly, until reading your article, had no idea what Manson had done.

I saw an ad for a show the other day with a woman clinging to Manson and saying “he’s a very wise man”.

Thank you for all your information here. I found it really interesting and as disturbing as it may be, I’d like to look into this case more. How can someone be so evil as to mislead people and create such havoc?

Well Hung Hippie,

Please remember, if not for him, these murders would not have happened. Many times the person who pays for the hit or organizes the murder(s) gets more time than the actual triggerman (i.e. Pamela Smart, Allen Blackthorne, etc.). If it was not due to his actions and/or direction, the murders would not have happened. He set it up. Plus, he was involved in at least one murder directly: Shorty Shea. So, he is where he belongs and I hope he never gets out, nor any of the others involved in this.

I have a strong suspicion that if his victims had been ordinary, middle income people and not wealthy Hollywood celebrities, Manson would have been out of prison many years ago.>>

I have no doubt that Vince Bugliosi would have prosecuted the case the same way and with the same intent had Sharon Tate and the other victims at her house that evening just been average middle class people.

Rosemary and Leno LaBianca weren’t famous celebrities and Bugliosi wanted justice just as much for them as he did for the Tate victims.

The heinous nature of the crimes was what appalled people back then (I was 12 and remember following the case intently) and justice demanded to be served.

And it was.

“I have no doubt that Vince Bugliosi would have prosecuted the case the same way and with the same intent had Sharon Tate and the other victims at her house that evening just been average middle class people…Rosemary and Leno LaBianca weren’t famous celebrities and Bugliosi wanted justice just as much for them as he did for the Tate victims.”

I agree on both points. I’m sure Bugliosi would have done his best as most prosecutors do. But I’m not talking about the procetutuion, I’m talking about what happens after that – sentencing & parole. That’s something that Bugloisi has no control over. I still think Manson might have made parole had the Manson Family victims had been middle class joes. Remember he wasn’t convicted of any of the murders, just the conspiracy. And your absolutely right, the LaBiancas weren’t famous celebs, just very wealthy.

On a related note, I noticed that Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was released from prison yesterday after serving 34 years for the assassination attempt on Gerald Ford.

That should be prosecution, not procetutuion. Sorry for the typo.

I had a nearly identical experience to you when I was 13 as well. Suddenly my entire 8th grade class was reading that book. I learned the horrible details of the crime through the TV movie. Enticed by the eratz Beatles music, I watched and regretted. I developed a sleeping disorder that I wrestle with to this day. I’m very sorry you had such an emotionally wrought experience with this bit of history but I do find comfort in the fact that my reaction wasn’t so neurotic and alien that no one else experienced it. My older boyfriend said he had a similar reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, he doesn’t freak out when he discovers he’s left the back door unlocked and sleeps an enviable rock solid 8 hours every night. Lucky guy. Anything else to write would be a feeble replication of your own description. Thanks for the eloquence.

I’m talking about what happens after that – sentencing & parole. That’s something that Bugloisi has no control over. I still think Manson might have made parole had the Manson Family victims had been middle class joes.>>

Here in California, it’s not something we forget. When it comes to parole hearings, it makes the news and people respond by sending emails and letters. Sharon Tate’s mother (and now her sister who stepped in when Doris Tate died) was one of the most vocal voices at parole hearings as is Stephen Kaye who assisted Bugliosi.

It’s not that it was Sharon Tate’s mother talking against parole. It was that it was the mother of one of the victims talking against parole. The Tate family, as well as Stephen Kaye, make sure they are at every parole hearing. I would wager to bet that anyone in their shoes would do the same.

It’s the heinous nature of the crimes that keep them from being paroled, not the fame connected to Sharon Tate and her friends.

Interesting information. I didn’t know that and thanks for bringing me up to speed. I will check back more often.

the fact that Micheal Jackson was murdered by his doctor is something I’m sure of it.I’ll never forget 26 Jun 2009,when Michael gone.

[...] On August 9, 1969, Tate, her close friends Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski, and passer-by Steven Parent, were executed by minions of a wannabe recording artist turned sagebrush messiah named Charles Manson . …Continue [...]

An incident as such even though it happened way before I was born is very hard to forget. The very fact that a very beautiful and talented actress had to die in such a way is hard to digest. This article must have been emotionally difficult on you I guess, well written about an actress who deserves all the attention but definitely not an ending as we all know !!

RHS, you’ve definitely touched a nerve. I remember wanting to drive by the Cielo Drive house when I finally had wheels, but don’t think I ever did, actually.

The killings certainly symbolized an unhinging of society…something diabolical was revealed that certainly hasn’t gone away.

Excellent article.

I saw Clockwork Orange back when it was first rated X and had some pretty disturbing scenes in it. Later on they re-rated it R.
I remember The Tate-Bianco murders on August 9, 1969, my little brother turned 4 years old on that day.

