Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is an Academy Award winning film director, writer, and actor. He became a celebrated arthouse filmmaker, directing Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. His tumultuous personal life came into public eye in 1969, when his wife Sharon Tate was murdered.

In 1978 Polanski pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a 13 year old, but to avoid jail time he fled the country before sentencing could occur, prompting the judge to issue a warrant for his arrest. Exiled in France for the past 30 years, he filed a request in December 2008 through a Los Angeles court to get long-standing child-sex charges against him dismissed.Fox News: Polanski seeks dismissal of child-sex charge Although he has no desire to return to the United States, Polanski filed the request in an attempt to leave a judicial legacy. Citing information that was revealed in the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, he says his case was riddled with judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, which should not have been ignored.MSN: Polanski Does Not Seek Return to US (January 13, 2009) Prosecutors denied his request because of his fugitive status, saying that he must be present in court. His victim, Samantha Geimer, now 45 and the mother of three, has pleaded for dismissal of the case since 1995, and on January 12, 2009, again urged prosecutors to drop the case, offering to stand in for Polanski if that would end it.CNN: Woman in case against Roman Polanski seeks dismissal (January 13, 2009)

On January 30, 2009, lawyers for Polanski filed a motion seeking to have all 600 Los Angeles Superior Court judges banned from hearing Polanski's statutory rape case, citing bias. Head Deputy District Attorney, Lael Rubin called the claims of bias "patently frivolous" and "mere conclusions with no factual basis".IMDB: Polanski Bias Allegations... (February 2, 2009)

On January 22, 2010, a Los Angeles judge ordered Polanski back to the United States to be sentenced for the sex crimes he has already been found guilty of. His lawyers are expected to appeal the ruling.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?entry_id=55851

• Cul-de-Sac (1966)
• The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
• Rosemary's Baby (1968)
• Macbeth (1971)
• What? (1973)
• Chinatown (1974)
• Le Locataire (1976)
• Tess (1979)
• Pirates (1986)
• Frantic (1988)
• Bitter Moon (1992)
• Death and the Maiden (1994)
• The Ninth Gate (1999)
• The Pianist (2002)
• Oliver Twist (2005)
• To Each His Cinema (2007)

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• August, 18, 1933: Born

• 1962 Knife in the Water

• 1965 Repulsion

• 1967 Dance of the Vampires

• 1968 Rosemary's Baby

• 1971 The Tragedy of Macbeth

• 1974 Chinatown

• 1976 The Tenant

• 1979 Tess

• 1988 Frantic

• 1992 Bitter Moon

• 1994 Death and the Maiden

• 1999 The Ninth Gate

• 2002 The Pianist

• 2005 Oliver Twist

• 2009 Pompeii