Roman Polanski is read about 11,566 times a day, in 93 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A filmmaker who survived the Holocaust as a child, lost his pregnant wife to the Manson Family, won an Oscar for directing The Pianist - and has lived as a fugitive from U.S. justice since 1978 after fleeing a sentencing hearing for sex with a minor.
A life in dates
Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson TapesSeries2025
Chaos: The Manson MurdersFilm2020César Award for Best AdaptationAwardCésar Award for Best DirectorAward
Helter Skelter: An American MythSeries, 20202017
Based on a True StoryFilm, Director, Writer2014César Award for Best DirectorAward
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. MoreauFilm, 20142011César Award for Best DirectorAward2010European Film Award for Best FilmAwardEuropean Film Award for Best ScreenwriterAwardSilver Bear for Best DirectorAward
The Ghost WriterFilm, 2010Director, Writer2007
Rush Hour 3Film, Det. Revi2006European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement AwardAward2004
Leçon de CinémaSeries2003Academy Award for Best DirectorAwardBAFTA Award for Best DirectionAwardCésar Award for Best DirectorAward2002
The PianistFilm, Director, Producer1999European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema AwardAward1996
E! True Hollywood StorySeries1986Wedden, dat..?Series
PiratesFilm, 1986Director, Writer1982“I never made a film which fully satisfied me.”In their wordsQuotes of Polanski from Barbara Leaming Polanski: His Life and Films (1982)“People like Truffaut, Lelouch and Godard are like little kids playing at being revolutionaries. I've passed through this stage.”In their wordsQuotes of Polanski from Barbara Leaming Polanski: His Life and Films (1982)1981
Wetten, dass..?Series1980César Award for Best DirectorAward1978
Ciné regardsSeries1976
The TenantFilm, Director, Writer1975BAFTA Award for Best DirectionAward1974
Spécial cinémaSeries1972“I see Macbeth as a young, open-faced warrior, who is gradually sucked into a whirpool of events because of his ambition.”In their wordsFebruary 1972Interview in Playboy magazine (February 1972); also quoted in Make It Again, Sam : A Survey of Movie Remakes (1975) by Michael B. Druxman,1971“I don't know that you can speak of shock … Nothing is too shocking for me. I don't really know what is shocking.”In their wordsAs quoted in Atlas magazine, Vol. 20 (1971), p. 56, and The Book of Hollywood Quotes (1979) by Gary Herman, p. 26
MacbethFilm, 1971Director, Writer1970“I'm forced to mix with people of this industry and I can swear that is really difficult to meet people with her nature and her spirit. Generally, everybody is opportunistic here.”In their words25 January 1970Interview in Telecran magazine (25 January 1970)1969
The Magic ChristianFilm, Solitary Drinker1968
The Dick Cavett ShowSeries1966
Cul-de-sacFilm, Director, Writer1964“You have to show violence the way it is. If you don't show it realistically, then that's immoral and harmful. If you don't upset people, then that's obscenity.”In their wordsAs quoted in Shakespearean Criticism : Excerpts from the Criticism of William Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry, from the First Published1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonSeries
Knife in the WaterFilm, 1962Director, Writer1955
A GenerationFilm, Mundek1933Born18 August 1933Also in Deutsch
Photos 12
In their own words 10
, I never made a film which fully satisfied me.
I want people to go to the movies. I am the man of the spectacle. I'm playing.
People like Truffaut, Lelouch and Godard are like little kids playing at being revolutionaries. I've passed through this stage.
Filmography 40
CMChaos: The Manson Murders
TPThe Palace
ASAn Officer and a SpyBSBased on a True Story
SMSteve McQueen: The Man & Le MansLMLost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
VFVenus in Fur
SASeduced and Abandoned
CACarnageTWThe Ghost Writer
QCQuiet Chaos
RDRoman Polanski: Wanted and DesiredRHRush Hour 3
TCTo Each His Own Cinema
OTOliver Twist
EHEasy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved HollywoodTPThe Pianist
TGThe Ninth Gate
DMDeath and the Maiden
AFA Pure Formality
DTDead Tired
BMBitter Moon
FRFranticPIPirates
TETessTTThe Tenant
CHChinatown
BDBlood for Dracula
WHWhat?MAMacbeth
EIElvis: That's the Way It IsTCThe Magic Christian
RBRosemary's Baby
TKThe Fearless Vampire KillersCSCul-de-sac
RERepulsionKWKnife in the Water
TWTwo Men and a Wardrobe
KAKanalAGA Generation246 credits on file
Television 24
CTConversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes
TMThe Playboy MurdersHMHelter Skelter: An American Myth
MI28 minutesLCLeçon de Cinéma
UÉUn film et son époque
SSScene by SceneESE! True Hollywood StoryWDWetten, dass..?
TSThe South Bank ShowCRCiné regards
CCCérémonie des César
APApostrophes
LDLes Rendez-vous du dimancheSCSpécial cinéma
LÉLe Grand ÉchiquierTSThe Dick Cavett Show
NPNET PlayhouseTCThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonAwards
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Correct this familyAbout this person
Born in Paris in 1933, Roman Polanski moved with his family to Kraków in 1937, where two years later the Nazi invasion trapped them in the ghetto. His parents were taken in raids; he survived the war in foster homes by hiding his half Jewish heritage under a false identity. After his Polish debut Knife in the Water earned an Oscar nomination in 1962, he moved west - first France, then England, where he made Repulsion, then the U.S., where Rosemary's Baby in 1968 secured his place in Hollywood. The Manson Family murdered his pregnant wife Sharon Tate and four others in 1969. He went on to direct Chinatown, won the Palme d'Or for The Tenant, then in 1977 was arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, but fled to Europe the night before sentencing in 1978 when he learned the judge would reject the deal. He has directed from exile ever since - Tess, Death and the Maiden, The Pianist, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director in 2002 - and remains a fugitive.
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