Roman Polanski

His father survived the war and remarried, and wanted to send Roman to technical school. However, Roman had learned the possibility of escape from unpleasant reality through absorbing himself in movies. He started film school in 1950, appearing as an actor in others' work as well as making his own short films. In 1954 he was accepted into the city of Lodz's prestigious State Film School. After this he made several short films which attracted attention for the black humor and won him several awards. In 1962, the first full-length feature he directed, "Noz w Wodzie" (Knife in the Water), got him nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.

After that, Polanski moved to England and made a few films, including Repulsion starring Catherine Deneuve. In 1968, he made his first Hollywood film, the horror movie Rosemary's Baby. In 1969, though, Polanski's pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson's followers the Manson family in Los Angeles; the next film two years later, a version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, has a level of violence that has been said to reflect the grieving, outraged feelings of the widower over the murder.

In 1974, Polanski's best-known film, Chinatown (with Jack Nicholson) came out to great acclaim. However, his following films didn't reach the same level of success. Pleading guilty to having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl in 1977 and fleeing the U.S. to avoid the consequences didn't help his reputation any either. However, his movie adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbevilles got him a Best Director Oscar nomination in 1979.

Polanski continues to make movies and to act in others' work. He has become a French citizen, and published an autobiography in 1984 called Roman. He has two children with his second wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner (who appeared in his movie Bitter Moon).

Sources:
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800023725&cf=biog&intl=us
http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Polanski,+Roman http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/B2/0B237000.htm

1954 A Generation - performer

1958 Two men and a wardrobe (short film) - Performer, Director and Screenwriter

1959 Lotna - performer

1959 When angels fall (short film) - Performer, Director and Screenwriter

1960 Innocent sorcerers - Performer

1961 The fat and the lean (short film) - Performer, Director, Screenwriter, Editor

1961 Samson - Performer

1962 Knife in the water - Director, Co-Screenwriter

1962 Mammals (short film) - Performer, Director and Screenwriter

1964 The beautiful swindlers - Director, Co-Screenwriter for the "Amsterdam" episode

1965 Repulsion - Performer, Director and Screenwriter

1966 Cul-de-sac - Director, Screenwriter

1967 The fearless vampires killer or: Pardon me, but your teeth are in my neck - Performer, Director and Screenwriter

1968 Rosemary's baby - Director and Screenwriter

1969 The magic christian - Performer

1970 Cinema different 3 - Director and Screenwriter for "La riviere de diamants" (River of Diamonds)

1971 Macbeth - Director and Screenwriter

1972 Weekend of a champion - Performer and Producer

1973 Diary of forbidden dreams - Performer, Director, Screenwriter and Editor

1974 Andy Warhol's Dracula/ Blood for Dracula/ Young Dracula - Performer

1974 Chinatown - Performer and Director

1976 The evolution of Snuff - Performer

1976 The tenant - Performer, Director and Screenwriter

1979 Tess - Director and Screenwriter

1986 Pirates - Director and Screenwriter

1988 Frantic - Director and Screenwriter

1991 Back in the USSR - Performer

1991 Behind the scenes: A portrait of Pierre Guffroy - Documentary Appearance

1992 Bitter moon - Director, Screenplay and Producer

1994 Death and the maiden - Director

1994 Dead tired - Performer

1994 A pure formality - Performer

2000 The ninth gate - Director, Screenwriter and Producer

2002 The Pianist - Director

I may have forgot some movies...