Nancy Kwan (關家蒨)
Nancy Kwan at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on August 11, 2011
Born	(1939-05-19) May 19, 1939 (age 73) Hong Kong
Years active	1960–present
Spouse	Peter Pock (m.1962) David Giler (m.1972) Norbert Meisel (1976–)
Children	Bernie Pock (1963-1996; deceased)
Parents	Kwan Wing Hong and Marquita Scott
Relatives	Ka Keung Kwan - brother
Website
http://www.nancy-kwan.com/

Nancy "Ka Shen" Kwan (simplified Chinese: 关家蒨; traditional Chinese: 關家蒨; pinyin: Guān Jiāqiàn; born May 19, 1939)^[1] is a Hong Kong-born Eurasian-American actress, who played a pivotal role in the acceptance of actors of Asian ancestry in major Hollywood film roles. Widely praised for her beauty, Kwan was considered a sex symbol in the 1960s.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Nancy Kwan and her father, Kwan Wing Hong

Born in Hong Kong on May 19, 1939,^[2] and growing up in Kowloon Tong,^[3] Nancy Kwan is the daughter of Kwan Wing Hong,^[4] a Cantonese architect,^[5] and Marquita Scott, a blonde model of English and Scottish ancestry.^{[6][note 1]} The son of a Chinese lawyer, Kwan Wing Hong attended Cambridge University and became an eminent architect in Hong Kong. After he met Marquita Scott in London, the two married and moved to Hong Kong.^[6] During the era, society held a dim view of miscegenation.^[7] Kwan has an older brother, Ka Keung.^[8]

Under fear of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during World War II, Wing Hong, under the guise of a coolie, escaped from Hong Kong to North China in Christmas 1941 with his two children, whom he hid in wicker baskets.^[6][8] Kwan and her brother were transported by servants, evading Japanese sentries.^[6][8] They remained in exile in Western China for five years until the war ended, after which they returned to Hong Kong and lived in a spacious, contemporary home her father designed.^[6][8] Marquita Scott escaped to England and never rejoined the family.^[6] Kwan's parents divorced when she was two years old.^[8] Traveling to New York, her mother remarried an American,^[9] and remaining in Hong Kong with the children, her father remarried a Chinese woman, whom Kwan called "Mother".^[6][10] Her father and her step-mother gave her brother and her five half-brothers and half-sisters.^[6] Five of Kwan's siblings became lawyers.^[3]

Save for during World War II, Kwan had a comfortable early life. Serviced by an amah (阿嬤), a woman who looks after children, Kwan owned a pony and passed the summer months in resorts in Borneo, Macao, and Japan.^[6] An affluent man, her father owned a several-acre hilltop property in Kowloon.^[11] In her youth, she was called "Ka Shen".^[12] She wrote in 1960 that as an eight year old, her fortune-teller "predicted travel, fame and fortune for me". The Associated Press called the fortune-teller "either a gifted or lucky" one.^{[13][note 2]}

She attended the Catholic Maryknoll Convent School until she was 13 years old,^[6] after which she traveled to Kingsmoore,^[6] an English boarding school her brother, Ka Keung, was currently attending.^[9] Her brother studied to become an architect, and she studied to become a dancer.^[9] Her four years of studying at the school earned her the General Certificate of Secondary Education.^[6]

Her introduction to tai chi sparked a desire to learn ballet.^[8] When Kwan was 18 years old, she pursued her dream of becoming of a ballet dancer by attending Royal Ballet School in London. She studied performing arts subjects such as stage make-up and danced every day for four hours. Her studies at the Royal Ballet School ran concurrently with her high school studies. Because Kwan's high school had deep connections with nearby theater groups, Kwan was able to perform small parts in several of their productions.^{[note 3]} Upon graduating from her scholastic studies, she sojourned to France, Italy, and Switzerland on a luxury trip. Afterwards, she traveled back to Hong Kong,^[2] where she started a ballet school.^[14]

Early career[link]

Stage producer Ray Stark posted an advertisement in the Hong Kong Tiger Standard (later renamed The Standard) regarding auditions for the character Suzie Wong for a play. The ad asked applicants to present their pictures, résumés, and proportions.^[9] Kwan submitted the application^[9] and was discovered by Stark in a film studio constructed by her architect father.^[15][16] After auditioning for Stark, she was asked to screen test to play a character in the prospective film The World of Suzie Wong.^[2] Stark preferred Kwan over the other women because she "would have more universal acceptance". Another auditionee, French actress France Nuyen played the stage version of the role and had been called a "businessman's delight" by a number of reviewers. Stark disliked this characterization, as well as "happy harlot" characters such as Melina Mercouri in Never on Sunday. Stark wanted an Asian actress because slanting the eyes of a white actress would merely look artificial. He also praised Kwan's features: an "acceptable face" and "being alluringly leggy [and] perfectly formed".^[11]

For each screen test, Kwan, accompanied by her younger sister, was chauffeured to the studio by her father's driver. Stark characterized Kwan's first screen test as "pretty dreadful", but one that hinted at her potential. After four weeks of training with drama teachers, including hours of lessons with Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright–screenwriter John Patrick, Kwan's second screen test was a significant improvement. Although she had not yet become an actress, Stark said, there was a "development of her authority". Once, upon viewing her screen test, Kwan said, "I'm terrible girl" and "squealed with embarrassment"; acting as a prostitute was a vastly different experience from her comfortable life with her affluent father. The reaction prompted Stark to refrain from letting her view the dailies. Kwan did a third screen test after four months had passed, and there was a deadlock between whether to choose Kwan or Nuyen.^[11]

Owing to Kwan's lack of acting experience, at Stark's request,^[17] she traveled to the United States, where she attended acting school in Hollywood and later moved to New York. Kwan resided in a dormitory with other junior actresses.^[2] Kwan signed a seven-year contract^[18] with Stark's Seven Arts Productions^[10] at a beginning salary of $300 a week^[18] though she was not given a distinct role.^[11] In 2005, Edward S. Feldman and Tom Barton characterized Kwan's wages and her employment as "indentured servitude".^[18] In a retrospective interview, Kwan told Goldsea that she had no prior acting experience and that the $300 a week salary was "a lot of money to me then".^[2]

When The World of Suzie Wong began to tour, Kwan was assigned to be a bargirl. In addition to her small supporting character role, Kwan became an understudy for the production's female lead, France Nuyen.^[2] Although Stark and the male lead William Holden preferred Kwan despite her somewhat apprehensive demeanor during the screen test,^[8] she was not given the role. Paramount favored the eminent France Nuyen, who had been widely praised for her performance in the 1958 film South Pacific.^[8] Stark acquiesed to Paramount's wishes.^[11] Nuyen received the role and Kwan later took the place of Nuyen on Broadway. In a September 1960 interview with Associated Press journalist Bomb Thomas, she said, "I was bitterly disappointed, and I almost quit and went home when I didn't get the picture."^[16] Kwan did not receive the lead role because Stark believed she was too inexperienced at the time.^[17] Nuyen won the title role in the upcoming movie because of her powerful portrayal of Suzie Wong during the tour. She moved to England to film the movie, leaving an opening for Kwan to ascend to the lead female role in the touring production. In 1959,^[14] one month after Nuyen was selected for the film role^[11] and while Kwan was touring in Toronto, Canada, Stark told her to screen test again for the film.^[2] Kwan responded to his phone call from London, asking, "How can I come? I'm in this show." To provide a pretext for Kwan's sudden hiatus from the touring production, Stark sent a cablegram to her superiors saying her father had become ill and had been hospitalized. Kwan later recalled in an interview about three years later, "So I went to the manager and told him a lie. It was not very nice, but what could I do?"^[11] After Kwan accepted the role, the Broadway play producer sued her for leaving with little notice.^[16]

