Biography
Polanski was born in Paris, France as Rajmund Roman Liebling to Ryszard Polański (aka Ryszard Liebling), a Polish Jew, and Bula Polanska (née Katz), who was born in Russia to a Jewish father and Roman Catholic mother.

The family moved back to Poland in 1937, which was then occupied by German and Soviet troops in 1939.

On November 13, 1939, the Polish city of Kraków became the seat of office of Hans Frank. The General Government surrounded parts of the Polish state, which had not been annexed to Germany. The declared goal of the German occupiers was to make the General Government judenfrei, and expel the Poles so Germans could settle there.

The Polański family was the target of Nazi persecution and forced into the Kraków Ghetto, along with thousands of other Polish Jews. Roman Polanski's mother subsequently died in Auschwitz concentration camp. His father barely survived the Austrian concentration camp Mauthausen-Gusen. Polanski himself escaped the Kraków Ghetto, surviving the war with the help of a Polish farmer, on whose farm he had to sleep in a cow stall. After the war he found out from his sister that his mother had died.

He was educated at the film school in Łódź, Poland, from which he graduated in 1959. Polański speaks six languages: Polish, Russian, English, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Several short films made during the study gained considerable recognition. His first major film Knife in the Water (1962) was the first significant Polish film after the war that did not have a war theme. It was Polanski's first nomination for the Oscar.

Polanski then made films in the United Kingdom; Repulsion (1965), a tale of madness and alienation; Cul-de-Sac (1966) tells the story of a couple (Donald Pleasence and Françoise Dorleac) living on a remote island, who are visited by two gangsters (Lionel Stander and Jack MacGowran).


Polanski and Tate photographed in 1968.The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) is the American title for Dance of the Vampires, a combination of comedy and horror.


Relationship with Sharon Tate
Polanski met rising star Sharon Tate while filming The Fearless Vampire Killers and during the production began dating. In 1968 Polanski went to Hollywood, where his reputation was enhanced by the success of the thriller Rosemary's Baby (1968). On January 25, 1968, he married Tate in London, England.

On August 9, 1969, Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and four others (Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent) were brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's "Family", who entered the Polanski home on Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills with the intent to "kill everyone there". They knew that the previous owner of the house, record producer Terry Melcher, had moved out. He had failed to help Charles Manson's fledgling music career, which was thought to be a possible motive, but the murderers testified that they knew he no longer lived there. When Manson told them to go to the property and kill everyone, they obeyed. After Parent, Sebring, Frykowski, and Folger had been killed, Tate pleaded for the life of her unborn son. Susan Atkins replied that she had no mercy for her, and then killed her. She soaked up some of Tate's blood and wrote "PIG" on the front door using a towel.

The murders were unmotivated, and at first there were no suspects. Polanski, who was away on business, was initially considered a suspect by both the authorities and the press. As the days passed, Polanski became more and more the target of investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, until Manson and his "family" were arrested on unrelated charges, which revealed evidence of what came to be known as the Tate-La Bianca murders. Distraught and heartbroken, and seriously rattled over his near-arrest, Polanski returned to Europe shortly after the killers were arrested.

Also in 1969 Polanski lost friend and collaborator Krzysztof Komeda (1931—1969). Komeda had been a popular jazz artist in Poland when the director first approached him to score a short film. He went on to score almost all of Polanski's feature films until a head injury resulted in the composer's death. He is probably best known in the US for the haunting soundtrack to the movie Rosemary's Baby.


The seventies
Polanski's next feature was a film version of Macbeth (1971). This was followed by What? (1972), a surreal comedy about a young woman (Sydne Rome) and her adventures in a remote villa.

Chinatown (1974), from a screenplay by Robert Towne and starring Jack Nicholson, is a tale of corruption in pre-war Los Angeles. Polanski has a cameo as a hoodlum who slits Jake's nose open.

Polanski took the lead in his next film, The Tenant (1976), the story of a Polish immigrant living in Paris.


Indictment on charge of rape and other sex offenses
In 1977 Polanski, 43, became embroiled in a scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. It ultimately led to Polanski's guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.[1]

According to Geimer, Polanski asked Geimer's mother if he could photograph the girl for French Vogue. Her mother allowed a private photo shoot. According to transcripts of testimony, Polanski photographed Geimer on February 20, 1977, in the Hollywood Hills. This photo shoot took place without incident, except for the fact that Polanski asked Geimer to pose topless for some of the photographs.[2] According to Geimer in a 2003 interview, "Everything was going fine; then he asked me to change, well, in front of him." She added, "It didn't feel right, and I didn't want to go back to the second shoot."

