Tate's father, Paul, was a colonel in the U.S. Army, so the family packed up every couple years, moving from Army base to Army base, town to town. As a young girl and teen, Tate lived in six different cities, and, according to Sharon Tate: Recollection, a book of vignettes about Tate's life compiled by her sister, Debra, Sharon blamed her shyness and inability to make friends on her family's itinerant lifestyle. People often confused Sharon Tate's shyness for aloofness, but nearly everyone who knew her swears she was as sweet-natured as she was beautiful.

Eventually, the family settled in Verona, Italy, where Sharon, having gotten a part as an extra on the film Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man, was picked out of the crowd by actor Richard Beymer. For a short time, Tate dated Beymer, who'd made a name for himself the previous year playing Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story, and he encouraged Tate to pursue acting, introducing her to his agent and helping her find roles.

Later, when Tate's acting career was more established, she was thankful for having grown up in a strict, military household. Recollection claims she credited her father's insistence on proper behavior with preparing her for a life in show business: "I never resented his authority," she said. "In fact, I'm thankful for my strict upbringing; I feel it has helped me learn discipline — and that's very important in this business."

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