Nuyen, who was in an unstable relationship with Marlon Brando, had a nervous breakdown and was fired from the role because of her erratic actions.^{[15][note 4]} The film's director, Jean Negulesco, was fired and replaced by Richard Quine.^[15] Kwan, who had theretofore never been in a film, defeated 30 competitors from Hollywood, France, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.^[20] On February 15, 1960, she began filming the movie in London with co-star William Holden.^[21] During the filming, Kwan's only trouble was a lingerie scene. Robert Lomax, as played by Holden, tears off her Western dress and says, "Wear your own kind of clothing! Don't try to copy some European girl!" Director Richard Quine was displeased with Kwan's underclothes: She wore a full-slip rather than a half-slip and bra. Finding the attire too modest and unrealistic, he asked Stark to talk to Kwan. Stark discovered Kwan taking refuge in her dressing room, sobbing grievously. He warned her, "Nancy, wear the half-slip and bra or you're off the picture. France Nuyen is no longer in it, remember? If you're difficult you'll be off it too. All we want to do is make you the best actress possible." Kwan returned to the set after lunch, aloofly wearing a bra and half-slip, acting as if what had happened earlier had not transpired.^[11]

Owing to Kwan's perceptible Eurasian appearance, the film's make-up artists endeavored to make her look more Chinese.^[22] They plucked her eyebrows and sketched a line across her forehead.^[11] In movies where Kwan plays Asian roles, the makeup artists slant her brown eyes. The Hartford Courant's Hedda Hopper wrote that Kwan, as a Eurasian, does not look fully Asian or European. Hopper wrote that the "scattering of freckles across her tip-tilted nose give her an Occidental flavor".^[10] The production spanned five months, an unusually lengthy period for the era.^[3]

Stardom[link]

The World of Suzie Wong was a "box-office sensation". Critics lavished praise on Kwan for her performance.^[22] She was given the nickname "Chinese Bardot" for her unforgettable dance performance.^[8] Kwan and two other actresses, Ina Balin and Hayley Mills, were awarded the Golden Globe for the "Most Promising Newcomer–Female" in 1960. The following year, she was voted a "Star of Tomorrow".^[22] Scholar Jennifer Leah Chan of New York University wrote that Suzie provided an Asian actress—Kwan—with the most significant Hollywood role since actress Anna May Wong's success in the 1920s.^[23] Designed by London hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, Kwan's bob cut in the film drew widespread media attention for the "severe geometry of her new hairstyle".^[24][25] Sassoon's signature cut of Kwan's hair was nicknamed "the Kwan cut", "the Kwan bob", or was plainly known as "the Kwan"; photographs of Kwan's new hairstyle appeared in both the American and British editions of Vogue.^[26]

Kwan was unprepared for fame as an 18 year old. While she was purchasing fabric in a store on Nathan Road, Kwan found people staring at her from the window. Wondering what they were staring at, it suddenly struck her that she was the point of attraction.^[3] Kwan remarked that in Beverley Hills, she can walk without attracting notice. She rationalized, "[It] is better in America because America is much bigger, I guess".^[11] When people addressed her father after watching the film, they frequently called him "Mr Wong", a name that severely displeased him.^[3] Kwan said in a 1994 interview with the South China Morning Post that even decades after her film debut and despite her having done over 50 films thence, viewers continued to send numerous letters to her about the film.^[27]

The scene of Kwan, reposed on a davenport and adorned in a dazzling cheongsam, while showing a "deliciously decadent flash of thigh", became an iconic image.^[3] Clad in a cheongsam—"a Chinese dress with a high collar and slits, one on each side of the skirt"^[9]—Kwan was on the October 1960 cover of Life, cementing her status as an eminent sex symbol in the 1960s.^[1] Nicknamed the "Suzie Wong dress",^[28] the cheongsam in the portrait spawned thousands of copycat promotional projects.^[3] In a 1962 interview, Kwan said she "loved" the cheongsam, calling it a "national costume". She explained that the cheongsam "has slits because Chinese girls have pretty legs" and "the slits show their legs".^{[9][note 5]}

Chinese and Chinese-Americans became aggrieved after seeing how Chinese women were depicted as promiscuous. Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul speculated that the wave of unfavorable media attention drove filmmakers to escalate the production of Kwan's next film. In 1961, she starred in Flower Drum Song in a related role. The film was distinguished for being the "first big-budget American film" with an all–Asian cast.^{[22][note 6]} Kwan did not sing the songs in the musical film; the vocals for Linda Low were performed by B. J. Baker.^[30] Comparing Suzie Wong and Flower Drum Song, she found the latter much harder because the girl she played was "more go-getter". Her prior ballet education provided a strong foundation for her role in Flower Drum Song, where she had much space to dance.^{[31][note 7]}

After starring in The World of Suzie Wong and Flower Drum Song, Kwan experienced a meteoric rise to celebrity. Scholar Jennifer Leah Chan of New York University chronicled the media attention Kwan received after starring in two Hollywood films, writing that Kwan's fame peaked in 1962. In addition to being featured on the cover of Life magazine, Kwan was discussed in 1962 in popular women's magazine McCall's, which titled "The China Doll that Men Like".^[32]

As a Hollywood icon, Kwan lived in a house situated atop Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. She commuted in a white British sports car and danced to Latin verses. She enjoyed listening to Johnny Mathis records and reading Chinese history texts.^[9] In 1962, when she was 22, Kwan was dating Swiss actor Maximilian Schell. In an interview that year, she said she did not intend to get married until she was older, perhaps 24 or 25. She said a number of Americans married just to leave home or to "make love". Kwan said this was problematic because she found dialogue and an ability to appreciate and express humor important in a marriage: "You can't just sit around and stare at walls between love-making."^[31]

In 1961, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry declined to employ Kwan as a teacher for the soldiers. The infantry was training for military involvement in Malay (now part of Malaysia), and the regiment's commanders believed that the infantrymen should be taught the Chinese language and how to handle chopsticks. Captain Anthony Hare announced to the public that the infantry needed a teacher—an attractive one. He later acknowledged that he appended the rider that the instructor must be attractive so that more soldiers would attend the sessions. Kwan, in Hollywood at the time, replied via cable: "Please consider me a candidate as Chinese teacher for Yorkshire Light Infantry. I am fluent in Chinese, fabulous with chopsticks, and fond of uniforms." Captain Hare commented, "Miss Kwan is too beautiful. I think she would be too much of a distraction." Her tardy request was not evaluated; it was denied by the infantry, who had just accepted the application of another Chinese woman.^[14]

Later films[link]

Kwan's success in her early career was not mirrored in later years.^[33] Ann Lloyd and Graham Fuller wrote in their book The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema: "Her Eurasian beauty and impish sense of humor could not sustain her stardom".^[34] Her later films were marked by multifarious parts,^[34] comprising movie and television roles for American and European productions.^[1] Kwan discovered that she had to journey to Europe and Hong Kong to escape the ethnic typecasting in Hollywood that confined her largely to Asian roles in spite of her Eurasian appearance.^[8][33]

Her third movie was the 1962 British drama film The Main Attraction with Pat Boone. While she was filming the movie in the Austrian Alps, she found Peter Pock, a hotelier and ski teacher, with whom she immediately fell in love. She reflected that "The first time I saw that marvelous-looking man I said, 'That's for me.'" After several weeks, the two married and resided in Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria. Kwan later gave birth to Bernhard "Bernie" Pock.^[35] In December 1963, Pock was constructing a luxury hotel in the Tyrolean Alps. During Christmas of that year, Nancy Kwan visited the location and was able to participate in several pre-1964 Winter Olympics events despite having been very occupied with movies. Her contract with film production company Seven Arts led her to travel around the world to film movies. She found the separation from her son, Bernie, who was not yet a year old, to be difficult. She said "he's coming into a time when he's beginning to assert his personality". Fair-skinned and blue-eyed, Bernie had his father's appearance.^[10]

In 1963, Kwan starred as the title character of Tamahine. Because of her role, she went to the optician to get contact lenses so should would look blue-eyed.^[9] Playing an English-Tahitian ward of the head master at an old English public school, she was praised by the Boston Globe for her "charming depict[ion]" of the character.^{[36][note 8]}

In the 1964 Fate Is the Hunter, her seventh film, Kwan played an ichnologist. It was her first role as a Eurasian character.^{[10][note 9]} Kwan's roles were predominantly comic characters, which she said were more difficult roles than "straight dramatic work", owing to the necessity of more vigor and precise timing.^[10]

Kwan met Bruce Lee when he choreographed the martial arts moves in the 1969 film The Wrecking Crew.^[27][37] In Kwan's role in the film, she fought the character played by Sharon Tate by throwing a flying kick. Her martial arts move was based not on karate training but on her dance foundation. Author Darrell Y. Hamamoto noted that this "ironically" twisted Kwan's "dragon-lady role" through its underscoring the replacement of Kung Fu with Western dance moves.^[37] She became close friends with Lee and met his wife and two children. In the 1970s, both Kwan and Lee returned to Hong Kong, where they carried on their companionship.^[27]