If you thought that was disturbing, just wait till you put it in context with all the other murders that occurred in that same area around the same period. Ready to go down the rabbit hole, Alice?

davesweb.cnchost.com

No,it is not my website, but it sure has opened my eyes…

I was in fact living in Berkeley when this horror was perpetrated. Many of the local wanna be “newspapers” like the Berkeley Barb and the Tribe, actually embraced “Charlie” and his murderous gang as being “of our own” in the fight against capitalist oppression.

This idiotic, grass-inspired stance disenchanted and divided out many people who had considered themselves “hippies” (socially & politically in the KNOW), so I quit reading the “underground” rags as they became less brotherly-love and more comrades-in-arms oriented. Around the same time Marcus Foster, a member of the Oakland School Board, was murdered by two members of the budding Simbionese Liberation Army as they were against his then recent vote on a local schools’ proposition.

That’s a fascinating perspective, Ken, and thanks for sharing it. Could be a movie!

Thank you for remembering Sharon Tate. I believe that Manson, and his followers who were convicted in this case, all received the death penalty. When the Supreme Court ruled that penalty unconstitutional, a decision that has since been reversed, the murderers were given a reprieve. That’s more than Tate and the other victims got.

Here in Richmond, a few years ago, a young couple who were well known in the community, were preparing for their annual New Years Day party. They lived on a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood. They were brutally murdered along with their two young children. Their house was chosen at random by two men in the midst of a killing spree because they happened to have their front door open.

My best friend and her family lived in that neighborhood. The fear level was high. Doors were kept locked and people became hyper vigilant. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Manson killings. The fear fades on the surface but the memory remains, haunting the recesses of our minds. Real monsters do live among us.

Lovely piece, and wonderfully insightful. Well done. Thank you.

My boyfriend and I have also been thinking a lot about Sharon and this anniversary of her death. I wish we didn’t have to think about it at all. I wish Sharon and her friends and the La Biancas were here and just a blip on our radar, if any at all.

This article was deeply moving and reminds me of the first time I found out about a celebrities brutal death. It was Bob Crane and I don’t remember how old I was but I sure remember the horrifying feeling I got thinking that this man that I loved so much on television died that way. It was one of the first rites of passage into adulthood I had.

I remember when I first learned of Sharon Tate’s death. It was 1979, I was a ninth grader in art class watching Helter Skelter on a film reel. When it was over, my teacher turned on the lights to reveal his tears. Mr. Tate went on to tell us personal stories about his ill-fated cousin. I’ll never forget that.

Here in Richmond, a few years ago, a young couple who were well known in the community, were preparing for their annual New Years Day party. They lived on a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood. They were brutally murdered along with their two young children.

I’m all too aware of the deaths of Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their two daughters, Stella and Ruby. I read the horrible facts of the case not long after they happened and I’ve lived with these people in my heart ever since. There re nights when I go to bed and think of them, and then I don’t sleep; I often think of Stella and Ruby while watching my own children play. This story is such the inverse of the Tate-La Bianca situation, though, because here the killers didn’t even have a scrap of mad reasoning urging them on. They wound up taking so little from the Harvey home that the police didn’t initially even consider robbery to have been a motive.

Some wonderful responses here, about which I’m very surprised and exceedingly grateful.

I was just 3 months old when the Tate, La Bianca murders happened. I’d heard of Charles Manson when I was growing up but never really new much about what happened. But since just over a week ago (the 40th anniversary) I’ve read up about it and watched a few documentaries on the subject. I looked at the crime scene and autopsy pictures and it’s left me almost broken like these people were my family especially Sharon. How anyone could do this to a pregnant women either beautiful and famous or not is disturbing. I see that Susan Atkins is trying to get released on compassionate grounds due to her dying of brain cancer. Where was her compassion when Sharon Tate begged her for the lives of hers and her unborn baby. There victims were butchered with no remorse and they laughed and sang all throughout their trials. Even if Charles Manson, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel or Leslie Van Houten are ever deemed to be not a threat anymore they should remain incarcerated until they die. These people and people like them should never be released.

Sharon tate was a woman with a incredible beauty. She could be a great star.

i was fifteen that summer. In july we had taken our first trip to California and had fallen in love with it. So when we heard about what had happened it was hard to follow. I think you are right when you say it was transgressive. The next year students were killed in Ohio at Kent State eleven miles from where I grew up. And I was in New York when John Lennon was murdered. The sense of these things being local was also very interesting because one didnt knowhow it was elsewhere. I think your blog is really great in that it makes one think about culture. what i am trying to say is that sharon tates murder makes one think about dying too young, macabre details of her mnurder and where movies would be if she hadnt died and roman polanski hadnt done what he did and was still able to makemovies in the us…. as well as how n umb we have become to such things now… because of video games and violent movies. lots to think about.

