Sharon Defies Ransohoff in Translated Article and More

I found this interesting article on The Brazilian Sharon Tate Site and thought I'd share it here.

http://sharontate.bravehost.com/index.html

"CAPRICHO" - March 1968 - Brazil

HOLLYWOOD IS HELL'S GATE

SHARON TATE, ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING AMERICAN STARS OF THE NEW GENERATION, ACCUSES HOLLYWOOD OF BEING FALSELY MORALIST AND SAYS THAT THE OLD CINEMA MECA IS VERY DEPRAVED. SHE RESISTED A LOT OF PRESSURE TO GET HER STARDOM AND ENDURED ALL KINDS OF THREATS, EVEN FROM THE PRODUCER WHO DISCOVERED HER, JUST BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T WANT TO BREAK UP OR BETRAY HER GREAT LOVE.

"I’m completely psychedelic. And not in Julie Christie ’s way, please! I know there are people who think that I imitate her! Can you believe that? I want much more freedom than she has. Julie became a slave of her ambition. I think she’s frustrated. Now she says she’s neurotic. I’m not inhibited at all. I just do what I want. If I feel like it, I flirt with a cab driver. I like new things, try new sensations. Why not?"

Sharon likes to speak. And explosively. In her luxurious apartment she didn’t think for a moment: ask the maid to serve something serious from the bar, took her shoes and the stockings off, and loved chatting.

"I got tired of being nobody. I’ve been pretty since I was a little girl. Everybody kept telling me: Why don’t you make movies, Sharon? One day I decide to take the advice. I was very lucky. On the same day I went to an agent’s office from New York, a very strange man came in and said: 'It’s you. I’m gonna make you a movie star.' It looks like a fairytale, I know, but it isn’t."

The man was Martin Ransohoff, a producer who took 30 months and spent more than 500.000 dollars to prepare Sharon for stardom. The first movie Sharon did was Eye of the Devil. The impact she created was such that when Polish director Roman Polanski saw it in a private exhibition in London, he took a plane and went to Hollywood to take a look at that sensational girl. He had been looking for a face like hers for a long time: pure and depraved at the same time, to act in a movie about vampires he was preparing. The meeting of Sharon and Polanski became love at first sight. Much to Ransohoff’s anger, she had no doubts, went along with the young Polish director when he went back to London.

"And why not? I never promised Martin I would give up the right to live my own life the way I want. And then, it’s funny when one falls in love. It happens suddenly. Contracts, plans, everything changes at that moment. The notion I was in love with Roman overwhelmed me. Nothing else mattered. It’s wonderful and horrible at the same time. I stayed in London with Roman. I made Fearless Vampire Killers for him. Martin wouldn’t accept it. He even threatened me. I told him to go to hell. And what annoyed him the most was that I was living with Roman. 'At least, get married' he would shout. It’s funny; Hollywood is a very depraved place, the hell’s door, but knows how to be Victorian when it’s about beginners like me. The pressure was such that Roman understood. He married me. He’s an angel. He realized it was necessary. Hollywood offered me something wonderful though Martin Ransohoff: the role of Jennifer, in Valley of the Dolls, America’s number one best seller, the depraved and pill addicted vamp was coveted by people such as Candice Bergen, Anna Karina, Anouk Aimee, Anne Bancroft. They wanted to give me the role if I married Roman. And that happened. The worst, now, is that Martin doesn’t know that when I love I don’t give a damn to career and fame. When I love and get married, I want children, a home, a quiet life. He says Valley of the Dolls put Hollywood at my feet. And so what? Women who can handle marriage and career are very rare. When you want both things tragedy happens: the husband is jealous of his wife’s success, the wife gets tired of the husband’s jealousy, just because she wants the husband as much as her career. And what’s more important? A magazine cover to look for one whole day, or the love of a husband to have your whole life?"

Caption below photo reads:

30 MONTHS TO BE PREPARED – "Martin just wanted to prove that he could make anybody a movie star. I was very luck but then came the worst: 30 months of super intensive preparation. Diction, walking, singing, acting classes and some small parts in television. I learned how to be an actress."

Here is another great recommendation for "The Fearless Vampire Killers" :

http://zombiesaremagic.blogspot.com/2009/12/fearless-vampire-killers-1967.html

Micaela has uploaded many great videos of Sharon including the Hatami ones here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSLTWdLY2Co