She was a movie star and mother-to-be on the brink of super stardom.
Sharon tate was married to acclaimed director, Roman Polanski, and had just earned her first Golden Globe nomination for her role in Valley Of The Dolls.
But then, on August 9, 1969, she was stabbed to death in her own home alongside dinner guests and friends by Charles Manson's family.
The 26-year-old is reported to have pleaded to be taken as a hostage and kept alive for long enough for her baby to be born.
Her desperate requests fell on deaf ears and Tate was brutally stabbed 16 times and strangled.
Tate, who is portrayed by Margot Robbie in the new Quentin Tarantino film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, was renowned for her doe-eyes and comic film roles.
She first appeared on film in Barbabbas in 1962 but it was five years until she made her next movie, Eye Of The Devil.
The Fearless Vampire Killers, directed by her husband-to-be saw Tate don a red wig.
Despite his harsh words during early filming, Polanski was impressed with tate's performance and the pair began a relationship.
Next she made Don't Make Waves with icon, Tony Curtis, and then came her major role in Valley Of The Dolls.
Tate was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work on the film.
Next she shot The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin and even performed her own martial arts stunts.
Towards the end of 1968, Tate fell pregnant and moved into the house in Cielo Drive, Los Angeles.
This was a decision that would ultimately cost her her life.
But despite being married and pregnant, Tate's life was anything but surburban.
While she may have wanted a traditional marriage, she had promised not to try to "change" her husband, who was said to be promiscious.
One biography claims that tate was often cheated on by Polanski, who also persuaded her to make home-made sex films and take part in threesomes.
When she was a young struggling actress, Tate is believed to have dated Richard Beymer, who was 29 years older than her.
And she was once engaged to actor Philippe Forquet, who it is claimed had a temper.
Tate is rumoured to have been beaten by her lover and is even said to have once stabbed him in the chest with a wine bottle.
Great Escape legend Steve McQueen is also rumoured to have had a relationship with Tate before she started dating hairdress Jay Sebring, who was killed alongside her by Manson's followers.
Their relationship ended when she started seeing Polanski while he was directing her.
Urban legend claims he made her re-shoot a scene in The Fearless Vampire KIllers 70 times before he was happy with it.
Tate also appeared naked on screen in the movie, something that was still considered controversial in the 1960s.
Ed Sanders, the biographer who wrote Sharon Tate: A Life, claims that Polanski liked to hold orgies at the home he shared with his wife in LA.
He would film these sex parties and then play the tapes at parties with his famous pals.
Polanski is also said to have tried to control what Tate wore.
Then, on August 9, 1969, Tate's life ended in the most horrific way.
Each of the murders was brutal - Jay was was shot after he tried to stop the gang attacking Sharon and then stabbed seven times.
Steven Parent, a friend of the house's caretaker, was shot and killed as The Family, minus Charles, burst into the home in Los Angeles.
He was just 18.
Wojciech was asleep on the sofa when The Family barged in and was kicked in the head by Tex Watson.
When Wojciech asked him what he was doing he chillingly replied "I am the devil and I'm here to do the devil's business".
Watson then started to tie Sharon and Jay together with a rope round their necks and slung it over the beam in the living room.
Abigail was ordered into the bedroom to get her purse and handed $70 over to The Family.
She managed to flee out of a bedroom door but was followed by Patricia Krenwinkel, who caught her and stabbed her.
But worse was the come for Abigail who was eventually killed by Watson, who stabbed her 28 times.
Wojciech's hands had been bound by a towel but he managed to free himself and started to struggle with Atkins.
She kept stabbing at his legs but as he struggled out of the house, he was caught by Watson and hit over the head with a gun.
He was then stabbed multiple times, shot twice but still fought to escape the house.
Wojciech was eventually killed when he was stabbed 51 times.
Sharon herself was stabbed many times in the chest and strangled.
Her mutilated and broken body was found with the cord used in the killing still around her neck.
Tragically, her baby - due to be born within weeks - did not survive the horrific injuries suffered by his mother.
Meanwhile, Sharon was desperately not only fighting for her own life but also that of her unborn baby.
The 26-year-old actress made the ultimate sacrifice to keep herself alive for long enough for her baby to be born.
She offered herself up as a hostage - her pleas fell on deaf ears.
It's not clear if Watson or Atkins stabbed Tate and delivered the fatal blow.
But she was knifed 16 times and as she was being attacked she cried out "mother... mother".
Once the killers had butchered their victims, they used the bloody towel that had bound Wojciech's hands to write the word 'pig' on the front door of Sharon's home in blood.
Just a day after the Tate murder, The Family struck again.
Supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were killed at their home in LA.
Officers did not link the two crime scenes.
Then, in December 1969, members of the Manson Family were arrested for a series of car thefts and while she was in custody she told her fellow prisoners of the other crimes she had been involved in - including the murders.
The rest of the gang were arrested a few days later and their trial began on June 15, 1970.
Guilty verdicts were returned on 27 separate counts and all four were sentenced to death.
Atkins died of a brain tumour in 2008, having had her application for parole refused 18 times.
Charles Manson ided of a heart attack on November 19, 2017. He was 83.