Kwan divorced Peter Pock.^[38]

In 1972, Kwan married David Giler, an Austrian hotelier, in Hong Kong.^[39] That year, Kwan returned to Hong Kong with her son because her father was sick. She initially intended to remain for one year to assist him but ultimately remained for about seven years.^[38] While in Hong Kong, Kwan founded a production company,^[38] Nancy Kwan Films,^[5] which made ads mostly for people in Southeast Asia. In the 1980s, she returned to the United States,^[40] where she played characters in the TV shows Fantasy Island, Knots Landing, and Trapper John.^[5]

In a 1993 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Kwan remarked that her son Bernie was frequently called a "blond, blue-eyed Chinese" because he could speak the language fluently. In 1979, the two returned to the United States because Kwan wanted him to finish his schooling there. Bernie was an actor, a martial artist, and a stunt performer.^[38] For the 1991 action comedy film Fast Getaway, he and fellow stunt performer Kenny Bates gripped hands and leaped off the Royal Gorge Bridge. They fell 900 feet before being restrained by wire rope 200 feet over the Arkansas River.^[41][42] Bates said their stunt was the "highest 'double drop' ever attempted".^[42] Kwan and Bernie recorded a tape about t'ai chi ch'uan.^[38]

Later years[link]

Kwan's husband, Norbert Meisel, at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on August 11, 2011

In 1987, Nancy Kwan co-owned the dim sum restaurant Joss. Kwan, producer Ray Stark, and restaurateur and Hong Kong film director Cecile Tang financed the restaurant, located on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.^[43]

Kwan sporadically records audiobooks.^[7] She recorded an audiobook for the 1989 memoir When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip with Jay Wurts. Patricia Holt praised Kwan's intonation in her delivery, writing that "Kwan's faint Asian accent and careful pronunciation of Vietnamese words make Hayslip's weaving of her past and present lives a riveting experience".^[44]

In 1993, Kwan played Gussie Yang, a "tough-talking, soft-hearted Hong Kong restaurateur", in the fictional Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.^[38] She played a "pivotal role" in the film,^[45] a character based on Seattle restauranteur and political leader Ruby Chow^[1] who hires Bruce Lee as a dishwasher and gives him the funds to open a martial arts school.^[45]

In May 1993, she completed the production of a film about Eurasians, Loose Woman With No Face, which she wrote, directed, and starred in.^[45] She called the film "a slice of life about Euro-Asians in Los Angeles, and it's something I know about".^[38][45]

In 1993, Kwan was asked about whether she was confronted with racism as a leading Asian Hollywood actress in the 1960s. Kwan replied, "That was 30 years ago and (prejudice) wasn't such a heavy issue then. I was just in great Broadway productions that were turned into films. I personally never felt any racial problems in Hollywood."^[14] In the 1990s, she faced a severe shortage of strong roles. She attributed this to both her age and the movie enterprise's aversion to selecting Asians for non-Asian roles. In earlier years, she was able to play an Italian and a Tahitian. In the 1990s, there was an increase of Hollywood films about Asians. Kwan could have capitalized on the trend through a role in the 1993 film The Joy Luck Club. Because the filmmakers refused to excise a line calling The World of Suzie Wong a "horrible racist film", she declined to be in the film.^{[46][note 10]}

In November 1993, Kwan co-starred in the two-character play Arthur and Leila about two siblings who struggle with their Chinese identities. It debuted in the Bay Front Theater in Fort Mason, San Francisco, and moved to Los Angeles two weeks later.^{[46][note 11]} Variety reviewer Julio Martinez praised Kwan for her ability to "flo[w] easily between haughty sophistication and girlish insecurity".^[51]

In 1994, she lived with her second husband, film distributor David Giler, and her son, Bernie, in a Beverly Hills house. She preserved her "dancer's figure" through the Chinese martial art tai chi she dearly enjoyed and frequent dance sessions.^[27] That year, she assumed the role of 52-year-old Martha in Singapore Repertory Theatre's showing of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, an "intense psychological play" by Edward Albee.^[40]

In c. 1994,^[40] she and her husband produced the feature film Biker Poet.^[5] Bernie was the director and an actor in the film.^[40]

In 1996 when he was 33,^[52] Kwan's son, Bernie, died after contracting AIDS from his girlfriend whom Kwan had cautioned him to avoid.^[7] Four years after his death, poet and actress Amber Tamblyn compiled her debut poetry book Of the Dawn and dedicated it to Pock. Calling him like a "big brother", she noted that she acted in the film The Biker Poet with him when she was nine. Tamblyn said he was the "first guy" to convince her to share her poems.^[53]

She has appeared on television commercials even into the 1990s and appeared in "late night infomercials" as the spokesperson for the cosmetic "Oriental Pearl Cream".^{[39][54][note 12]}

Kwan has been involved in philanthropy for AIDS awareness. In 1997, she published A Celebration of Life – Memories of My Son, a book about her son who died after being infected by AIDS. She gave profits from both the book and a movie she created about him to supporting the study of AIDS and the promotion of AIDS awareness.^[1]

On March 17, 2006, cheongsam-wearing Kwan and her husband, Norbert Meisel, attended the debut performance of Hong Kong Ballet's depiction of Suzie Wong at Sha Tin Town Hall.^[56] Kwan told The Kansas City Star in 2007 that she did not consider retiring, leads to trouble. Retirees, she professed, frequently find themselves with nothing to do because they have not readied themselves for it. Kwan said, "I hope I'm working until the day I die. If work is a pleasure, why not?"^[4]

Kwan appeared in Arthur Wong's 2007 documentary Hollywood Chinese, where she and other Chinese dignitaries discussed the past accomplishments and the impending plight of Chinese people in the film industry.^[57]

Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz Hammel-Smith gave the thumbs up to Nancy Kwan at the Hawaii International Film Festival on October 20, 2010.

Kwan and her husband Norbert Meisel write and direct films about Asian-Americans. Kwan believes that Asians are not cast in enough films and TV shows. She and Meisel resolved to create their own scripts and films about Asian characters.^[4] In 2007, they wrote, directed, and produced Star of Sunshine, a Bildungsroman film starring Boys Don't Cry actress Cheyenne Rushing, who plays Rachel. An ardent pianist in an afflicted household, Rachel journeys to find her restless father, a musician who deserted her when she was a mere child.^[4][58] In Sunshine, Rachel is supported by Kwan, the manager of a jazz club, who knows a mystery about her.^[58] In the film's final scene, Kwan dances, an activity she has enjoyed since her youth.^[4]

Kwan wrote an introduction for the 2008 book For Goodness Sake: A Novel of Afterlife of Suzie Wong written by American author James Clapp using the nom de plume Sebastian Gerard. Clapp became acquainted with Kwan through director Brian Jamieson, who was filming a documentary about Kwan's life.^{[59][note 13]}

She serves as a spokeswoman for the Asian American Voters Coalition,^[1] a Pan-Asian political group established in 1986^[1] to aid Asian actors.^[3]

In her performing arts career, Kwan appeared in two television series and over 50 films. The Straits Times reported in March 2011 that Kwan continues to serve as a film screenwriter and executive.^[7]

Kwan currently resides in Los Angeles and has family members in Hong Kong.^[52] Once every couple years, she travels to the island.^[60]

Selected filmography[link]

Poster of To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey, a docudrama about the actress.

