Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski
Polanski at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Rajmund Roman Thierry Polański (1933-08-18) 18 August 1933 (age 83) Paris, France
Residence	France, Poland
Occupation	Film director, producer, writer, actor
Years active	1954–present
Spouse(s)	Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass (m. 1959; div. 1962) Sharon Tate (m. 1968; k. 1969) Emmanuelle Seigner (m. 1989)
Children	2; including Morgane Polanski

Rajmund Roman Thierry Polański (born 18 August 1933), known professionally as Roman Polanski, is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer, and actor. Having made films in Poland, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers". Born in Paris to Polish parents, he moved with his family back to Poland (Second Polish Republic) in 1937, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. He survived the Holocaust although his father was Jewish and mother of Jewish descent, was educated in Poland (People's Republic of Poland), and became a director of both art house and commercial films.

Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water (1962), made in Poland, was nominated for a United States Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has since received five more Oscar nominations, along with two BAFTAs, four Césars, a Golden Globe Award and the Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival in France. In the United Kingdom he directed three films, beginning with Repulsion (1965). In 1968 he moved to the United States and cemented his status by directing the horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968), for which Ruth Gordon won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress.

In 1969, Polanski's pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by members of the Manson Family while staying at Polanski's Benedict Canyon, California home. Following Tate's death, Polanski returned to Europe and spent much of his time in Paris and Gstaad, but did not direct another film until 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 travelled to Hollywood to direct Chinatown (1974). The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and was a critical and box-office success. Polanski's next film, The Tenant (1976), was shot in France, and completed the "Apartment Trilogy", following Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby.