 |
Roman PolanskiAdd to My CelebsAge 78 Birthday Aug. 18th, 1933 Born in Paris, France Height 5' 5" |
Roman Polanski's Main TV Roles
|
Main Movie Roles2008 - Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired2007 - Rush Hour 3 2002 - Zemsta 1994 - Una pura formalità 1992 - Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time 1976 - Le locataire 1974 - Blood for Dracula 1974 - Chinatown 1970 - Ciao, Federico! 1969 - The Magic Christian 1965 - Repulsion 1955 - Pokolenie |
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB
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 where his mother eventually died. Young Roman managed to escape the ghetto and learned to survive 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 1950s, he took up acting, appearing in Andrzej Wajda's Pokolenie (1955) before studying at the Lodz Film School. His early shorts such as Dwaj ludzie z szafa (1958), Le gros et le maigre (1961), and Ssaki (1962) showed his taste for black humor and interest in bizarre human relationships. His feature debut, Nóz w wodzie (1962), 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 (1965) and Cul-de-sac (1966), 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 made the psychological thriller Rosemary's Baby (1968). However, after the brutal murder of his wife Sharon Tate (I) by the infamous Manson gang in 1969, the director decided to return to Europe. In 1974, he again appeared with a US release of Chinatown (1974). It seemed the beginning of the promising Hollywood career, but after his conviction for the statutory rape of a 13-year old girl, Polanski fled from America to avoid prison.
After Tess (1979), which was awarded several Oscars and Cesars, his work became intermittent and rarely approached the level of his better known 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 Una pura formalità (1994).
TRIVIA:
- Was voted the 26th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
- Was offered the chance to direct _King Kong (1976)_ (qv) but turned it down.
- 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)_ (qv) and _Chinatown (1974)_ (qv) 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.
- He was due to have directed "The Double," a modern-day, comedic adaptation of 'Fyodor Dostoyevsky' (qv)'s novel about a man whose life is taken over by his doppelganger. 'John Travolta' (qv), who was being paid $17m, was to have played the lead, alongside 'Isabelle Adjani' (qv), 'John Goodman (I)' (qv), and 'Jean Reno (I)' (qv). Shooting was to have begun in May 1996 in Paris. 'Lili Fini Zanuck' (qv) and 'Todd Black' (qv) were producing, 'Jeremy Leven' (qv) had written the screenplay and other personnel such as director of photography 'Robert Richardson (I)' (qv) and production designer 'Pierre Guffroy' (qv) 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 (I)' (qv) was quickly hired to replace him, but 'Isabelle Adjani' (qv) said she was only prepared to work with Travolta, and she, too, left the film. The project collapsed shortly afterwards.
- Won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for _The Pianist (2002)_ (qv) 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' (qv), who was 65 when he won for directing _My Fair Lady (1964)_ (qv). This record was beaten in 2005 when 'Clint Eastwood' (qv) won at the age of 74 for _Million Dollar Baby (2004)_ (qv).
- 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.
- 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.
- Has not been back to the United States since 1978.
Roman Polanski Photos | powered by  |
| Loading... |
