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.
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 Polańskis' 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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0000591
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51552
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Filmography (Movies)
Breakdown: 1975
Character:Self - Director of Chinatown (archive footage)
Release Date:18/12/2025
Mia Farrow: Shadows and Light
Character:Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Release Date:23/04/2025
The Family
Character:Self
Release Date:17/05/2023
Polanski, Horowitz. The Wizards From the Ghetto
Character:Self
Release Date:20/08/2021
In The Tracks Of - Alexandre Desplat
Character:Self
Release Date:13/08/2020
Polanski, le travail à l'oeuvre
Character:Self
Release Date:04/11/2019
An Officer and a Spy
Character:Concertgoer (uncredited)
Release Date:30/09/2019
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:13/08/2019
Valerie
Character:
Release Date:07/08/2019
Françoise Dorléac, une promesse
Character:Self
Release Date:10/07/2018
Face of Evil: The Charles Manson Murders
Character:
Release Date:15/08/2015
Roman by Polanski
Character:
Release Date:17/07/2015
Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:16/05/2015
Toil And Trouble: Making 'Macbeth'
Character:Self
Release Date:23/09/2014
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:24/08/2014
Henri Langlois vu par...
Character:Self
Release Date:27/07/2014
Weekend of a Champion
Character:Himself
Release Date:09/10/2013
Seduced and Abandoned
Character:Self
Release Date:20/05/2013
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
Character:Self
Release Date:09/10/2012
Close Up
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:30/09/2012
Komeda, Komeda...
Character:Self
Release Date:28/09/2012
Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:09/09/2012
A Special Day
Character:Self
Release Date:16/05/2012
Remembering 'Rosemary's Baby'
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/2012
Carnage
Character:Neighbor
Release Date:16/09/2011
Cracow by Polanski
Character:
Release Date:28/06/2010
Komeda: A Soundtrack for a Life
Character:Self
Release Date:07/05/2010
Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:11/04/2010
Memories of a Young Pianist
Character:Man in Tavern (archive footage)
Release Date:03/11/2009
On the Trail of the New Wave
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:14/03/2009
Bicycle
Character:Boy who wants to buy a bicycle
Release Date:22/11/2008
Il falso bugiardo
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:03/07/2008
Quiet Chaos
Character:Steiner
Release Date:08/02/2008
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:18/01/2008
Rush Hour 3
Character:Det. Revi
Release Date:08/08/2007
Once Upon a Time... 'Tess'
Character:Self
Release Date:16/03/2007
Polanski par Polanski
Character:Self
Release Date:03/12/2006
The Best of Twist: Sets, Costumes & Photography
Character:
Release Date:13/02/2006
Twist by Polanski
Character:
Release Date:24/01/2006
Tess: The Experience
Character:Self
Release Date:28/09/2004
Filming 'Tess'
Character:Self
Release Date:28/09/2004
Tess: From Novel to Screen
Character:Self
Release Date:28/09/2004
Two Gangsters and an Island
Character:Self
Release Date:25/08/2003
Knife in the Water: A Ticket to the West
Character:Self
Release Date:01/08/2003
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Character:Self
Release Date:09/03/2003
A British Horror Film
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/2003
Sharon Tate: Murdered Innocence
Character:Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:29/10/2002
The Revenge
Character:Józef Papkin
Release Date:04/10/2002
Polanski y los ojos del mal
Character:Himself
Release Date:16/04/2002
Rosemary's Baby: A Retrospective
Character:Self
Release Date:03/10/2000
Light Keeps Me Company
Character:Self
Release Date:26/08/2000
Tribute to Alfred Lepetit
Character:Self
Release Date:16/02/2000
The Ten Commandments of Creativity
Character:Self
Release Date:01/02/2000
Last Pictures
Character:Self
Release Date:02/01/2000
The Last Days of Sharon Tate
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:25/07/1999
Playboy: The Story of X
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/1998
Dracula: The True Story
Character:Himself
Release Date:01/01/1997
Elle s'appelait Françoise
Character:Self
Release Date:12/12/1996
Empire of the Censors
Character:Self
Release Date:28/05/1995
Sex, Lies and Jerzy Kosinski
Character:
Release Date:11/04/1995
Dead Tired
Character:Roman Polanski
Release Date:18/05/1994
A Pure Formality
Character:Inspector
Release Date:15/05/1994
Back in the USSR
Character:Kurilov
Release Date:07/02/1992
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/1992
En attendant Godot
Character:Lucky
Release Date:03/06/1989
Frantic
Character:Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Release Date:19/02/1988
Clive James Meets Roman Polanski
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1984
Chassé-croisé
Character:
Release Date:24/03/1982
Ciné regards: Tess: Roman Polanski
Character:Self
Release Date:01/09/1979
The Evolution of Snuff
Character:
Release Date:30/11/1978
The Tenant
Character:Trelkovsky
Release Date:26/05/1976
Blood for Dracula
Character:Gambler
Release Date:13/08/1974
Chinatown
Character:Man with Knife
Release Date:20/06/1974
What?
