Editing Sharon Tate (section)

== Legacy ==
In the early 1980s, Stephen Kay, who had worked for the prosecution in the trial, became alarmed that Manson Family member [[Leslie Van Houten]] had gathered 900 signatures on a petition for her parole. He contacted Tate's mother, Doris, who said that she was sure she could do better, and the two mounted a publicity campaign, collecting over 350,000 signatures supporting the denial of parole.{{sfn|King|2000|p=}} Although Van Houten had been seen as the most likely of the killers to be paroled, her petition was denied after the efforts of Kay and Tate. 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.{{sfn|King|2000|p=}}

[[File:Sharon in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1969) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Tate in ''[[The Fearless Vampire Killers]]'' (1967)]]
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 "Tex" Watson and Susan Atkins 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 Tex Watson directly during her [[victim impact statement]] in 1990: "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."{{sfn|King|2000|p=}}

In 1992 President [[George H. W. Bush|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 Doris 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 nonprofit organization that aims to influence crime legislation throughout the United States and to give greater rights and protection to victims of violent crime.<ref name="doristatebureau">[http://www.ican-foundation.org/ Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau] Retrieved July 13, 2005.</ref> In 1995, the Doris Tate Crime Victims Foundation was founded as a nonprofit organization to promote public awareness of the judicial system and to provide support to the victims of violent crime.<ref name="doristatefoundation">{{cite web |url=http://doristate.com/foundation.htm |title=The Doris Tate Crime Victims Foundation |date=January 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207235859/http://doristate.com/foundation.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2007}}</ref>

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".<ref name="pattitate">{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Quintanilla |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-10-vw-10404-story.html |title=Promises to Keep: Patti Tate Leads a Justice Crusade in the Name of Her Sister Sharon|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 10, 1994|access-date=July 13, 2005}}</ref>

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."{{sfn|King|2000|p=}} She has also unsuccessfully lobbied for her sister 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.<ref name="paultate">{{cite news |date=May 24, 2005 |url=http://www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=1810338925 |work=New Criminologist |title=Obituary ... Sharon Tate, murdered by Charles Manson followers ... father dies |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061108173305/http://www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=1810338925 |archive-date=November 8, 2006}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080908053951/http://www.tatefamilylegacy.com/tatefamilystory.html "The Story of the Tate Family"]. Tate Family Legacy website. Retrieved September 27, 2009.</ref>

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[[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. His 1979 film ''[[Tess (1979 film)|Tess]]'' was dedicated "to 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."{{sfn|Polanski|1984|p=}}

In July 2005, Polanski successfully sued ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine for [[Defamation|libel]] after it alleged 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."<ref name="times" />

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."{{sfn|King|2000|p=}}

Tate's work as an actress has been reassessed since her death, with contemporary film writers and critics, such as [[Leonard Maltin]], describing her potential as a comedian. 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.<ref name="leonardmaltin">{{cite book|author-link=Leonard Maltin|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|title=Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide|publisher=Signet Publishing|year=1998|isbn=0-451-19288-5}}</ref> ''Eye of the Devil'' with its supernatural themes, and ''Valley of the Dolls'', with its overstated melodrama, have each achieved a degree of [[cult film|cult status]].

Tate's biographer, [[Greg King (author)|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&nbsp;... have helped transform Sharon from mere victim, [and] restore a human face to one of the twentieth century's most infamous crimes."{{sfn|King|2000|p=}}

In 2012, the book ''Restless Souls'' was published. Authored by Alisa Statman, a close friend of Patti Tate, two short chapters in the book are written by Sharon's niece, Brie Taylor Ford, daughter of the late Patti Tate Ford. The book contains portions of the unfinished autobiographies of Sharon's father, mother and sister Patti, along with Statman's own "personal interpretation[s]".<ref>''Restless Souls'', Author Alisa Statman, Published 2012, Publisher [[HarperCollins|HarperCollins Publishers, LLC]]</ref> Debra Tate has questioned the book's veracity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sharontate.net/Debra_Tate_Official_Statement_Re_Alisa_Statman_Book_Restless_Souls_3_9_2012_long.html|title=Debra Tate Official Statement Re: Alisa Statman Book Restless Souls|access-date=May 7, 2013}}</ref>

A [[coffee table book]] by Debra Tate, called ''Sharon Tate: Recollection'', was released on June 10, 2014. It is the first book about Tate that is devoted exclusively to her life and career without covering her death, its aftermath, or the events that led to it.<ref name=book>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/news/sharon-tate-book-photos|title=Sharon Tate's Sister Remembers Her Beautiful Life (PHOTOS)|last=Tate|first=Debra|access-date=September 19, 2016|archive-date=October 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020083336/https://www.biography.com/news/sharon-tate-book-photos|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, ''[[Once Upon a Time in Hollywood|Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood]]'', a [[Quentin Tarantino]] film, was released, partly portraying the life of Sharon Tate, played by [[Margot Robbie]]. The film provides a [[Alternate history|reimagining]] of the events leading to Tate's death by the Mansons, which is prevented in the film due to the actions of other characters in the story.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/15/20759084/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-controversy-bruce-lee-sharon-tate-women-explained-tarantino | title = Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's many, many controversies, explained | first= Emily Todd | last = VanDerWerff | date = August 15, 2019 | access-date = January 2, 2019 | work =[[Vox (website)|Vox]] }}</ref>