Sharon Tate
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sharon Marie Tate (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small roles in television, before starting her film career. She appeared in several films that highlighted her beauty, and after receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers. Tate's celebrity status increased following her marriage to the film director, Roman Polański, and fashion magazines featured her as a model and cover girl.
Tate was murdered, along with four others, by followers of Charles Manson, at her Benedict Canyon home. She was eight and a half months pregnant at the time.
A decade after the murders, her mother Doris Tate, appalled at the growing cult status of the killers and the possibility that any of them might be granted parole, joined a public campaign against what she considered to be shortcomings in the state corrections system. This was one of the catalysts which led to amendments to California criminal law in 1982, and allowed crime victims and their families to make victim impact statements during the sentencing of convicts and at their subsequent parole hearings. She became the first person to make such an impact statement under the new law, when she spoke at the parole hearing of one of her daughter's killers, Charles "Tex" Watson. She later said that she believed the changes in the law had afforded her daughter dignity which had been denied her before, and that she had been able to "help transform Sharon's legacy from murder victim to a symbol of victim's rights".