However, subsequent to the first photo shoot, she agreed to a second session, which took place on March 10, 1977, in the Mulholland area of Los Angeles, near Jack Nicholson's estate. "We did photos with me drinking champagne," Geimer says. "Toward the end it got a little scary, and I realized he had other intentions and I knew I was not where I should be. I just didn't quite know how to get myself out of there." Geimer alleged that Polanski sexually assaulted her after giving her a combination of champagne and quaaludes. In the 2003 interview, Geimer says she resisted. "I said no several times, and then, well, gave up on that," she says.[3]

Her 1977 sworn deposition shows Geimer did not object to drinking champagne, replying "I don't care"[4] in the company of Polanski and another woman. Geimer also says her drinking continued for a sustained period - as she was posing for Polanski's pictures with a champagne glass - to the extent that she became intoxicated.[5]. Subsequently, Polanski allegedly produced a quaalude, divided it into three and asked, "Is this a quaalude?". After Geimer's affirmation he asked, "Do you think I will be able to drive if I take it?" and "Should I take it?", to which Geimer replied, "I don't know".[6]. He then took a piece of the quaalude and offered one to Geimer, who accepted. Of taking the quaalude, Geimer says, "I must have been pretty drunk otherwise I wouldn't have".[7]

The testimony indicates that prior to the use of quaalude, Geimer had a telephone conversation with her mother at Polanski's instruction. Immediately before this, Polanski had told Geimer, "I want to take some pictures of you in the jacuzzi".[8] During the conversation, Geimer's mother asked her if she wished to be picked up, to which Geimer replied "No". Polanski then spoke to Geimer's mother and told her that they would be shooting until late.[9] The photograph session then continued, ultimately culminating in the alleged assault.

Polanski was initially charged[10] with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor, but these charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain, and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.[11]

The grand jury transcript describes the alcohol that Polanski allegedly supplied before engaging in oral, vaginal and anal sex with the girl.[12] (In Roman by Polanski, Polanski alleged that the mother had set up the daughter as part of a casting couch and blackmail scheme against him.) After spending 45 days in psychiatric evaluation, Polanski fled the United States for Paris when it seemed that the judge would not approve his plea bargain deal for no prison sentence[citation needed].


A fugitive
On February 1, 1978, Polanski fled to France, where he retained citizenship. He believed that the judge was going to disregard the plea bargain, in which case he could be sentenced to a prison term (albeit much less than the 50 years he faced under the original indictment). Like many countries, France refuses to extradite its own citizens, which is consistent with the extradition treaty between France and the United States. As a consequence, the American extradition request was not granted. The United States government could have requested that Polanski be prosecuted on the California charges by the French authorities[13], but this option was not pursued.

The United States could still request the arrest and extradition of Polanski from other countries should he visit them. As a consequence, Polanski has since avoided visits to countries that were likely to extradite him, such as the United Kingdom, mostly travelling between France and Poland.

In a 2003 interview[14], Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it."

Film critic Richard Roeper has said on the "E! 100 Biggest Hollywood Scandals" that he is convinced that most of the people in the American motion picture industry do not care about Polanski's rape conviction and that they still want to work with him.

Much has been made of the fact that Polanski 'cannot return' to the United States since the events of 1977/78, but he makes it very clear in his autobiography (Roman, by Polanski; 1984) that he never actually lived in the US to begin with. It is generally overlooked that at the time of his 1977 arrest, he was visiting the US and the arrest actually took place in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire hotel, where he was staying. At that time, he had directed nine films, but only two were shot in the US. A regular visitor to the US, Polanski once rented a Los Angeles house - where the infamous Manson Murders took place (he, however, was at home in London at the time) - but by his own account, Polanski had resided in Britain (apart from a short time in Italy) for many years when he fled Los Angeles for Paris in 1978. Some critics have argued that Polanski has done much of his best work since settling in Paris, an opinion supported by his Oscar for Best Director in 2002.


