Roman Polanski's parents returned to Poland from France just two years before the World War II began: both were taken later to concentration camps (his mother eventually died there). Young Roman managed to escape the ghetto and was learning survival while wandering through the Polish countryside and living with the different Catholic families. Though local people usually ignored cinemas where mostly German films were shown, Polanski seemed not very much concerned about patriotism and frequently went to the movies. In 1945 he reunited with his father who sent him to technical school, but young Polanski seemed to have already made his choice.

In the 50s he took up acting, appearing amongst the other films in Andrzej Wajda's Pokolenie before studying at the Lodz Film School. His early shorts such as Dwaj ludzie z szafa, The Fat and the Lean and Mammals showed his taste for black humor and interest in bizarre human relationships. His feature debut, Knife in the Water, was the first Polish post-war film not associated with the war theme. Though being already a major Polish filmmaker Polanski yet chose to leave the country and headed to France. Being down-and-out in Paris, he befriended young scriptwriter, Gérard Brach, who eventually became his long-time collaborator. The next two films, Repulsion and Cul-de-sac, made in England and co-written by Brach, won respectively Silver and Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festivals.

In 1968 Polanski went to Hollywood, where he easily gained the reputation with the intelligent psychological thriller Rosemary's Baby. However, after the brutal murder of his wife Sharon Tate by the infamous Manson gang in 1969, the director decided to return to Europe. In 1974 he again appeared in the USA with Chinatown: that seemed to be the beginning of the promising Hollywood career. After his conviction for the statutory rape of a 13-year old girl, Polanski fled from America to avoid prison.

After Tess, which was awarded several Oscars and Cesars, his work became intermittent and rarely approached the level of his best films. The director also stretched his talents to include occasional work in theatre. He still likes to act in the films of other directors, sometimes with interesting results as it was in A Pure Formality.


Has not been back to the United States since 1978. After Polanski fled from the American justice, the judge on his case swore to have him behind the bars. Though the judge died in 1989, the director still can't enter the US; otherwise, he would be arrested. Two children with Emmanuelle Seigner: Morgane and Elvis. Roman and his father are Holocaust survivors. His father was Jewish, and his half-Jewish mother (who was murdered in Auschwitz) had been raised as a Roman Catholic. Won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist (2002) at the age of 69 years and 7 months, making him the oldest person ever to win that award to that point in time. Polanski eclipsed the record previously held by George Cukor, who was 65 when he won for directing My Fair Lady (1964). This record was beaten in 2005 when Clint Eastwood won at the age of 74 for Million Dollar Baby (2004). Was voted the 26th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly. When he fled from the U.S. in the late 70s, much was made about the director's inability to ever make films in the States again. However, Polanski only shot 2 films in the States prior to his arrest: Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974) were shot in North America. All other English-language films before the arrest were shot in the UK, and all the ones since have been shot in Central Europe. Is portrayed by Marek Probosz in Helter Skelter (2004) (TV). He was due to have directed "The Double," a modern-day, comedic adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel about a man whose life is taken over by his doppelganger. John Travolta, who was being paid $17m, was to have played the lead, alongside Isabelle Adjani, John Goodman, and Jean Reno. Shooting was to have begun in May 1996 in Paris. Lili Fini Zanuck and Todd Black were producing, Jeremy Leven had written the screenplay and other personnel such as director of photography Robert Richardson and production designer Pierre Guffroy were in place. Just nine days before principal photography was scheduled to start, and with around $15m already spent, Travolta flew back to US following an argument with Polanski. Travolta claimed that the screenplay had been significantly altered compared with the one he had signed up for. Following Travolta's departure, Steve Martin was quickly hired to replace him, but Isabelle Adjani said she was only prepared to work with Travolta, and she, too, left the film. The project collapsed shortly afterwards. Was offered the chance to direct King Kong (1976) but turned it down. Directed four actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Ruth Gordon, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and Adrien Brody. Gordon and Brody won Oscars for their performance in one of his movies.