Polanski, Roman

(Raymond Polanski / August 18, 1933, Paris, France - )

   He was born to Polish-Jewish parents who returned to Poland and settled in Cracow in 1936. In 1939, his family was arrested by the Nazis. His mother died in a concentration camp, and his father returned only after the liberation of Poland. He made his acting debut playing in a radio program devoted to children (1946). Onstage since 1948, he appeared as an actor in many movies (1953 Trzy opowiesci, segment "Jacek", Konrad Nalecki, Poland; 1955 Zaczarowany rower, Silik Sternfeld, Poland; Godzina bez slonca, short, Pawel Komorowski, Poland; Pokolonie / UK and USA: A Generation, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1956 Nikodem Dyzma, uncredited, Jan Rybkowski, Poland; 1957 Wraki, Eva Petelska, Czeslaw Petelski, Poland; Koniec nocy, also asssitant director, Julian Dziedzina, Pawel Komorowski, Walentyna Uszycka, Poland; 1958 Co rekne zena? / Zadzwoncie do mojej zony, Jaroslav Mach, Halina Garus, Lech Lorentowicz, Frantisek Matousek, Jerzy Passendorfer, ElishkaVojtova, Marian Zietkiewicz, Poland; 1959 Lotna, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1960 Do widzenia, do jutra, Janusz Morgenstern, Poland; Zezo-wate szczescie / USA: Bad Luck, also assistant director, Andrzej Munk, Poland; Niewinni czarodzieje, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1961 Ostroznie, Yeti!, Andrzej Czekalski, Poland; Samson, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1969 The Ma­gic Christian, Joseph MacGrath, UK; 1974 Dracula cerca sangue di vergine . . . e mori di sette!!! / Dracula vuole vivere: Cerca sangue di vergine! / Du Sang pour Dracula / UK: Blood for Dracula / USA: Andy Warhol's Dracula. Paul Morrissey, Antonio Margheriti, Italy / France; 1982 Chassé-croisé, medium-length, Arielle Dombasle; 1989 En attendant Godot, TV, Walter D. Asmus; 1992 Back to the U.S.S.R.. Deran Sarafian, USA / Japan; 1994 Una pura formalità / Une Pure Formalité / USA: A Pure Formality. Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy / France; Grosse Fatigue, as himself, Michel Blanc; 2000 Hommage à Alfred Lepetit, documentary, short, Jean Rousselot; 2002 Zemsta / USA: The Revenge, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 2007 Rush Hour, Brett Ratner, USA / Germany; 2008 Caos Calmo, Anton Giulio Grimaldi, Italy). Having trained at the Lodz film school, which he entered in 1953, he began filming shorts in 1955. Also a screenwriter for other filmmakers (1964 Aimez-vous les Femmes? / UK: Do You Like Women? / USA: A Taste for Women, Jean Léon; 1965 Love Story, TV series, episode "The Girl Opposite", Lionel Harris, UK; 1968 La Fille d'en Face, as co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, Jean-Dan­iel Simon; 1970 A Day at the Beach, as screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer, Simon Hesera, UK; 1971 Le Bateau sur l'Herbe / USA: The Boat on the Grass, as co-screenwriter, Gérard Brach), he produced a few movies (G.G. Passion, short, David Bailey, UK; 1972 Af­ternoon of a Champion / Weekend of a Champion, documentary, Frank Simon, UK; 1999 Castelnuovo, Stefano Salvati, Italy) and appeared as himself in several docu­mentaries, including Ciao, Fédérico! (medium-length, Gideon Bachman, Italy / USA / Sweden, 1971) and L'Envers du Décor: Portrait de Pierre Guffroy (documentary, Robert Salis, 1992). He won an Oscar for best director and the Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm in 2003 for The Pianist. Autobiography: 1984 Roman (Editions Robert Laffont; published in USA by Wil­liam Morrow & Co). His three wives—Barbara Lass (1940-1995 / married from 1959 to 1962), Sharon Tate (1943-1969 / married from 1968 to her murder in 1969), and Emmanuelle Seigner (b. 1966 / married since 1989)—were or are actresses.

 Filmography

1955 ◘ Rower (short; also screenwriter, actor; Po­land)

1957 ◘ Usmiech zebiczny / UK: A Toothful Smile / USA: Teeth Smile (short; Poland)

        ◘ Rozbijemy zabawe . . . (short; also screenwriter, dialogist, Poland)

        ◘ Morderstwo / USA: A Murderer / Murder (short; Poland)

        ◘ Dwaj ludzie szafa / UK and USA: Two Men and a Wardrobe (short; also screenwriter; Poland)

        ◘ Lampa / USA: The Lamp (short; also screenwriter, actor; Poland)

        ◘ Gdy spadaja anioly / UK: When Angels Fall / USA: When Angels Fall Down . . . (short; also screenwriter, actor; Poland)

        ◘ Le Gros et le Maigre / UK and USA: The Fat and the Lean (short; also screenwriter, producer, actor)

        ◘ Noz w wodzie / USA: Knife in the Water (also co-screenwriter; Poland)

        ◘ Ssaki / USA: Mammals (short; also co-screenwriter; Poland)

        ◘ Les plus belles Escroqueries du Monde / Le più belle truffe del mondo / De Wereld wil bedrogen worden / UK: The Beautiful Swindlers / USA: The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (segment "La

        ◘ Rivière de Diamants"; also co-screenwriter; France / Italy / Japan / Netherlands)

1965 ◘ Cul-de-Sac (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; UK)

1967 ◘ Dance of the Vampires / USA: The Fearless Vampire Killers / The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, but Your Teeth Are in My Neck (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, actor; UK / USA)

1968 ◘ Rosemary's Baby (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist; USA)

        ◘ The Tragedy of Macbeth / Macbeth (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; UK / USA)

        ◘ What? / Che? / Quoi? / Was? / US recut ver­sion: Diary of Forbidden Dreams (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; Italy / France / West Germany)

1974 ◘ Chinatown (also uncredited co-screenwriter, actor; USA)

1976 ◘ Le Locataire / USA: The Tenant (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, actor)

1979 ◘ Tess (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; France / UK)

1986 ◘ Pirates (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; France / Tunisia)

1988 ◘ Frantic (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; USA / France)

1992 ◘ Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; France / UK / USA)

1994 ◘ Death and the Maiden / La Jeune Fille et la Mort (UK / USA / France)

1999 ◘ The Ninth Gate / La Neuvième Porte / La novena puerta (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; USA / Spain / France)

2002 ◘ The Pianist / Le Pianiste / Der Pianist / Pianista (UK / France / Germany / Poland)

2005 ◘ Oliver Twist (UK / France / Italy / Czech Re­public)

2007 ◘ Chacun son Cinéma ou Ce petit Coup au Coeur quand la Lumière s'éteint et que le Film com­mence / To Each His Cinema (segment "Cinéma érotique"; also producer)