Roman Polański (born 18 August 1933) is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer and actor. Born in Paris to Polish parents, Polański relocated with his family to Poland in 1937. After surviving the Holocaust, he continued his education in Poland and became a critically acclaimed director of both art house and commercial films. Polański's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water (1962), made in Poland, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has since received five more Oscar nominations, and in 2002 received the Academy Award for Best Director for his film, The Pianist. He has also been the recipient of two Baftas, four Césars, a Golden Globe and the Palme d'Or. He left Poland in 1961 to live in France for several years, then moved to the United Kingdom where he collaborated with Gérard Brach on three films, beginning with Repulsion (1965). In 1968 he moved to the United States, immediately cementing his burgeoning directing status with the 1968 groundbreaking Academy Award winning horror film Rosemary's Baby.
In 1969, Polański's pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered while staying at the Polański's Benedict Canyon home above Los Angeles by members of the Manson Family. Following Tate's death, Polański returned to Europe and spent much of his time in Paris and Gstaad, but did not make another film until he filmed Macbeth (1971) in England. The following year he went to Italy to make What? (1973) and subsequently spent the next five years living near Rome. However, he traveled to Hollywood to direct Chinatown (1974) for Paramount Pictures, with Robert Evans serving as producer. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and was a critical and box-office success; the script by Robert Towne won for Best Original Screenplay. Polański's next film, The Tenant (1976), was shot in France, and completed the "Apartment Trilogy", following Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby.
In 1977, after a photo shoot in Los Angeles, Polański was arrested for the sexual abuse of a 13 year old girl. He was charged with rape but pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. To avoid sentencing, Polański fled to his home in London, and then moved on to France the following day. He has had a U.S. arrest warrant outstanding since then, and an international arrest warrant since 2005.
Polański continued to make films such as The Pianist (2002), a World War II-set adaptation of Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman's autobiography of the same name, which echoed some of Polański's earlier life experiences. Like Szpilman, Polański escaped the ghetto and the concentration camps while family members were killed. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Director, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, and seven French César Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. He then released the successful films Oliver Twist (2005), To Each His Own Cinema (2007), and The Ghost Writer (2010), completed while under house arrest.
In September 2009, Polański was arrested by Swiss police, at the request of U.S. authorities, when he traveled to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival. In October 2009, the U.S. requested his extradition; however, on July 12, 2010, the Swiss rejected that request and instead declared him a "free man" after releasing him from custody.
2024 | Faye as Self (Archive footage) |
2023 | La Saga Rassam-Berri, le cinéma dans les veines as Self |
2021 | Polański, Horowitz. Hometown as Self |
2020 | Bandes Originales: Alexandre Desplat as Self |
2019 | Polanski, le travail à l'oeuvre as Self |
2019 | Subay ve Casus as Concertgoer (uncredited) |
2019 | Manson: Music From an Unsound Mind as Self (archive footage) |
2018 | Françoise Dorléac, une promesse as Self |
2015 | Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans as Self (archive footage) |
2014 | Toil And Trouble: Making 'Macbeth' as Self |
2014 | Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau as Self (archive footage) |
2014 | Henri Langlois vu par... as Self |