Vanity Fair libel case
In 2004 Polanski sued Vanity Fair magazine in London for libel. A 2002 article in the magazine written by A. E. Hotchner recounted a claim by Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper's, that Polanski had made sexual advances towards a young model as he was travelling to Sharon Tate's funeral, claiming that he could make her "the next Sharon Tate". The court permitted Polanski to testify via a video link, after he expressed fears that he might be extradited were he to enter the United Kingdom.[15][16]

The trial started on July 18, 2005, and Polanski made English legal history as the first claimant to give evidence by video link. During the trial, which included the testimony of Mia Farrow and others, it was proved that the alleged scene at the famous New York restaurant Elaine's could not have taken place on the date given, because Polanski only dined at this restaurant three weeks later. Also, the Norwegian model disputed accounts that he had claimed to be able to make her "the next Sharon Tate".

Polanski was awarded £50,000 damages by the High Court in London. Edward Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, responded, "I find it amazing that a man who lives in France can sue a magazine that is published in America in a British courtroom." Samantha Geimer commented, "Surely a man like this hasn't got a reputation to tarnish?"


Later career
He received another Academy Award nomination for Tess (1979). Pirates (1986), a lavish period piece, was a commercial and critical failure. This was followed by Frantic (1988), which features actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner, whom the director married in 1989. She starred in several of his films including Bitter Moon, in 1992, and The Ninth Gate (1999). They have two children, Morgane and Elvis, the latter named after his favourite singer, Elvis Presley.

In 1997 he directed a stage version of The Fearless Vampire Killers, a musical, which debuted on October 4, 1997 in Vienna as Tanz der Vampire, the German title of the film version. After closing in Vienna, the show had successful runs in Stuttgart and Hamburg, Germany.

In May 2002, Polanski won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award at the Cannes Film Festival for The Pianist, for which he also later won the 2002 Academy Award for Directing. He did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, as he faces possible prison time if he enters the United States. After the announcement of the "Best Director Award", Polanski received a standing ovation from most of those present in the theater. In 2004 he received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

During the summer and autumn of 2004, Polanski shot a new film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. The shooting took place at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, Czech Republic, based on Ronald Harwood's screenplay. The actors included Barney Clark (Oliver Twist), Jamie Foreman (Bill Sykes), Harry Eden (the Artful Dodger), Ben Kingsley (Fagin), Lee-anne Rix (Nancy), and Edward Hardwicke (Mr Brownlow). Besides the cast, the director gathered some collaborators from his previous movies: Ronald Harwood (screenplay), as noted, Allan Starski (production designer), Pawel Edelman (director of photography), and Anna Sheppard (costume designer).

Polanski's next film will be "Pompeii," about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Robert Harris, who is also writing the screenplay. The budget is set at $130 million and filming is expected to begin in Italy this summer.


Style
Most of Polanski's films are intelligent psychological thrillers. A recurring theme in his work is the relationship between victim and predator (Death and The Maiden, Bitter Moon, Cul-de-Sac, Rosemary's Baby). His films depict a world that is cruel, grotesque and filled with brutal sex and dark humour. Polanski likes to shoot his films from the position of a voyeur. Death and the Maiden star Stuart Wilson said of Polanski, "Roman is very deep water pretending shallow water."


Trivia

Huston

Assigned in February to do a photo story for the French edition of Vogue, a magazine he occasionally works for, Polanski chose for his model the 13-yearold daughter of a San Fernando Valley woman he had known for a year. Although he reportedly assured the mother that the girl would be fully clothed, during their first photo session he had her strip to the waist

Two and a half weeks later Polanski picked the girl up in his leased Mercedes for a second shooting session, one which ended up at the Mulholland Drive home of Polanski's good friend Actor Jack Nicholson. Although Nicholson was away skiing in Colorado at the time, his live-in girl friend, Anjelica Huston, daughter of Director John Huston, was there, along with the housekeeper of Neighbor Marlon Brando When they went to Nicholson's house to look for evidence, they found a small vial of cocaine belonging to Huston, and she was booked for possession of the expensive "nose candy."

.

Hypnotic Agent. According to the complaint filed by the mother, Polanski persuaded the girl to drink several glasses of champagne and then take part of a Quaalude tablet, a sedative and hypnotic agent (the drug is often used by professional pornographers to tranquilize young subjects). The couple, after some nude Jacuzzi bathing, allegedly retired to a bedroom where, despite the girl's protests, Polanski forced her to have sexual relations with him. The girl never told her mother, who learned of the story later through an overheard phone call.

The Los Angeles police questioned the mother and daughter for several hours before deciding to arrest Polanski. When they went to Nicholson's house to look for evidence, they found a small vial of cocaine belonging to Huston, and she was booked for possession of the expensive "nose candy."