• The World of Suzie Wong (1960), with William Holden
• Flower Drum Song (1961)
• The Main Attraction (1962)
• Tamahine (1963)
• The Wild Affair (1963)
• Hollywood Hotel (1964)
• Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
• Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966)
• Nobody's Perfect (1968)
• The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)
• The Wrecking Crew (1969), with Dean Martin and Elke Sommer
• The McMasters (1970)
• That Lady from Peking (1975)
• Night Creature (1978)
• Angkor: Cambodia Express (1982)
• Walking The Edge (1983)
• Noble House (1988)
• Miracle Landing (1990) (TV)
• Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
• The Golden Girls (1995)
• Hollywood Chinese (2007)
• To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey (2010)^[61]

Awards[link]

• 1961 Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female, shared with Ina Balin and Hayley Mills
• Golden Ring Award
• Historymaker for Excellence in the Performing Arts – Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles, California
• Lifetime achievement award, Chinatown, Los Angeles, June 2009
• Maverick Award – Hawaii International Film Festival, October 2010

Bibliography[link]

• Pock, Bernie & Nancy Kwan. A Celebration of Life, Memories of My Son. ISBN 0-9664395-0-3

References[link]

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nancy Kwan

• Official website
• Nancy Kwan at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Nancy Kwan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Nancy Kwan interview cnn.com April 14, 2010

Sharon Tate
Born	Sharon Marie Tate (1943-01-24)January 24, 1943 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	August 9, 1969(1969-08-09) (aged 26) Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Murder by stabbing
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	1961–69
Spouse	Roman Polanski (1968–69; her death)
Children	Paul Richard Polanski (unborn)
Parents	Colonel Paul James Tate Doris Gwendolyn Willett

Sharon Marie Tate (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Valley of the Dolls (1967). She also appeared regularly in fashion magazines as a model and cover girl.

Married to film director Roman Polanski in 1968, Tate was eight and a half months pregnant when she was murdered in her home, along with four others, by followers of Charles Manson.

A decade after the murders, Tate's mother, Doris, in response to the growing cult status of the killers and the possibility that any of them might be granted parole, organized a public campaign against what she considered shortcomings in the state's corrections system. It resulted in amendments to the California criminal law in 1982, which allowed crime victims and their families to make victim impact statements during sentencing and at parole hearings.

Doris Tate was 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 believed changes in the law had afforded her daughter dignity that had been denied her before, and that she had been able to "help transform Sharon's legacy from murder victim to a symbol of victims' rights".^[1]

Life and career[link]

Childhood and early acting career[link]

Sharon Tate was born in Dallas, Texas, the eldest of three daughters, to Colonel Paul James Tate (1922–2005),^[2] a United States Army officer, and his wife, Doris Gwendolyn (née Willett; January 16, 1924–July 10, 1992). At six months of age, Sharon won the "Miss Tiny Tot of Dallas Pageant", but her parents had no show business ambitions for their daughter. Paul Tate was promoted and transferred several times. By age 16, as an army brat, Sharon had lived in six different cities, and she reportedly found it difficult to maintain friendships. Her family described her as shy and lacking in self-confidence. As an adult Sharon Tate commented that people often misinterpreted her shyness for aloofness until they knew her better. ^[1]

As she matured, people commented on her beauty; she began entering beauty pageants, winning the title of "Miss Richland" in 1959. She spoke of her ambition to study psychiatry, and also stated her intention to compete in the "Miss Washington" pageant in 1960, but before she could follow either course of action, Paul Tate was transferred to Italy, taking his family with him. On arriving in Verona, Sharon Tate learned that she had become a local celebrity owing to the publication of a photograph of her in a bathing suit on the cover of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. She discovered a kinship with other students at the American school she attended in nearby Vicenza, recognizing that their backgrounds and feelings of separation were similar to her own, and for the first time in her life began to form lasting friendships.

Tate and her friends became interested in the filming of Adventures of a Young Man, which was being made nearby with Paul Newman, Susan Strasberg and Richard Beymer, and obtained parts as film extras. Beymer noticed Tate in the crowd and introduced himself, and the two dated during the production of the film, with Beymer encouraging Tate to pursue a film career. In 1961, Tate was employed by the singer Pat Boone, and appeared with him in a television special he made in Venice.^{[citation needed]}

Tate (at right wearing a dark wig) as Janet Trego in the 1964 "Giant Jackrabbitt" episode of The Beverly Hillbillies with Max Baer, Jr. and Nancy Kulp

Later that year, when Barabbas was being filmed near Verona, Tate was once again hired as an extra. Actor Jack Palance was impressed by her appearance and her attitude, although her role was too small to judge her talent. He arranged a screen test for her in Rome, but this did not lead to further work. Tate returned to the United States alone, saying she wanted to further her studies, but tried to find film work. After a few months, Doris Tate, who feared for her daughter's safety, suffered a nervous breakdown and Sharon was persuaded to return to Italy. ^[1]

The family returned to the United States in 1962, and Sharon moved to Los Angeles, where she contacted Richard Beymer's agent, Harold Gefsky. After their first meeting Gefsky agreed to represent her, and secured work for her in television and magazine advertisements. In 1963 he introduced her to Martin Ransohoff, director of Filmways, Inc., who signed her to a seven-year contract. She was the first choice to play the curvy blonde, Billie Jo Bradley, on CBS's up-and-coming sitcom, Petticoat Junction. However, after producers found out she had posed for skimpy photographs, she was axed and replaced by Jeannine Riley.

Ransohoff gave her small parts in Mister Ed and The Beverly Hillbillies to help her gain experience. Ransohoff signed Tate to an exclusive seven year contract but kept her under wraps until he felt she was ready to appear in substantial film roles. "Mr. Ransohoff didn't want the audience to see me till I was ready", Tate was quoted in a 1967 article in Playboy magazine. ^[3]

During this time Tate met the French actor Philippe Forquet, and began a relationship with him. They became engaged, but the relationship was volatile and they frequently quarreled. Career pressures drove them apart and they ended the relationship.

In 1964, she met Jay Sebring, a former sailor who had established himself as a leading hair stylist in Hollywood. Tate later said that Sebring's nature was especially gentle, but when he proposed marriage she would not accept. She said that she would retire from acting as soon as she married, and at that time she intended to focus on her career.^[1]

Film career[link]

In 1964, Tate made a screen test for Sam Peckinpah opposite Steve McQueen for the film The Cincinnati Kid. Ransohoff and Peckinpah agreed that Tate's timidity and lack of experience would cause her to flounder in such a large part, and she was rejected in favor of Tuesday Weld.^[1] She continued to gain experience with minor television appearances, and after she auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Liesl in the film version of The Sound of Music, Ransohoff gave Tate walk-on roles in two motion pictures in which he was producer: The Americanization of Emily and The Sandpiper.^[4] In late 1965, Ransohoff finally gave Tate her first major role in a motion picture in the film Eye of the Devil, co-starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence, and David Hemmings.^[5]

Tate and Sebring traveled to London to prepare for filming, where she met the Alexandrian Wiccan High Priest and High Priestess Alex and Maxine Sanders, the former of whom duly initiated her into Wicca.^[6] Meanwhile, as part of Ransohoff's promotion of Tate, he arranged the production of a short documentary called All Eyes on Sharon Tate, to be released at the same time as Eye of the Devil. It included an interview with Eye of the Devil director J. Lee Thompson, who expressed his initial doubts about Tate's potential with the comment "We even agreed that if after the first two weeks Sharon was not quite making it, we would put her back in cold storage", but added he soon realized Tate was "tremendously exciting".^[1]

Tate played Odile, a witch who exerts a mysterious power over a landowner, played by Niven, and his wife, played by Kerr. Although she did not have as many lines as the other actors, Tate's performance was considered crucial to the film, and she was required, more than the other cast members, to set an ethereal tone. Niven described her as a "great discovery," and Kerr said that with "a reasonable amount of luck" Tate would be a great success.^[1] In interviews Tate commented on her good fortune in working with such professionals in her first film and said that she had learned a lot about acting simply by watching Kerr at work. Much of the filming took place in France, and Sebring returned to Los Angeles to fulfill his business obligations. After filming, Tate remained in London where she immersed herself in the fashion world and nightclubs. Around this time she met Roman Polanski.

Tate and Polanski later agreed that neither of them had been impressed by the other when they first met. Polanski was planning The Fearless Vampire Killers, which was being co-produced by Ransohoff, and had decided that he wanted the red-headed actress Jill St. John for the female lead. Ransohoff insisted that Polanski cast Tate, and after meeting with her, he agreed that she would be suitable on the condition that she wore a red wig during filming.

The company traveled to Italy for filming where Tate's fluent Italian proved useful in communicating with the local crew members. A perfectionist, Polanski had little patience with the inexperienced Tate, and said in an interview that one scene had required seventy takes before he was satisfied. In addition to directing, Polanski also played one of the main characters, a guileless young man who is intrigued by Tate's character and begins a romance with her.

