Roman Polanski Net Worth

Roman Polanski's Quotes

• Normal love isn't interesting. I assure you that it's incredibly boring.
• My films are the expression of momentary desires. I follow my instincts, but in a disciplined way.
• [on filmmaking] 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.
• [on his style of filmmaking] I don't really know what is shocking. When you tell the story of a man who is beheaded, you have to show how they cut off his head. If you don't, it's like telling a dirty joke and leaving out the punch line.
• The best films are because of nobody but the director.

Interesting Facts about Roman Polanski

1. Has not returned to the United States since 1978.
2. Convicted of sodomy and statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl after plea bargaining, Polanski served time in prison in California, but prison officials released him sooner than judge Laurence J. Rittenband's original sentence had intended. The judge then sought to have Polanski brought to court again for further sentencing. Rather than do so, Polanski fled to Europe to avoid and escape a second arrest and incarceration. In 2013, his former victim, Samantha Geimer - who was 50 years old and had long ago forgiven him for the crime - detailed her story in her autobiography "The Girl" (2013).
3. After Polanski fled American justice, the judge over his case swore to put him behind bars again. Though the judge died in 1989, the director still cannot return to the U.S. as he would be arrested immediately.
4. In 1969, while Polanski was out of town on business, his wife, actress Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's cult family, though Manson only ordered the killing and was not present during the murders. Tate was eight months pregnant with Polanski's first child at the time. Polanski has said that his life's biggest regret was not being present at the house the night his wife and four others were murdered.
5. He has two children with Emmanuelle Seigner: Morgane Polanski (born January 20, 1993) and Elvis Polanski (born April 12, 1998).
6. Shortly before her murder, wife Sharon Tate gave Polanski a copy of Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", and he planned to film it with her. When he finally made the movie Tess (1979), he dedicated it to her.
7. Roman and his father are Holocaust survivors. His father was Jewish, and his half-Jewish mother (who was murdered in Auschwitz) had been raised as a Roman Catholic.
8. Received his first 'Best Director' Academy Award for The Pianist (2002) nearly six months after the awards ceremony, since the director would be immediately arrested due to outstanding warrants stemming from fleeing the US to avoid further imprisonment after his 1978 statutory rape conviction. His friend Harrison Ford flew to France to present Polanski the award at the 29th American Film Festival of Deauville on September 11, 2003.
9. Won the Best Director Oscar in March 2003 for The Pianist (2002) at the age of 69 years and 7 months, making him, at that time, the oldest person to win the award. Polanski eclipsed the record previously held by George Cukor, who was 65 when he won Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964). This record was beaten in February 2005, when Clint Eastwood won Best Director for Million Dollar Baby (2004) at the age of 74 years and 9 months.
10. Within the Hollywood industry in the late '60s and early '70s he was often mocked as the stereotypical short, tyrannical European director.
11. Was voted the 26th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
12. Was one of the judges in the Miss Universe pageant in 1976.
13. When he fled from the U.S. in the late 70s, much was made about the director's inability to ever make films in the States again. However, Polanski only shot 2 films in the States prior to his arrest: Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974) were shot in North America. All other English-language films before the arrest were shot in the UK, and all the ones since have been shot in Central Europe.
14. President of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 44th Cannes International Film Festival in 1991.
15. Is portrayed by Marek Probosz in Helter Skelter (2004).
16. Born in Paris, France, he was the son of Bula (née Katz-Przedborska) and Ryszard Liebling (aka Ryszard Polanski), a painter and plastics manufacturer. His father was a Polish Jew and his mother, a native of Russia, had a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother, and was raised as a Catholic.
17. Polanski was set to direct "The Double", a modern-day, comedic adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel about a man whose life is taken over by a doppelganger. Star John Travolta, who was being paid $17 million, was set to play the lead, alongside Isabelle Adjani, John Goodman, and Jean Reno. The film shoot was set to begin in Paris in June 1996. Lili Fini Zanuck and Todd Black were producing, Jeremy Leven had written the screenplay, and other personnel such as director of photography Robert Richardson and production designer Pierre Guffroy were in place. Just nine days before the beginning of principal photography, and with around $15 million already spent on the project, Travolta flew back to the U.S. following an argument with Polanski. Travolta claimed that the shooting screenplay had been significantly altered from the one he had originally read. Following Travolta's departure, Steve Martin was quickly hired to replace him, but Isabelle Adjani said she was only prepared to work with Travolta, and she, too, left the film. The project collapsed shortly afterwards.
18. According to his autobiography, producer Robert Evans initially wanted Polanski to direct Sliver (1993). But since Polanski could not return to the U.S., Evans planned on having a second unit director shoot some footage in New York, while Polanski would direct the rest of the film in Paris.
19. Was offered the chance to direct King Kong (1976) but turned it down.
20. In November 1989, Polanski was approached by Warner Bros. to adapt and direct Mikhail A. Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita". The project was subsequently dropped by Warner Bros. due to budgetary concerns and the studio's belief that the subject matter was no longer relevant due to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Polanski has described his script as the best he has ever adapted.