Character:Mosquito
Release Date:07/12/1972
Con bravura
Character:Caroler
Release Date:01/07/1972
Weekend of a Champion
Character:Self
Release Date:24/02/1972
Polanski Meets Macbeth
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1972
Ciao, Federico!
Character:Self (uncredited)
Release Date:28/10/1970
The Magic Christian
Character:Solitary Drinker
Release Date:12/12/1969
Mia and Roman
Character:Himself
Release Date:09/07/1968
The New Cinema
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1968
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
Character:Himself
Release Date:20/12/1967
The Fearless Vampire Killers
Character:Alfred
Release Date:13/11/1967
Tonite Let's All Make Love in London
Character:Self
Release Date:26/09/1967
The Nomad
Character:Self
Release Date:27/02/1967
Lionpower from MGM
Character:Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:01/01/1967
Repulsion
Character:Spoon Player
Release Date:01/06/1965
The River of Diamonds
Character:Random Citizen
Release Date:22/07/1964
Knife in the Water
Character:Young Man (voice)
Release Date:09/03/1962
The Fat and the Lean
Character:the lean
Release Date:01/12/1961
Samson
Character:Partner of Malina's Blackmailer (uncredited)
Release Date:11/09/1961
Ostrożnie yeti
Character:Driver
Release Date:20/01/1961
Innocent Sorcerers
Character:Dudzio
Release Date:17/12/1960
Good Bye, Till Tomorrow
Character:Romek
Release Date:25/05/1960
Bad Luck
Character:Tutor (uncredited)
Release Date:04/04/1960
When Angels Fall
Character:Vieille femme
Release Date:31/12/1959
Lotna
Character:Musician (uncredited)
Release Date:27/09/1959
The Lamp
Character:A passer-by (uncredited)
Release Date:01/01/1959
What Will My Wife Say to This?
Character:Dancer
Release Date:26/09/1958
Two Men and a Wardrobe
Character:Bad Boy
Release Date:22/04/1958
Koniec nocy
Character:'Mały'
Release Date:21/12/1957
Wraki
Character:Romek
Release Date:02/09/1957
Kanal
Character:Resistance Member pushed into a Sewer (uncredited)
Release Date:20/04/1957
Nikodem Dyzma
Character:Porter (uncredited)
Release Date:29/10/1956
Magical Bicycle
Character:Adaś
Release Date:25/12/1955
Trzy starty
Character:Basia's Brother
Release Date:25/10/1955
A Generation
Character:Mundek
Release Date:26/01/1955
Godzina bez słońca
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1955
Three Stories
Character:Genek "Mały" (segment 2)
Release Date:24/04/1953
Television Appearances
The Playboy Murders
Character:Self (archive footage)
Helter Skelter: An American Myth
Character:Self - Widower of Sharon Tate (archive footage)
28 minutes
Character:Self
Leçon de Cinéma
Character:Self
Un film et son époque
Character:Self
Scene by Scene
Character:Self
E! True Hollywood Story
Character:
Na siehste!
Character:Self
Wedden, dat..?
Character:Self
Na sowas!
Character:Self
Wortwechsel
Character:Self
7 sur 7
Character:Self
Wetten, dass..?
Character:Self
Bavarian Film Awards
Character:Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Character:Self
Apostrophes
Character:Self
Spécial cinéma
Character:Self
Le Grand Échiquier
Character:Self
The Dick Cavett Show
Character:Self - Guest
Apropos Film
Character:Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character:Self
Images