2013 | Weekend of a Champion as Himself |
2013 | Seduced and Abandoned as Self |
2012 | Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir as Self |
2012 | Close Up as Self (archive footage) |
2012 | Komeda, Komeda... as Self |
2012 | Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out as Self (archive footage) |
2012 | Une Journée particulière as Self |
2012 | Remembering 'Rosemary's Baby' as Self |
2011 | Acımasız Tanrı as Neighbor |
2010 | Cracow by Polanski |
2010 | Komeda: A Soundtrack for a Life as Self |
2010 | Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là as Self (archive footage) |
2009 | Memories of a Young Pianist as Man in Tavern (archive footage) |
2009 | Uuden aallon jäljillä as Self (archive footage) |
2008 | Rower as Boy who wants to buy a bicycle |
2008 | Il falso bugiardo as Self (archive footage) |
2008 | Sessiz Kaos as Steiner |
2008 | Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired as Self (archive footage) |
2007 | Bitirim İkili 3 as Det. Revi |
2007 | Il était une fois... « Tess » as Self |
2006 | Polanski par Polanski as Self |
2006 | The Best of Twist: Sets, Costumes & Photography |
2006 | Twist by Polanski |
2004 | Filming 'Tess' as Self |
2004 | Tess: From Novel to Screen as Self |
2004 | Tess: The Experience as Self |
2003 | Two Gangsters and an Island as Self |
2003 | Knife in the Water: A Ticket to the West as Self |
2003 | A British Horror Film as Self |
2002 | Sharon Tate: Murdered Innocence as Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
2002 | Zemsta as Józef Papkin |
2002 | The Kid Stays in the Picture as Self (archive footage) |
2002 | Polanski y los ojos del mal as Himself |
2000 | Rosemary's Baby: A Retrospective as Self |
2000 | Ljuset håller mig sällskap as Self |
2000 | Hommage à Alfred Lepetit as Self |
2000 | The Ten Commandments of Creativity as Self |
2000 | Ostatnie zdjecia as Self |
1999 | The Last Days of Sharon Tate as Self (archive footage) |
1998 | Playboy: The Story of X as Self (archive footage) |
1997 | Dracula: The True Story as Himself |
1996 | Elle s'appelait Françoise as Self |
1995 | Empire of the Censors as Self |
1995 | Sex, Lies and Jerzy Kosinski |
1994 | Grosse fatigue as Roman Polanski |
1994 | Şüpheli as Inspector |
1992 | Back in the USSR as Kurilov |
1989 | En attendant Godot as Lucky |
1988 | Çıldırtan Takip as Taxi Driver (uncredited) |
1984 | Clive James Meets Roman Polanski |
1982 | Chassé-croisé |
1980 | The South Bank Show: Roman Polanski as Self |
1979 | Ciné regards: Tess: Roman Polanski as Self |
1978 | The Evolution of Snuff |
1976 | Kiracı as Trelkovsky |
1974 | Blood for Dracula as Gambler |
1974 | Çin Mahallesi as Man with Knife |
1972 | Che? as Mosquito |
1972 | Con bravura as Caroler |
1972 | Weekend of a Champion as Self |
1972 | Polanski Meets Macbeth as Self |
1970 | Ciao, Federico! as Self (uncredited) |
1969 | The Magic Christian as Solitary Drinker |
1968 | Mia and Roman as Himself |
1968 | The New Cinema as Self |
1967 | Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage as Himself |
1967 | Korkusuz Vampir Avcıları as Alfred |
1967 | Tonite Let's All Make Love in London as Self |
1967 | The Nomad as Self |
1965 | Tiksinti as Spoon Player |
1962 | Sudaki Bıçak as Young Man (voice) |
1961 | Samson as Partner of Malina's Blackmailer (uncredited) |
1961 | Ostrożnie yeti as Driver |
1961 | Le gros et le maigre as the lean |
1960 | Niewinni czarodzieje as Dudzio |
1960 | Do widzenia, do jutra... as Romek |
1960 | Zezowate szczęście as Tutor (uncredited) |
1959 | Gdy spadają anioły as Old woman |
1959 | Lotna as Musician (uncredited) |
1959 | Lampa as A passer-by (uncredited) |
1958 | Co řekne žena... as Dancer |
1958 | Dwaj ludzie z szafą as Bad Boy |
1957 | Koniec nocy as Mały |
1957 | Wraki as Romek |
1957 | Kanal as Resistance Member pushed into a Sewer (uncredited) |
1956 | Nikodem Dyzma as Porter (uncredited) |
1955 | Zaczarowany rower as Adaś |
1955 | Trzy starty as Basia's Brother |
1955 | Bir Kuşak as Mundek |
1955 | Godzina bez słońca |
1953 | Trzy opowieści as Genek "Mały" (segment 2) |
| The Stalking Moon as Fabrice Fournier |
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