Roman Polański born 18 August 1933 is a PolishFrench 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 Polańskis first featurelength 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 dOr 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 Rosemarys Baby In 1969 Polańskis pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered while staying at the Polańskis Benedict Canyon home above Los Angeles by members of the Manson Family Following Tates 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 boxoffice success the script by Robert Towne won for Best Original Screenplay Polańskis next film The Tenant 1976 was shot in France and completed the Apartment Trilogy following Repulsion and Rosemarys 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 US 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 IIset adaptation of JewishPolish musician Władysław Szpilmans autobiography of the same name which echoed some of Polańskis 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 Festivals Palme dOr 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 US authorities when he traveled to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival In October 2009 the US 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
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