As filming progressed, Polanski praised her performances and her confidence grew. They began a relationship, and Tate moved into Polanski's London apartment after filming ended. Jay Sebring traveled to London where he insisted on meeting Polanski. Although friends later said he was devastated, he befriended Polanski and remained Tate's closest confidante. Polanski later commented that Sebring was a lonely and isolated person, who viewed Tate and himself as his family.^[7]

Tate returned to the United States to film Don't Make Waves with Tony Curtis, leaving Polanski in London. Tate played the part of Malibu, and was allegedly the inspiration for the popular "Malibu Barbie" doll.^{[citation needed]} The film was intended to capitalize on the popularity of beach movies and the music of such artists as the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. Tate's character, billed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer publicity as "Malibu, Queen of the Surf", wore little more than a bikini for most of the film. Disappointed with the film, she began referring to herself sarcastically as "sexy little me". Before the film's release, a major publicity campaign resulted in photographs and life-sized cardboard figures of Sharon Tate being displayed in cinema foyers throughout the United States; a concurrent advertising campaign by Coppertone featured Tate. The film opened to poor reviews and mediocre ticket sales and Tate was quoted as confiding to a reporter, "It's a terrible movie", before adding, "Sometimes I say things I shouldn't. I guess I'm too outspoken."^[1]

Polanski returned to the United States, and was contracted by the head of Paramount Pictures, Robert Evans, to direct and write the screenplay for Rosemary's Baby, which was based on Ira Levin's novel of the same name.^[5] Polanski later admitted that he had wanted Tate to star in the film and had hoped that someone would suggest her, as he felt it inappropriate to make the suggestion himself. The producers did not suggest Tate, and Mia Farrow was cast. Tate reportedly provided ideas for some of the key scenes, including the scene in which the protagonist, Rosemary, is impregnated.^{[citation needed]} She also appeared uncredited as a guest in a party scene. A frequent visitor to the set, she was photographed there by Esquire magazine and the resulting photographs generated considerable publicity for both Tate and the film.

A March 1967 article about Tate in Playboy magazine began, "This is the year that Sharon Tate happens..." and included six nude or partially nude photographs taken by Roman Polanski during filming of The Fearless Vampire Killers.^[1] Tate was optimistic: Eye of the Devil and The Fearless Vampire Killers were each due for release, and she had been signed to play a major role in the film version of Valley of the Dolls. One of the all-time bestsellers, the film version was highly publicized and anticipated, and while Tate acknowledged that such a prominent role should further her career, she confided to Polanski that she did not like either the book or the script.^[1]

Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins and Judy Garland were cast as the other leads. Susan Hayward replaced Garland a few weeks later when Garland was dismissed.^[8] Director Mark Robson was highly critical of the three principal actresses but, according to Duke, directed most of his criticism at Tate. Duke later said Robson "continually treated [Tate] like an imbecile, which she definitely was not, and she was very attuned and sensitive to this treatment."^[1] Polanski later quoted Robson as saying to him, "That's a great girl you're living with. Few actresses have her kind of vulnerability. She's got a great future."^[7]

In interviews during production, Tate expressed an affinity for her character, Jennifer North, an aspiring actress admired only for her body. Some magazines commented that Tate was viewed similarly and Look magazine published an unfavorable article about the three lead actresses, describing Tate as "a hopelessly stupid and vain starlet".^[1] Tate, Duke and Parkins developed a close friendship which continued after the completion of the film. During the shooting of Valley of the Dolls, Tate confided to Parkins that she was "madly in love" with Polanski.^[3] "Yes, there's no doubt that Roman is the man in my life," Tate was quoted as saying in the New York Sunday News.^[3] Tate promoted the film enthusiastically. She frequently commented on her admiration for Lee Grant, with whom she had played several dramatic scenes. Tate was quoted as saying, "I learned a great deal about acting in [Valley of the Dolls], particularly in my scenes with Lee Grant...She knows what acting is all about and everything she does, from little mannerisms to delivering her lines, is pure professionalism."^[1]

A journalist asked Tate to comment on her nude scene, and she replied,

I have no qualms about it at all. I don't see any difference between being stark naked or fully dressed—if it's part of the job and it's done with meaning and intention. I honestly don't understand the big fuss made over nudity and sex in films. It's silly. On TV, the children can watch people murdering each other, which is a very unnatural thing, but they can't watch two people in the very natural process of making love. Now, really, that doesn't make any sense, does it?^[1]

An edited version of The Fearless Vampire Killers was released, and Polanski expressed disgust at Ransohoff for "butchering" his film. Newsweek called it "a witless travesty", and it was not profitable. Tate's performance was largely ignored in reviews, and when she was mentioned, it was usually in relation to her nude scenes. Eye of the Devil was released shortly after, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer attempted to build interest in Tate with its press release describing her as "one of the screen's most exciting new personalities". The film failed to find an audience, and most reviews were indifferent, neither praising nor condemning it. The New York Times wrote that one of the few highlights was Tate's "chillingly beautiful but expressionless performance".^[1]

The All Eyes on Sharon Tate documentary was used to publicize the film. Its fourteen minutes consisted of a number of scenes depicting Tate filming Eye of the Devil, dancing in nightclubs and sightseeing around London, and also contained a brief interview with her. Asked about her acting ambitions she replied, "I don't fool myself. I can't see myself doing Shakespeare." She spoke of her hopes of finding a niche in comedy, and in other interviews she expressed her desire to become "a light comedienne in the Carole Lombard style".^[1] She discussed the type of contemporary actress she wanted to emulate and explained that there were two in particular that she was influenced by: Faye Dunaway and Catherine Deneuve. Of the latter, she said, "I'd like to be an American Catherine Deneuve. She plays beautiful, sensitive, deep parts with a little bit of intelligence behind them."^[9]

Later in the year, Valley of the Dolls opened to almost uniformly negative reviews. Bosley Crowther wrote in The New York Times, "all a fairly respectful admirer of movies can do is laugh at it and turn away".^[10] Newsweek said that the film "has no more sense of its own ludicrousness than a village idiot stumbling in manure", but a later article read: "Astoundingly photogenic, infinitely curvaceous, Sharon Tate is one of the most smashing young things to hit Hollywood in a long time."^[11] The three lead actresses were castigated in numerous publications, including The Saturday Review, which wrote, "Ten years ago... Parkins, Duke and Tate would more likely have been playing the hat check girls than movie-queens; they are totally lacking in style, authority or charm."^[1] The Hollywood Reporter provided some positive comments, such as, "Sharon Tate emerges as the film's most sympathetic character... William H. Daniels' photographic caress of her faultless face and enormous absorbent eyes is stunning."^[1] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised Tate as "a wonder to behold", but after describing the dialogue in one scene as "the most offensive and appalling vulgarity ever thrown up by any civilization", concluded that, "I will be unable to take her any more seriously as a sex symbol than Raquel Welch."^[12]

Marriage to Roman Polanski[link]

In late 1967, Tate and Polanski returned to London, and were frequent subjects of newspaper and magazine articles. Tate was depicted as being untraditional and modern, and was quoted as saying that couples should live together before marrying. They were married in Chelsea, London on January 20, 1968 with considerable publicity. Polanski was dressed in what the press described as "Edwardian finery," while Tate was attired in a white minidress.^[5] The couple moved into Polanski's mews house off Eaton Square in Belgravia.^[3] Photographer Peter Evans later described them as "the imperfect couple. They were the Douglas Fairbanks/Mary Pickford of our time... Cool, nomadic, talented and nicely shocking."^[1]

While Tate reportedly wanted a traditional marriage, Polanski remained somewhat promiscuous and described Tate's attitude to his infidelity as "Sharon's big hang-up". He reminded Tate that she had promised that she would not try to change him.^[1] Tate accepted Polanski's conditions, though she confided to friends that she hoped he would change. Peter Evans quoted Tate as saying, "We have a good arrangement. Roman lies to me and I pretend to believe him."^[13]

