I watched Once Upon a Time…… in Hollywood and loved Margot Robbie’s performance, and I asked myself: “How idolized is Sharon Tate in the United States?” I myself was not alive at the time, and watching several documentaries and references, besides finding her beautiful, I found a great actress and woman, who, victim of a brutal murder in her last moments, tried to defend her son, while expecting a baby.
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Depends on what age group you’re talking to. I’m in my mid 30s and know her for basically nothing except her death, sadly. Older people would presumably be more likely to remember her for her acting.
I’ve never heard her referenced once outside of the crime.
I don’t think she’s really idolized at all, at least not by anyone under the age of 60. Most people over the age of 35 would probably know who she is, though, especially if they have any interest in Hollywood or true crime.
As a millennial, I really only know about her because of her death, though I do know she was an actress. There’s not many actors/actresses from that time period I could name TBH. I wouldn’t say she’s idolized at all, except by older baby boomers possibly.
The vast majority of people under 45 would not recognize her name.
I am in my 30s but don’t know who she is.
Not idolized. But certainly in Los Angeles, she’s a reference point. Her murder changed the way people thought about the city. According to my father, who was a child at the time, that’s when folks started locking their doors.
We haven’t forgotten those murders. It’s definitely my only association with her. Can’t speak to whether she is even known at all in other cities.
I’m in my 60’s, and never heard of her until I read “Helter Skelter”.
Now, we happen to live fairly close to Spahn Ranch. Wierd.
I’m 63, I know her for the crime. Not sure that I’ve ever seen one of her films
Most younger people probably still don’t realize she was a real person even after watching the movie. She’s basically a footnote in a terrible tragedy.
She’s more famous now than when alive.
I don’t think she was really that famous at the time, her star was only just starting to rise when it was all cut short.
I know Sharon Tate as the actress murdered by the Manson family cult, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie she was in
Unfortunately I don’t know who this person is.
When I was a freshman in college like 7 years ago I thought I would make a drink for my friends. I told them it was called a Sharon Tate. They looked at me like wtf is that. Turns out I meant a Shirley Temple. Typically a Shirley Temple does not have any alcohol in it, but being a college student I put a bunch of vodka in mine. And ever since then me and my friends called a Shirley Temple with vodka in it a Sharon Tate.
I didn’t really know who Sharon Tate was in that moment but I had read Helter Skelter a few years before so I guess her name was floating in my subconscious.
I hear her referenced sometimes when people talk about her husband and his umm later activities.
To the extent that she is known, it is as a victim of the Manson Family, and frankly among younger people, most probably don’t even know that. WE’ll never know what she could have been, but her career was mostly bit parts. But for her death, she wouldn’t be remembered at all
Outside of true crime shows on Charles Manson I know nothing of her
Unfortunately (because it’s a tragic way to be remembered) she is exponentially more famous for being a Manson Family victim than as an actress. She had very few acting credits and none of them were breakout-star roles.
And doubling down on the unfortunateness her husband, who was already better known than her, is kind of equally known as a famous director and for not being able to enter the US without getting arrested for skipping town after being convicted of sexually assaulting a thirteen-year-old girl. He was nominated for an Oscar and unable to attend the ceremony because the courts refused to say he wouldn’t be arrested as soon as he got off the plane. Given what we know these days about Hollywood it’s not surprising he got a standing ovation in absentia. (I do think Harrison Ford, who was presenting, had some Thoughts, though, based on his tone when he just said ‘The Academy congratulates Roman Polanski and accepts this award on his behalf’ and walks off the stage with the envelope. Like, there is NO ‘he couldn’t be here tonight’ pretense. They never even had the statuette out.)
Outside of her murder, I don’t know anything about Sharon Tate. I’ve never seen one of her films.
I think it totally depends on age. I’m 25. You could show me a pic of her and I wouldn’t recognize her. If you showed a pic to my parents (who are in their 60s) they probably would recognize her. But from my understanding, she was a regular actress in her time but she wasn’t insanely famous.
I was an adult at the time and I had never heard of Sharon Tate until it happened. No one I saw idolized her at any point.
Mostly because of her murder.
Its often thought of as both the end of the “golden age” of Hollywood and overnight turned the country’s opinion of the “hippy” counterculture from being a bunch of harmless peace-and-love goofballs to being a dark and dangerous substrate of cultists.
She was a blip in Hollywood. No one idolized her. She had one notable movie. She attained fame by dying.