The Michigan Man Who Was Murdered by the Manson Family: August 1969
The name ‘Jay Sebring’ might not be familiar to many people who weren’t around in the 1960s, so for the uninformed, Jay was one of the people murdered by the Manson Family back August 1969.
It was in the house at 10050 Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, California where Jay, Abigail Folger, Steven Parent, Wojciech Frykowski and actress Sharon Tate (and her unborn baby) were brutally killed by Manson Family members.
Jay Sebring was the only one who has ties to Michigan. He was born Thomas John Kummer in Alabama in 1933, but his family soon moved to the Detroit suburbs where Jay spent his school years.
He had a mostly normal childhood, but his twist was his defiance for rules and daydreaming about carving out a niche for himself in the world. Even though he hated rules, he joined the Navy at 17 years old, where he definitely had to adhere to rules and regulations.
His hitch lasted from 1951-1954 and while serving those years, he discovered his own personal joy in styling the hair of his fellow sailors. How he even initiated that is speculative, but it was enough to urge him to get into the hair profession once he was discharged.
Jay went home to Detroit, believing this was where he was supposed to be.
Wrong.
While in the service, he evidently outgrew the midwestern way of life and left for the Land of Milk & Honey: California.
After a few years in cosmetology school, Jay opened his own shop. One day singer / actor Vic Damone came into the shop, referred by an actress friend, where Jay proceeded to give him "best haircut he'd ever had," and with Damone’s word of mouth, Jay soon became hairdresser to many male celebrities. He regularly did the heads of Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Kirk Douglas, Warren Beatty, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis Jr.
Jay was also the man responsible for giving the Doors lead vocalist Jim Morrison his famous flowing locks.
Sebring began a relationship with Sharon Tate after they were introduced in October 1964. In 1966 Sharon flew to London for a role in Roman Polanski's film The Fearless Vampire Killers, and soon she and Polanski began a relationship. Sharon broke up with Jay, but all three remained friends.
In the summer of 1968, Polanski and Sharon introduced Jay to Wojciech Frykowski and Folgers coffee heiress Abigail Folger. A year later, on August 8, 1969, Sebring, Tate, Frykowski, and Folger returned to 10050 Cielo Drive after dinner. That same evening, members of Manson’s ‘family broke into the house, and.....
The remains of former Michigander Jay Sebring were returned to Detroit where he was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield. At the ceremony, actor Steve McQueen gave the eulogy.
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Jay Sebring's Grave | The Manson Family's Forgotten Victim