Roman Polanski

He had a brief marriage to actress Barbara Lass from 1959 to 1961.

His second marriage was to rising actress Sharon Tate whom he married in 1968. She was pregnant with their first child when she was brutally murdered by the Manson family members. This tragedy would haunt Polanski forever.

He married French actress Emmanuelle Seigner in 1989. The couple has two children.

He was born as Rajmund Roman Thierry Polanski in France to Bula and Ryszard Polanski, a painter and manufacturer of sculptures. The family moved to his father’s native place, Poland when he was three.

The World War II started and his family endured terrible sufferings during the Holocaust. The young boy was separated from his family; he would later learn that his mother perished in the Nazi camps.

He struggled to live and was helped by some kind people in surviving the harsh situations. He was reunited with his father in 1944.

He loved watching movies from a young age and was fascinated with the idea of film making. He attended the National Film School in Lodz, Poland.

He began his career as an actor and appeared in several of the films of celebrated Polish director, Andrzej Wajda, including ‘Pokolenie’ (1954), and ‘Zaczarowany Rower’ (1954).

He made his directorial debut in 1955 with a short film ‘Rower’ which was a semi-autobiographical feature film in which he also starred.

While at the Film School, he made several short films of which ‘Two Men and a Wardrobe’ (1958) and ‘When Angels Fall (1959)’ received considerable recognition. He graduated in 1959.

His made his directorial debut in 1962 with ‘Knife in the Water’, a drama film, shot using only three actors. The film was internationally recognized and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 1965, he made ‘Repulsion’, a British psychological horror starring Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry and John Fraser. The story is about a young woman who starts reliving traumas of her past when left alone in her home.

The neo-noir film, ‘Chinatown’ was a highly acclaimed movie inspired by the California Water Wars. It is part mystery and part psychological drama which features a multi-layered story. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

One of his best known films is ‘The Pianist’ which was a biographical drama based on the life of the real life pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman. The movie won significant critical praise and won several prestigious awards including three Academy Awards.