In 1969 I was 20 years old – until my birthday at the end of the year.
Still, I didn’t know much about Manson’s horrible crimes. Missed the moon landing too.
You see, I was in Vietnam – from March, 1969 until March, 1970.
Since this is the 40th anniversary of my stint there I have thought about it a little bit from time to time.
I worked as a parts clerk in a motor pool in Long Bihn. We were on convoy back and forth from our workplace every day but never got hit. The company didn’t see action while I was there although they saw combat during the TET offensive before I got there.
The standard tour of duty in Nam was a year. You’d count off your days like you were serving time in jail. (I feel sorry for these kids now who keep getting sent back over to Iraq or Afghanistan until they get hurt or killed.)
We worked long hours every day for two weeks until we each got a day off. I guess the Army thinking was to keep us busy so we didn’t get in trouble.
The guys in the motor pool were okay. But the experience inspired me to get a college degree when I got out of the service.
Eventually I found out the details of Manson’s horrible deed.
And later in life I became acquainted with a killer.
He was my uncle’s friend from work who had served time for killing his wife.
I was living near my uncle at the time, so I saw this guy, his daughter and her infant son on their visits to my uncle.
Then this guy killed his adult daughter.
During the trial they brought up the incest and money squabbles. My uncle and I didn’t know about this. The incident happened nearly 20 years ago and he is still seving time for his daughter’s death.
So I agree with the person who wrote in and said the Manson killers should never be let out of jail.
Those type of people are not like us. They’re inhuman and don’t belong in society.
In Pittsburgh, where I live, a man in a suburb recently fired guns on a women’s fitness class and killed three and injured several others.
I don’t discount your safety precautions. You never know what is going on in anyone’s head.
Maybe that is why we are all so devoted to movies. Movies, unlike Life, usually make sense.

I was 4 when this awful series of murders happened in 1969s. I was old enough to remember my policeman father reading Helter Skelter and then him watching the made-for-tv movie adaptation of the book. I have purposely not looked into the murders gruesome details because they would truly bother me for weeks on end. It’s so awful when one human being or a group of them can do such unthinkable and unspeakable acts to innocent victims.

Interesting post by Ken, who lived in Berkeley at the time. I find it so hard to believe that radicals living there would actually embrace Manson and his ilk!! Moral relativism at its best, I guess.

I read Tess of the D’Ubervilles, by Thomas Hardy, a couple of years ago, then sought out Roman Polanski’s movie version. Beautiful film, faithful to the novel, but at the film’s opening run of credits, were the simple words, “For Sharon”. I cried.

Jenni, Roman Polanski’s dedication “for Sharon” was the inspiration for the title of this blog post.

So I agree with the person who wrote in and said the Manson killers should never be let out of jail.
Those type of people are not like us. They’re inhuman and don’t belong in society.

Al, I value your particular perspective … I would only argue that I think Manson’s followers were all too human, all too controlable, all too weak and desiring to be led, to be told there is a plan, to be told what to do and provided with the tools with which to get the job done. I think they represent us at our worst; they are symbols of the ultimate failure of our values and wishes for peace. But they were kids. All over the world, even to this day, kids have been pressed into the service of the most horrific deeds imaginable.

This was in so many ways a class battle, with natural born Have Not Charles Manson (whose biological father, like Sharon Tate’s, was a career soldier) waging his own war against the Haves. He didn’t know who was living in the Cielo House, he just knew they had more than he did. It’s just one tragic kink in the wiring of this tragedy, this outrage, that Manson’s “family” was composed in large part by ex-homecoming queens and star pupils and athletes, kids who had every opportunity to excel and prosper, as Sharon Tate did, but got lost along the way.

I do agree with you, though, that they should never be allowed out of prison. I grieve for the innocence they lost or threw away and I’m glad some of them have become model prisoners. But the society in which they became whole human beings is prison society. That’s where they have lived for most of their lives, that’s where they found themselves and that is where they belong. Forever.

Sharon Tate was and still is a very beautiful lady♥ Basicaly the
only movie that I got to watch with her in it was the
“The Fearless Vampire Killers”. I really loved this movie. I am a fashion designer and working on begining our fashion design line. My theme color to my logo is “Scarlet” as well as my favorite color. Sharon Tate really looked very beautiful in the Scarlet~colored dress that she wore which matches Her hair perfectly. I am trying to find a goo color picture on Her wearing this dress.
For a different response to this. Polanski surely was an ignorant “idiot” concerning the dark spirit realm? Didn’t or doesn’t he know that these type of
movies only create “deadly parallels”? The fearless “Vampire Killers”. Well, this was a movies that dealt with blood and death. He should have never done this movie. You’ve heard the old saying, “Your signing your death warrant”. Well, this movie
involving Sharon Tate was a good example of deadly parallels.
Oddly, look at the color of dress that she was wearing?
I don’t care what laws are, Manson should have been “Executed
by electric chair along with all of his deranged followers!!
I will always miss Sharon Tate. As a designer, I understand beauty, and it was tragic what happened. Forget these whatever years of some aneversary. That won’t bring her back.
Thank You very Much for Your movies Ms.Tate♥
A sincere admirer♥ Perfecto