A friend of actress Sharon Tate, who was murdered along with her unborn baby by the Manson Family in 1969, criticized Quentin Tarantino’s portrayal of Tate in his film, “Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood.”
Ava Roosevelt, 71, said she “felt very angry” after seeing the film, which portrays the Manson Family murders and Tate in 1960s Hollywood. It generated $41 million during its first weekend, according to the New York Post.
“Tarantino has abused the memory of my friends,” she said. “After the film, my boyfriend asked me how I was doing. I said, ‘Let’s not talk.’ I didn’t really sleep last night,” she continued.
Roosevelt is the widow of William Roosevelt, the grandson of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She met movie director Roman Polanski in her teens, and attended his wedding to Sharon Tate in London in 1968, according to the New York Post. Roosevelt then moved to Los Angeles at 21 for a modeling career.
“I never lived at 10050 Cielo Drive (the Polanski residence) but I was there constantly. Roman was away in London and we thought, ‘What if Sharon has the baby sooner than anticipated?’ We need to be with her,” she said. (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Mexico Deported Charles Manson As An ‘Undesirable Alien’ In 1960)
American actress Sharon Tate (1943 – 1969) visiting the set of her husband, Roman Polanski’s film ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, New York City, August 1967. (Photo by Santi Visalli/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Tate was “a brilliant and strong actress who took her image very seriously,” Roosevelt said.
“Sharon Tate as portrayed by Margot Robbie is a mere sex symbol and a ditz,” she continued.
In Roosevelt’s view, those who support the #MeToo movement “should not support this movie.”
She said she feels responsible for preserving the reputations of her friends because she nearly died alongside them, adding that she would have had dinner with Tate and company the night the Manson cult broke in, but ran out of gas on her way to Bel Air, forcing her to cancel her visit.
“I spoke to Sharon that afternoon,” she continued.
“She said, ‘Please come and join us for dinner.’ I’ve managed to live the last 50 years, because my gas gauge showed empty. I sometimes feel very guilty that I am still alive,” she said.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Columbia Pictures for a comment on the portrayal of Sharon Tate in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” but the production company did not immediate respond.
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