Catherine "Gypsy" Share

Catherine Share was born in Paris, France on December 10, 1942. Her parents were part of an anti-Nazi underground movement during World War II. Catherine was sent to an orphanage after her natural parents killed themselves in act of defiance against the Nazi regime. She was adopted at the age of eight by an American couple.

For the following years Share's life was fairly normal until her mother, inflicted with cancer, killed herself, leaving Share to care for her blind father. She met her obligations until he remarried then left home, dropped out of college, married, divorced and began to wander around California.

Share was an accomplished violinist who dropped out of college just short of earning a music degree. She also began doing small roles in low-budget movies, mostly porn movies. During the filming of the porn movie, Ramrodder, she met Bobby Beausoleil and Share moved in with Bobby and his wife. It was during this time that she met Manson and became an instant follower and family member in the summer of 1968. Her devotion to Manson was immediate and her role was as a recruiter to others to join the Family.

During the Tate murder trial, Gypsy testified that Linda Kasabian was the mastermind to the murders and not Charles Manson. In 1994 she recounted her statements, saying she was forced into perjuring herself after Family members dragged her behind a truck, threatening her if she did not testify as they directed.

In 1971, eight months after giving birth to her and Steven Grogan's son, she and other Family members were arrested after participating in a shoot out with police during a botched robbery at a gun store. Share was convicted and spent five years at the California Institute for Women in Corona.

She is now living in Texas with her third husband and is said to be a born-again Christian.