Roman Polanski was born Raymond Liebling on August 18, 1933 in Paris. He is an Academy Award-winning Franco-Polish film director, writer, actor and producer.

He directed the hits Rosemary's Baby (1968) starring Mia Farrow and Chinatown (1974) starring Jack Nicholson.

A childhood survivor of the Krakow ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, he began acting as a teen, then went to film school and in the late 1950s began winning international awards for his short films.

His first feature film, the tense drama Knife in the Water (1962), received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and within a few years Polanski made his way to Hollywood. The success of the devilish Rosemary's Baby was soon overshadowed by the 1969 murder of Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, by members of a cult led by Charles Manson.

Polanski returned to Europe, settling in France, and continued to make movies in Europe and the U.S. In 1977 he was charged in Los Angeles with drugging and raping a 13 year-old girl during a purported photo session. After a few months in jail for psychiatric review, Polanski was released on bail and allowed to leave the country to work on a film. He never returned. He continued making movies in Europe and in the 1980s and '90s appeared many times on stage.

His filmography includes some great films, some stinkers and a few that can be taken either way, but he is considered by many to be a great director -- an opinion reinforced by his 2003 Academy Award as best director for The Pianist, starring Adrien Brody.

His other feature films include Tess (1980), Frantic (1988) starring Harrison Ford , The Ninth Gate (2000) starring Johnny Depp and the 2005 version of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist.

Credits by www.who2.com 

Director

• Pompeii (2008)
• Chacun son cinéma (2007)
• Oliver Twist (2005)
• The Pianist (2002)
• The Ninth Gate (1999)
• Death and the Maiden (1994)
• Bitter Moon (1992)
• Frantic (1988)
• Pirates (1986)
• Tess (1979)
• Locataire, Le (1976)
• Chinatown (1974)
• What? (1972)
• The Tragedy of Macbeth (1971)
• Rosemary's Baby (1968)
• Dance of the Vampires (1967)
• Cul-de-sac (1966)
• Repulsion (1965)
• Plus belles escroqueries du monde, Les (1964)
• Ssaki (1963)
• Nóz w wodzie (1962)
• Gros et le maigre, Le (1961)
• Gdy spadaja anioly (1959)
• Lampa (1959)
• Dwaj ludzie z szafa (1958)
• Morderstwo (1957)
• Rozbijemy zabawe... (1957)
• Usmiech zebiczny (1957)
• Rower (1955)

Awards

• BAFTA Best Film "Pianist" 2002
• BAFTA The David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction "Pianist" 2002
• Cannes Film Festival Palm d'Or "The Pianist" 2002
• National Society Of Film Critics Best Picture "The Pianist" 2002
• National Society of Film Critics Best Director "The Pianist" 2002
• Oscar Best Director "Pianist" 2002
• European Film Award European Acvhievement in Cinema 1999
• Cesar Best Director "Tess" 1980
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Director "Tess" 1980
• British Film Academy Award Best Direction "Chinatown" 1974
• Golden Globe Award Best Director "Chinatown" 1974
• Venice Film Festival Critics' Prize Award "Knife in the Water" 1962