Set in Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, the story follows Rosy (Sarah Miles), the wife of schoolmaster Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum), who has an affair with the dashing English officer Doryan, who arrives to take command of the local Army base. There was a huge buzz surrounding him - a factor which partly explains why so American an actor (Jones was born in Tennessee) should have been chosen to play so English a role, in the shape of Major Doryan.
When he was cast to star in Ryan's Daughter, Jones was already being heralded as the new James Dean after his role in the cult movie Wild In The Streets opposite Shelley Winters. That he is still here to tell the tale is a testimony to his powers of survival. He has managed to cram an awful lot into his life, including a marriage to actress Susan Strasberg (daughter of acting coach, Lee Strasberg), countless lovers (including actresses Olivia Hussey and Susan George, "who came up to my apartment when I was staying in London and the next day moved her toothbrush in, so I had to say, no way!"), seven children and a couple of brushes with death. Slightly built, a touch gaunt of face and softly spoken, he chats openly but doesn't eat or drink throughout the twohour meeting (the reason why becoming apparent only towards the end). We meet in the dimly lit environs of Nic's Restaurant in Beverly Hills. Now aged 66, Christopher has retained his looks, although it is clear that the intervening years haven't always been kind to him. "I knew that she was married to Roman and I had no intention of splitting them up. "I don't think I'm betraying any confidence by talking about it.
He says: "I loved Sharon and she loved me. Most famous for his role as Major Randolph Doryan in David Lean's epic, Ryan's Daughter, Jones embarked on an affair with Tate when she was six weeks pregnant with Polanski's child and has not, until now, spoken fully of their relationship.
The events have been endlessly discussed, even by Roman Polanski, who finds himself the subject of yet another biography - Polanski by Christopher Sandford - to be published next week.īut throughout all this, there has been one aspect of Sharon Tate's story of which even Polanski has not been fully aware - her relationship with the actor Christopher Jones. It was a night of inexplicable horror and sent reverberations not only through the Hollywood community, but throughout the world. Tate was eight months pregnant with Polanski's baby at the time, and yet her attackers paid little heed, stabbing her 16 times and murdering the four friends who were with her - Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Steven Parent and Voyteck Frykowski. On August 9, 1969, while at home with friends, Tate was murdered by the followers of Charles Manson's gang in Los Angeles. She was the wife of director Roman Polanski, a star of the cult movie Valley Of The Dolls, and with her flawless blonde looks was lauded as one of the great beauties of her time, but even to this day the actress Sharon Tate is remembered primarily for the horrific manner of her death.
Here, the man who was his wife's lover in the months before her bizarre murder tells his story for the first time
A new book on Roman Polanski's tumultuous life missed a final secret.