Polanski urged Tate to end her association with Martin Ransohoff, and Tate began to place less importance on her career, until Polanski told her that he wanted to be married to "a hippie, not a housewife". The couple returned to Los Angeles and quickly became part of a social group that included some of the most successful young people in the film industry, including Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty, Mia Farrow, Peter Sellers, Jacqueline Bisset, Leslie Caron, Joan Collins, Joanna Pettet, Laurence Harvey, Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda, older film stars like Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner and Danny Kaye, musicians such as Jim Morrison and the Mamas & the Papas, and record producer Terry Melcher and his girlfriend Candice Bergen. Jay Sebring remained one of the couple's most frequent companions. Polanski's circle of friends included people he had known since his youth in Poland such as Wojciech Frykowski and Frykowski's girlfriend, coffee heiress Abigail Folger. The couple moved into the Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood for a few months ^[7] until they arranged to lease Patty Duke's home on Summit Ridge Drive in Beverly Hills during the latter part of 1968.^[7] The Polanski house was often full of strangers, and Tate regarded the casual atmosphere as part of the "free spirit" of the times, saying that she did not mind who came into her home as her motto was "live and let live".^[7] Her close friend Leslie Caron later commented that the Polanskis were too trusting — "to the point of recklessness" — and that she had been alarmed by it.^[14]

In the summer of 1968, Tate began her next film, The Wrecking Crew (1969), a comedy in which she played Freya Carlson, an accident-prone spy, who was also a romantic interest for star Dean Martin, playing Matt Helm. She performed her own stunts and was taught martial arts by Bruce Lee. The film was successful and brought Tate strong reviews, with many reviewers praising her comedic performance. The New York Times critic Vincent Canby criticized the film but wrote, "The only nice thing is Sharon Tate, a tall, really great-looking girl".^[15] Martin commented that he intended to make another "Matt Helm" film, and that he wanted Tate to reprise her role.

Around this time Tate was feted as a promising newcomer. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as "New Star of the Year – Actress" for her Valley of the Dolls performance.^[16]

She placed fourth behind Mia Farrow, Judy Geeson and Katharine Houghton for a "Golden Laurel" award as the year's "Most Promising Newcomer" with the results published in the Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine.^[17] She was also runner-up to Lynn Redgrave in the Motion Picture Herald's poll for "The Star of Tomorrow", in which box-office drawing power was the main criterion for inclusion on the list.^[18] These results indicated that her career was beginning to accelerate and for her next film, Tate negotiated a fee of $150,000.^[1]

Tate became pregnant near the end of 1968, and on February 15, 1969 she and Polanski moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon.^[3] The house had previously been occupied by their friends, Terry Melcher and Candice Bergen. Tate and Polanski had visited it several times, and Tate was thrilled to learn it was available, referring to it as her "love house". At their new home, the Polanskis continued to be popular hosts for their large group of friends, although some of their friends still worried about the strange types who continued to show up at their parties.^[3] Encouraged by positive reviews of her comedic performances, Tate chose the comedy The Thirteen Chairs as her next project, as she later explained, largely for the opportunity to co-star with Orson Welles. In March 1969, she traveled to Italy to begin filming, while Polanski went to London to work on The Day of the Dolphin. Frykowski and Folger moved into the Cielo Drive house.

After completing The Thirteen Chairs, Tate joined Polanski in London. She posed in their apartment for photographer Terry O'Neill in casual domestic scenes such as opening baby gifts, and also completed a series of glamour photographs for the British magazine Queen. A journalist asked Tate in a late July interview if she believed in fate, to which she replied, "Certainly. My whole life has been decided by fate. I think something more powerful than we are decides our fates for us. I know one thing — I've never planned anything that ever happened to me."^[1]

She returned from London to Los Angeles, on July 20, 1969, traveling alone on the QE2. Polanski was due to return on August 12 in time for the birth, and he asked Frykowski and Folger to stay in the house with Tate until then.

Death and aftermath[link]

Murder[link]

On August 8, 1969, Tate was two weeks from giving birth. She entertained two friends, actresses Joanna Pettet and Barbara Lewis, for lunch at her home, confiding in them her disappointment at Polanski's delay in returning from London. In the afternoon, Polanski telephoned her. Her younger sister, Debra, also called to ask if she and their sister, Patti, could spend the night with her, but Sharon declined. In the evening, she went to her favorite restaurant, El Coyote, with Sebring, Frykowski and Folger, returning at about 10:30 p.m.^[1]

During the night, they were murdered by members of Charles Manson's "family" and their bodies discovered the following morning by Tate's housekeeper, Winifred Chapman. Police arrived at the scene to find the body of a young man, later identified as Steven Parent, shot dead in his car, which was in the driveway. Inside the house, the bodies of Tate and Sebring were found in the living room; a long rope tied around each of their necks connected them. On the front lawn lay the bodies of Frykowski and Folger. All of the victims, except Parent, had been stabbed numerous times. The coroner's report for Tate noted that she had been stabbed sixteen times, and that "five of the wounds were in and of themselves fatal".^[4]

Police took the only survivor at the address, the caretaker William Garretson, for questioning. Garretson lived in the guest house which was located on the property, but a short distance from the house, and not immediately visible. As the first suspect, he was questioned and submitted to a polygraph test. He said that Parent had visited him at approximately 11:30 p.m. and left after a few minutes. Garretson said he had no involvement in the murders and did not know anything that could help the investigation. Police accepted his explanation and he was allowed to leave.

The Tate family grave at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, in which Sharon, her unborn son Paul, mother Doris, and sister Patti are buried

Polanski was informed of the murders and returned to Los Angeles where police, unable to determine a motive, questioned him about his wife and friends. On Wednesday, August 13, Tate was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, with her son, Paul Richard Polanski (named posthumously for Polanski's and Tate's fathers), in her arms. Sebring's funeral took place later the same day; the funerals were scheduled several hours apart to allow mutual friends to attend both.

Life magazine devoted a lengthy article to the murders and featured photographs of the crime scenes. Polanski was interviewed for the article and allowed himself to be photographed in the living room where Tate and Sebring had died, Tate's dried blood clearly visible on the floor in front of him. Widely criticized for his actions, he argued that he wanted to know who was responsible and was willing to shock the magazine's readers in the hope that someone would come forward with information.^[7]

Curiosity about the victims led to the re-release of Tate's films, achieving greater popularity than they had in their initial runs. Some newspapers began to speculate on the motives for the murders. Some of the published photographs of Tate were allegedly taken at a Satanic ritual, but were later proven to have been production photographs from Eye of the Devil. Friends spoke out against the portrayal of Tate by some elements of the media. Mia Farrow said she was as "sweet and pure a human being as I have ever known", while Patty Duke remembered her as "a gentle, gentle creature. I was crazy about her, and I don't know anyone who wasn't". Polanski berated a crowd of journalists at a press conference, saying that many times they had written that Tate "was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman in the world. But did you ever write how good she was?"^[1] Peter Evans later quoted the actor Laurence Harvey, who commented on Polanski immediately after the murders, "This could destroy Roman. Marriage vows mean nothing to him but few men have adored a woman as much as he adored Sharon."^[13]

Polanski later admitted that in the months following the murders he suspected various friends and associates, and his paranoia subsided only when the killers were arrested. Newspapers claimed that many Hollywood stars were moving out of the city, while others were reported to have installed security systems in their homes. Writer Dominick Dunne later recalled the tension:

Arrest and trial of the Manson Family[link]

In November 1969, while in prison in connection with a car theft, Susan Atkins boasted to an inmate that she was responsible for the murder of Sharon Tate. This led to her indictment, along with the accomplices she named, Charles Manson, Charles "Tex" Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian. Atkins also revealed that the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, the night after the Tate murders, were also committed by Family members, and incriminated Leslie Van Houten as a participant in the second murder.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney offered Susan Atkins a deal that guaranteed they would not seek the death penalty against her for any of the current charges in exchange for her grand jury and trial testimony.^[4] Atkins testified before the grand jury that she had been unable to stab Sharon Tate and that she was killed by Watson, a contradiction of statements she had made prior to her arrest.^[4] Atkins refused to cooperate further, forcing the District Attorney's office to withdraw its offer. An offer of immunity against prosecution was made to Kasabian in exchange for her agreement to provide complete testimony at any trial, against any of the defendants.^[4] Assistant District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi wrote later that he believed Kasabian would be more acceptable to the jurors because she had not killed anyone.^[4] In his book Will You Die For Me, Charles Watson later confessed to the murder saying Atkins didn't even touch her.^[20]

