Sharon Tate

A-list stars on Charles Manson Family's hit list - from Tom Jones to Elizabeth Taylor

Actress Sharon Tate was killed when she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant but she wasn't the only star on the list

Sharon Tate was on the verge of Hollywood superstardom when she was stabbed to death in her home on Cielo Drive, Los Angeles.

The 26-year-old actress, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with husband Roman Polanski's baby, was butchered by Charles Manson's Family.

She pleaded for her life, begging the twisted killers to take her hostage so she could live for long enough to give birth and save her baby's life.

Her pleas were ignored and Tate was stabbed 16 times as she cried out "mother, mother".

She was butchered along with friends Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski and Abigal Folger.

The following night, under the direction of Manson, the Family forced their way into the home of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, and killed them both.

No arrests were made until December 1969, when members of the Manson Family were arrested for a series of car thefts.

While in custody, member Susan Atkins told her fellow prisoners of the other crimes she had been involved in - including the murders