Sharon Tate was an actress.
Doris Gwendolyn Tate ( born Willett ; January 16 , 1924 -- July 10 , 1992 ) , an American activist for the rights of crime victims , was best known as the mother of actress Sharon Tate . Eye of the Devil is a 1966 British crime/horror film with occult and supernatural themes directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Deborah Kerr , David Niven and Sharon Tate . Sharon Tate . Her most remembered performance was as Jennifer North in the 1967 cult classic film , Valley of the Dolls , earning her a Golden Globe Award nomination . A decade after Tate 's murder , the actress ' mother , Doris Tate , in response to the growing cult status of the killers and the possibility of them being granted parole , organized a public campaign that resulted in amendments to the California criminal law .