On June 15, 1970, Manson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten were tried while Watson remained in Texas fighting extradition. The details of the trial were reported throughout the world. Kasabian was a reliable and consistent witness. She testified about a hippie group and its leader Charles Manson, a thwarted musician who believed that a race war was imminent. He believed that the music of The Beatles warned of the coming holocaust, which he referred to as "Helter Skelter", after the Beatles song, and also believed that only the "chosen", his "family", would survive. Briefly associated with Terry Melcher, Manson had believed that Melcher would foster his musical aspirations; when this did not occur, Manson felt infuriated and betrayed. Manson believed that he would bring about the race war by having his followers slaughter wealthy people in their homes and cast suspicion on militant groups such as the Black Panthers. Manson expected these groups to win the race war, and predicted that they would make him their leader when they realized they were too inept to govern the new society. He had been to 10050 Cielo Drive, and although he knew that Melcher had moved, the house represented his rejection by the show business establishment. He instructed Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, and Kasabian to go to the house "and kill everyone there", while he remained in their camp at Spahn's Movie Ranch.^[4]

Kasabian's and Atkins' testimony provided details that had not previously been reported to the public. When the group scaled a fence surrounding the property, they were seen by Steven Parent, who was leaving in his car. Watson approached the vehicle and ordered it to stop. Parent asked Watson not to hurt him, and promised that he would not say anything, but Watson's response was to slash Parent with a knife and shoot him four times. Watson then instructed Kasabian to remain outside and keep watch while the others entered the house. The four occupants were rounded up into the living room and tied together at gunpoint. When Watson ordered the occupants to lie on their stomachs, Jay Sebring urged the intruders to consider Tate's pregnancy and not harm her. Watson immediately shot Sebring. Wojciech Frykowski and Abigail Folger escaped, running in different directions onto the front lawn, where they were each overtaken and killed. Tate remained in the house and begged for her child's life, pleading that the group abduct Tate and allow her to give birth before murdering her. Atkins testified that she had told Tate she would receive no mercy. Tate was stabbed sixteen times, and Atkins dipped a towel in Tate's blood to write "PIG" on the front door. They left Tate's house after midnight and returned to Spahn Ranch.^[4]

During the penalty phase of the trial, Atkins was again questioned about her attitude to Tate and her role in Tate's death. She said, "They didn't even look like people... I didn't relate to Sharon Tate as being anything but a store mannequin... [Tate] sounded just like an IBM machine... She kept begging and pleading and pleading and begging, and I got sick of listening to her, so I stabbed her."^[4] The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death on March 29, 1971. Watson was tried separately after extradition from Texas. Psychiatrists testified that he appeared to be feigning insanity, and while he admitted his role in all of the killings, he refused to acknowledge his responsibility, and was widely quoted by the press when he stated that he had not noticed that Sharon Tate was pregnant. He was found guilty and sentenced to death on October 21, 1971. The death sentences were later automatically commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court's People v. Anderson decision resulted in the invalidation of all death sentences imposed in California before 1972. As of 2010^[update], Manson, Watson, Krenwinkel, and Van Houten remain incarcerated.^[1] Atkins died in prison on September 24, 2009.^[21]

Legacy[link]

In the early 1980s, Stephen Kay, who had worked for the prosecution in the trial, became alarmed that Leslie Van Houten had gathered 900 signatures on a petition for her parole. He contacted Sharon Tate's mother, who said she was sure she could do better, and the two mounted a publicity campaign, collecting over 350,000 signatures supporting the denial of parole.^[1] Van Houten had been seen as the most likely of the killers to be paroled; following Kay's and Tate's efforts, her petition was denied. Doris Tate became a vocal advocate for victims' rights and, in discussing her daughter's murder and meeting other crime victims, assumed the role of counselor, using her profile to encourage public discussion and criticism of the corrections system.^[1]

For the rest of her life, she strongly campaigned against the parole of each of the Manson killers, and worked closely with other victims of violent crime. Several times, she confronted Charles Watson at parole hearings, explaining, "I feel that Sharon has to be represented in that hearing room. If they're (the killers) pleading for their lives, then I have to be there representing her." She addressed Watson directly during her victim impact statement in 1984: "What mercy, sir, did you show my daughter when she was begging for her life? What mercy did you show my daughter when she said, 'Give me two weeks to have my baby and then you can kill me'?.... When will Sharon come up for parole? Will these seven victims and possibly more walk out of their graves if you get paroled? You cannot be trusted."^[1]

In 1992, President George Bush recognized Doris Tate as one of his "thousand points of light" for her volunteer work on behalf of victims' rights. By this time Tate had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and her health and strength were failing; her meeting with Bush marked her final public appearance. When she died later that year, her youngest daughter, Patricia Gay Tate, known as Patti, continued her work. She contributed to the 1993 foundation of the Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau, a non-profit organization which aims to influence crime legislation throughout the United States and to give greater rights and protection to victims of violent crime.^[22] In 1995, the "Doris Tate Crime Victims Foundation" was founded as a non-profit organization to promote public awareness of the judicial system and to provide support to the victims of violent crime.^[23]

Patti Tate confronted David Geffen and board members of Geffen Records in 1993 over plans to include a song written by Charles Manson on the Guns N' Roses album "The Spaghetti Incident?". She commented to a journalist that the record company was "putting Manson up on a pedestal for young people who don't know who he is to worship like an idol."^[24]

After Patti's death from breast cancer in 2000, her older sister Debra continued to represent the Tate family at parole hearings. Debra Tate said of the killers: "They don't show any personal responsibility. They haven't made atonement to any one of my family members."^[1] She has also unsuccessfully lobbied for Sharon Tate to be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Colonel Paul Tate preferred not to make public comments; however, he was a constant presence during the murder trial, and in the following years attended parole hearings with his wife, and wrote letters to authorities in which he strongly opposed any suggestion of parole. He died in May 2005.^[25][26]

Roman Polanski gave away all of his possessions after the murders, unable to bear any reminders of the period that he called "the happiest I ever was in my life". He remained in Los Angeles until the killers were arrested and then traveled to Europe. His 1979 film Tess was dedicated "For Sharon", as Tate had read Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles during her final stay with Polanski in London, and had left it for him to read with the comment that it would be a good story for them to film together. He tried to explain his anguish after the murder of his wife and unborn son in his 1984 autobiography Roman by Polanski, saying "Since Sharon's death, and despite appearances to the contrary, my enjoyment of life has been incomplete. In moments of unbearable personal tragedy some people find solace in religion. In my case the opposite happened. Any religious faith I had was shattered by Sharon's murder. It reinforced my faith in the absurd."^[7]

In July 2005, Polanski successfully sued Vanity Fair magazine for libel after it stated that he had tried to seduce a woman on his way to Tate's funeral. Among the witnesses who testified on his behalf were Debra Tate and Mia Farrow. Describing Polanski immediately after Tate's death, Farrow testified, "Of this I can be sure — of his frame of mind when we were there, of what we talked about, of his utter sense of loss, of despair and bewilderment and shock and love — a love that he had lost." At the conclusion of the case, Polanski read a statement, saying in part, "The memory of my late wife Sharon Tate was at the forefront of my mind in bringing this action."^[13]

The murders committed by the Manson "Family" have been described by social commentators as one of the defining moments of the 1960s. Joan Didion wrote, "Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969, ended at the exact moment when word of the murders on Cielo Drive traveled like brushfire through the community, and in a sense this is true. The tension broke that day. The paranoia was fulfilled."^[1]

Sharon Tate's work as an actress has been reassessed after her death, with contemporary film writers and critics such as Leonard Maltin describing her potential as a comedienne. A restored version of The Fearless Vampire Killers more closely resembles Polanski's intention. Maltin lauded the film as "near-brilliant" and Tate's work in Don't Make Waves and The Wrecking Crew as her two best performances, as well as the best indicators of the career she might have established.^[27] Eye of the Devil with its supernatural themes, and Valley of the Dolls, with its overstated melodrama, have each achieved a degree of cult status.

Tate's biographer, Greg King, holds a view often expressed by members of the Tate family, writing in Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders (2000): "Sharon's real legacy lies not in her movies or in her television work. The very fact that, today, victims or their families in California are able to sit before those convicted of a crime and have a voice in the sentencing at trials or at parole hearings, is largely due to the work of Doris [and Patti] Tate. Their years of devotion to Sharon's memory and dedication to victims' rights... have helped transform Sharon from mere victim, [and] restore a human face to one of the twentieth century's most infamous crimes."^[1] .

