In addition to a celebrated film-making career, Roman Polański has made the news first because of the brutal murder of his wife Sharon Tate by a cultish gang, then because of his guilty plea and criminal conviction for statutory rape, for which he fled the United States as a fugitive.
Roman Polański was born in Paris as Raimund Liebling to Ryszard Polański (aka Ryszard Liebling), a Jew, and Bula Polański (née Katz), a Roman Catholic. In 1937 his family moved back to Poland. His mother died in a concentration camp, but Polański avoided incarceration there, escaped the CracowGhetto and spent the war wandering the countryside of Europe. He was educated at the film school in Lodz, Poland (graduated in 1959).
Career & Tragedy
Several short films made during the study gained considerable recognition. His first major film Knife in the Water (1962) was the first significant Polish film after the war that was not associated with the war theme. It was Polański's first nomination for the Oscar.
Polański then made films in Britain; Repulsion, a disturbing tale of madness and alienation, and Cul-de-Sac.
On 9 August1969, an eight months pregnant Sharon and three of her and Roman's friends (coffee heiress Abigail Folger, international hairdresser Jay Sebring, Polański's friend Wojciech Frykowski, and an unknown boy, Steven Parent) were brutally murdered by Charles Manson's gang. Distraught and heartbroken, Polański returned to Europe shortly after Tate's funeral.
Statutory rape conviction
In 1974 he returned to the USA with the film Chinatown (1974). The film seemed to be the beginning of a new start for Polański's professional life, as it brought him a nomination for an Academy Award for Directing.
However, he became embroiled in a scandal surrounding rape charges involving him and a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer, daughter of an actress. Polański was initially charged with rape, suspicion of sodomy, child molestation and furnishing dangerous drugs to a minor; however these charges were eventually reduced to statutory rape at the request of the victim's mother. According to reports, his fame gained him the trust of her mother to host the young model at his home for a photo session. Her mother hoped he would help her daughter into show business. After convincing her to get into his hot-tub, the victim alleged he drugged her with quaaludes and alcohol, and then proceeded to have nonconsensual intercourse with her. The sister of the girl heard her reporting the fact of sexual intercourse to her friend over the phone. When her mother reported the incident to the police, he fled the United States but returned later to face the charges. On February 1, 1978, after pleading guilty to the charges, Polański skipped bail and fled to France.
France has a policy not to extradite its own citizens, which is reflected in the extradition treaty between France and the United States. As a consequence, American requests of extradition could not be heeded. It was possible, however, for the US government to request the prosecution of Roman Polański by the French authorities. (The Washington Post, February 3, 1978 [1]).
The United States could still request the arrest and extradition of Polański from other countries, should he visit them. As a consequence, Polański has since avoided visits to countries that were likely to extradite him. In 2004, he sued Vanity Fair magazine in London, but asked to be able to provide evidence over a video link rather than to show up in person in the United Kingdom, which would put him at risk of extradition to the United States [2][3].
Subsequent life and career
He received another Academy Award nomination for Tess (1979). During the filming he had a relationship with the young Nastassja Kinski; the relationship failed. Since Tess Polański has spent his time in France and Poland, and continues to direct movies and theater and act in films. He married actress and modelEmmanuelle Seigner in 1989. They have two children: Morgane and Elvis.
During the summer and autumn 2004, Roman Polański shot a new film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. The shooting took place at the Barrandov studios in Prague, Czech Republic. Ronald Harwood wrote the screenplay. Starring are Barney Clark (Oliver Twist), Jamie Foreman (Bill Sykes), Harry Eden (the Artful Dodger), Ben Kingsley (Fagin), Leanne Rowe (Nancy), Edward Hardwicke (Mr Brownlow). Besides the cast, the director gathered again some of his colloborators from his previous movies : Ronald Harwood (screenplay), Allan Starski (production designer), Pawel Edelman (director of photography), Anna Sheppard (costume designer). It seems somehow important to Polański at this point to make a film for children, and maybe also for his own children. Although one could expect some dark aspects in the movie, it is also likely to be quite joyful and full of humour.
Roman has said that the greatest regret he has about his life was not being at Cielo Drive when his wife Sharon, their unborn son, and friends died.
Dedicated the movie Tess to Sharon. Sharon put the book on his nightstand before leaving London and also left a note saying how it would make a wonderful movie.
His wife was 8 months pregnant when she was murdered.
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