Painfully Shy Sharon and Daphne DuMaurier 's Rebecca, One of Sharon's co-stars Lionel Jeffries passes, and More on Polanski

I've been reading some classic mystery novels lately on break at work and now I am reading Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca.  In it the heroine, the second Mrs. DeWinter, talks about how akward and shy she was--and, in fact--all young women are.  It reminded me of Sharon when she talked about how painfully shy she was in her late teens and early twenties.  I recall she began reading books on Buddhism to try to help settle and deal with her nerves.  Here is the passage in the book that I am referring to:

They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one.  They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so easily bruised, so swiftly wounded, one falls to the first barbed word.  Today, wrapped in the complacent armour of approaching middle age, the infinitesimal pricks of day by day brush one but lightly and are soon forgotten, but then--how a careless word would linger, becoming a fiery stigma, and how a look, a glace over the shoulder, branded themselves as things eternal.  A denial heralded the thrice crowing of a cock, and an insincerity was like the kiss of Judas.  The adult mind can lie with untroubled conscience and a gay composure, but in those days even a small deception scoured the tongue, lashing one against the stake itself.

I wonder if Sharon felt that way.  For instance, when two acting coaches talked about Sharon, this is what they said:

Jeff Corey, one acting coach, said, "An incredibly beautiful girl, but a fragmented personality. I tried to get reactions out of her, though. Once I even gave her a stick, and said, 'Hit me, do something, show emotion' ...If you can't tap who you are, you can never act."

Charles Conrad, another acting teacher, said, "Such a beautiful girl, you would have thought she would have all the confidence in the world. But she had none."

I just think that Sharon had a somewhat hard time of it because she was so very shy.  However, DuMaurier's passage makes perfect sense if that is how Sharon truly felt.

One of Sharon's co-stars from the film '12 + 1' has passed away, Lionel Jeffries:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/20/arts/20jeffries.html

Apparently some are already complaining about Polanski winning the Berlin Best Director Award saying it sends the wrong message when we give awards to people like him.  Here is an article on it:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Award-sends-the-wrong-message/articleshow/5604179.cms

And here is an article that defends him winning the award:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Separate-the-movies-from-the-man/articleshow/5604191.cms

Meanwhile, Bernard Henri-Levy congratulates Polanski on the award:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bernardhenri-levy/salut-roman-polanski_b_470553.html