Roman Polanski

Academy Award-winning French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter and actor, born August 18, 1933 in Paris, France as Raymond Thierry Liebling. Married to Emmanuelle Seigner. He is a celebrated Hollywood director of such films as "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) and "Chinatown" (1974), he is also known for his tumultuous personal life. In 1969, his eight and a half months pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson Family cult at a house she was staying in with friends in the Hollywood Hills, whilst he was away in London working on his next film. Also, in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor, Polanski fled to Paris, as he holds duel French citizenship and France has no extradition treaty with the US, in order to escape sentancing when it seemed that the judge would not approve his plea bargain deal for no custodial sentence. Unwilling to return to the United States and face arrest, he has continued to direct films in Europe, including "Frantic" (1988), the Academy Award-winning/Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm-winning "The Pianist" (2002), and "Oliver Twist" (2005). Most of Polański's films are psychological thrillers, where he likes to shoot his films from the position of a voyeur. A recurring theme in his work is the relationship between victim and predator. His films depict a world that is cruel, grotesque and filled with brutal sex and dark humour.