Filmography[link]

References[link]

This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. You can help to improve it by introducing citations that are more precise.

Sources[link]

• Gilmore, John (1971). The Garbage People. Omega Press. LCCN 70-168482. 
• Gilmore, John (2000). Manson: The Unholy Trail of Charlie & the Family. Amok Books. ISBN 1-878923-13-7. 
• King, Greg (2000). Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders. Barricade Books. ISBN 1-56980-157-6. 
• Polanski, Roman (1984). Roman by Polanski. Eurexpart B.V.. ISBN 0-688-02621-4. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sharon Tate

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sharon Tate

Los Angeles portal

Informational sites

• Official website
• Sharon Tate at the Internet Movie Database
• Sharon Tate at AllRovi

Crime sites

• CieloDrive.com – The Story of the Manson Family and Their Victims
• The Crime Library
• - the Sharon Tate Fan Club interview

American Masters is a PBS television show which produces biographies on the artists, actors and writers of the United States who have left a profound impact on the nation's popular culture. It is produced by WNET in New York City. The show debuted on PBS in 1986.^[1]

Groups or organizations featured include: Actor's Studio, Algonquin Round Table, Group Theatre, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Women of Tin Pan Alley, Negro Ensemble Company, Juilliard School, the Beat Generation, The Singer-songwriters of the 1970s, Sun Records, Vaudeville, and Warner Bros. Pictures.

History[link]

American Masters, a series "devoted to America's 'greatest native-born and adopted' artists," was originally scheduled to premier in September 1985; for "logistical scheduling reasons" the premiere was delayed until summer 1986, though on October 16, 1985, an American Masters "special" called Aaron Copland: A Self-Portrait was aired.^[2]

The first of the 15 first-season episodes was Private Conversations,^[3] a "cinema-verite documentary by Christian Blackwood done in that trickiest of cinematic forms: a film about a film, in this instance the television version of Death of a Salesman, directed by Volker Schlöndorff".^[4] It aired on June 23, 1986, as one of two episodes not specifically commissioned for the show's first season.^[4]

Susan Lacy, American Masters creator and executive producer, selected each subject, matched them to the specific film makers, and oversaw a first-season budget of $8 million.^[4] Before creating the series Lacy had been the senior programmer for Great Performances and one of the "architects" of American Playhouse, having written the original proposal for the latter. At the time of the show's premiere, she was also the East Coast head of the Sundance Institute.^[4]

After the show's first two seasons, American Masters began producing most of its episodes; in those cases, it hires directors, arranges for funding, manages the budget, and supervises the editing; the show reserves the right to make the final cut on every film it produces.^[5] The American Masters production company occasionally plays a more limited role and co-produces some of its episodes, such as the 2005 documentary on Bob Dylan, No Direction Home, and then in 2010 The Doors, When You're Strange.

Subjects[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

A[link]

• Actor's Studio
• Stella Adler
• Louisa May Alcott
• Algonquin Round Table
• Woody Allen
• Atlantic Records
• Louis Armstrong
• John James Audubon
• Richard Avedon

B[link]

• Joan Baez
• George Balanchine
• James Baldwin
• Lucille Ball
• Tony Bennett
• Leonard Bernstein
• Jeff Bridges
• James Brown
• Carol Burnett

C[link]

• John Cage
• Alexander Calder
• Cab Calloway
• Robert Capa
• Truman Capote
• Johnny Carson
• John Cassavetes
• Willa Cather
• Lon Chaney
• Charlie Chaplin
• Ray Charles
• Julia Child
• Harold Clurman
• Nat King Cole
• Sam Cooke
• Aaron Copland
• Walter Cronkite
• George Cukor
• Merce Cunningham
• Edward S. Curtis

D[link]

• James Dean
• Placido Domingo
• The Doors (When You're Strange)
• Bob Dylan (No Direction Home)

E[link]

• Thomas Eakins
• Charles and Ray Eames
• Clint Eastwood
• Albert Einstein
• Duke Ellington
• Ralph Ellison

F[link]

• Ella Fitzgerald
• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• John Ford/John Wayne
• Miloš Forman
• Aretha Franklin
• Buckminster Fuller

G[link]

• Judy Garland
• Marvin Gaye
• Frank Gehry
• George Gershwin
• Allen Ginsberg
• Lillian Gish
• Philip Glass
• Samuel Goldwyn
• Benny Goodman
• Glenn Gould
• Martha Graham
• Cary Grant
• D.W. Griffith
• Woody Guthrie
• Group Theatre

H[link]

• Merle Haggard
• Dashiell Hammett
• John H. Hammond
• Helen Hayes
• Lillian Hellman
• Ernest Hemingway
• Jerry Herman
• Don Hewitt
• Al Hirschfeld
• Alfred Hitchcock/David O. Selznick
• Hollywood Chinese
• David Hockney
• Billie Holiday
• Lena Horne
• Zora Neale Hurston

I[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

J[link]

• Jasper Johns
• Philip Johnson
• Bill T. Jones
• Quincy Jones
• Juilliard School

K[link]

• Danny Kaye
• Elia Kazan
• Buster Keaton
• Garrison Keillor
• Gene Kelly
• André Kertész

L[link]

• Harper Lee
• Annie Leibovitz
• John Lennon
• James Levine
• Harold Lloyd
• Cachao Lopez
• George Lucas
• Henry Luce

M[link]

• Norman Mailer
• Bob Marley
• Sanford Meisner
• Yehudi Menuhin
• Arthur Miller
• Joni Mitchell
• Margaret Mitchell
• Marilyn Monroe
• Robert Motherwell
• John Muir
• Edward R. Murrow

N[link]

• Negro Ensemble Company
• Willie Nelson
• Bob Newhart
• Mike Nichols/Elaine May
• Alwin Nikolais/Murray Louis
• Isamu Noguchi

O[link]

• Phil Ochs
• Georgia O'Keeffe
• Eugene O'Neill

P[link]

• Jack Paar
• Charlie Parker
• Les Paul
• Pearl Jam (Pearl Jam Twenty)
• Gregory Peck
• I.M. Pei
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Sidney Poitier
• Cole Porter
• Katherine Anne Porter

Q[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

R[link]

• Robert Rauschenberg
• Man Ray
• Lou Reed
• Frederic Remington
• Diego Rivera
• Jerome Robbins
• Paul Robeson
• Norman Rockwell
• Richard Rodgers
• Will Rogers
• Arthur Rubinstein

S[link]

• Mort Sahl
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens
• Waldo Pressman Salt
• Charles M. Schulz
• Martin Scorsese
• Pete Seeger
• Maurice Sendak
• Rod Serling
• Neil Simon
• Paul Simon
• Isaac Bashevis Singer
• W. Eugene Smith
• Alfred Stieglitz
• Isaac Stern
• George Stevens
• Preston Sturges
• William Styron
• Sun Records
• Sweet Honey in the Rock

T[link]

• Paul Taylor
• Dalton Trumbo

U[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

V[link]

• Sarah Vaughan
• Gore Vidal

W[link]

• Andy Warhol
• Warner Brothers
• Alice Waters
• Muddy Waters
• Billy Wilder
• Hank Williams
• Tennessee Williams
• William Wyler

X[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

Y[link]

Neil Young

Z[link]

Funding[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Cuismart (November 2, 1998-July 6, 2006)
• Le Cordon Bleu (August 18, 2004)
• The Charles H. Revsion Foundation (July 21, 1998-Present)
• Carnegie Corporation of New York (July 6, 1983-Present)
• Park Foundation (January 6, 1996-2006)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (August 24, 1994–December 26, 2005)
• National Endowment for the Arts (July 6, 1983–present)
• Rosland P. Walter (May 1, 1992–present)
• The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (2009–present)
• American Playhouse (2001–present)
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (January 6, 1983–present)
• Institute for Civil Society (1999-2005)
• Viewers Like You (January 6, 1983–present)
• MasterCard (August 29, 2000–August 31, 2007)
• Apple Inc. (August 29, 2000–2008)
• American Express (August 24, 1994-August 31, 1995)

References[link]

External links[link]

• PBS: American Masters