1977: Roman Polanski charged with rape

Film director Roman Polanski has been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl at the home of Hollywood star Jack Nicholson.
The 43-year-old, who is out on bail, will appear in a Los Angeles court next week.

He could receive a prison sentence of up to 50 years if he is found guilty.

Polanski is facing four charges including rape, sodomy, child molestation and giving drugs to a minor.

According to Los Angeles Police, the rape took place after a photograph shoot at Mr Nicholson's home.


Polanski was later arrested at a hotel in Beverley Hills after the child's mother went to the police.

She said that her daughter had been taken to the Nicholson home on the understanding that she was being photographed for the French edition of Vogue.

But the mother later revealed that her 13-year-old child had been raped.

Police also raided Mr Nicholson's home and arrested his girlfriend Angelica Huston, daughter of film director John Huston, after she was found to be in possession of a small amount of cocaine. She too was later freed on bail.

Mr Nicholson was not in town at the time and Los Angeles Police said he was in no way connected with the events.

Polanski was the husband of actress Sharon Tate, who was one of seven people murdered by the Charles Manson family in 1969.

Born in Paris but raised in Poland, he suffered a tragic childhood - his Jewish mother was taken to Auschwitz concentration camp and killed in the gas chambers, his father survived Mauthausen concentration camp and Polanski himself managed to escape the Cracow ghetto.

His most famous film is Rosemary's Baby, a horror fantasy in which Mia Farrow gives birth to Satan's child.

Polanski's last major assignment was as guest editor for last year's final issue of the French edition of Vogue.

It featured a gallery of leading actresses.
 

 
LONDON: Renowned Franco-Polish director and film maker Roman Polanski won the libel he filed against Vanity Fair over an article alleging he had attempted to seduce a Scandinavian "beauty" in New York as he was leaving for the funeral of his eight-month pregnant wife Sharon Tate, who was murdered in August 1969.

A jury in London's high court on Friday awarded him 50,000 pounds in damages.

The trial, extending over a week, saw sensational revelations of the 71-year-old director's sexual escapades during the Sixties and a courtroom drama when at one point, giving evidence over a video link, the director wept. There was a history element too, a sort of a precedent in legal formalities, when he became the first to sue through the video link from another country, France, where he is residing now. The trial was permitted after the House of Lords ruled that he should not be denied access to justice despite his self-imposed exile since 1978. Polanski also got costs estimated at 1.5 million pounds.

The director may have faced extradition if he had appeared in a London court as he is wanted by the U.S. legal enforcers in connection with a sex crime admitted by him involving a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He had fled the U.S. in 1978 and cannot be extradited from France.

Immediately after the verdict, Polanski said in a statement from his Paris home: "It goes without saying that, whilst the whole episode is a sad one, I am obviously pleased with the jury's verdict today.

"Three years of my life have been interrupted. Three years within which I have had no choice but to relive the horrible events of August 1969, the murder of my wife, my unborn child and my friends.

"The memory of my late wife Sharon Tate was at the forefront of my mind in bringing this action." Tate was stabbed by the Charles Manson "family".

Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair's editor, expressed surprise over the jury decision. He said it is "outrageous that this story is considered defamatory given the fact that Mr. Polanski cannot be here because he slept with a 13-year-old girl a quarter of a century ago.

"Nevertheless, it's interesting to see how the wheels of British justice move. I wish Mr. Polanski well."
finishing school

Polanski had admitted having sex with a woman four weeks after Tate's murder and seeking solace in sex with teenaged girls from a finishing school in Gstaad, Switzerland later.

Polanski's private life was the focus of attention for much of the trial, with Vanity Fair attempting to persuade the jury that he was perfectly capable of "callous indifference" to Tate's memory and had no reputation to hurt in the first place.

His lawyer John Kelsey-Fry argued that Polanski was clearly distraught at the time of his wife's murder.

Vanity Fair had accused Polanski of propositioning a woman on the way to the funeral, but conceded it did not happen on the way to the funeral but two weeks later. It alleged he had told the woman "I'll make you the next Sharon Tate".

Actress Mia Farrow, deposing for the director, said the incident never happened.

Winning the Oscar for his movie The Pianist in 2003, Polanski had listed a string of sexual conquests that began within a month of the death of Tate, 26. But he said it is an "abominable lie" on the part of the magazine to claim that, at a dinner at Elaine's Restaurant in New York while he was en route to Tate's funeral in Los Angeles, he had used her memory as a "tool of seduction".

Polanski has now been married for 17 years to his third wife, French actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

Roman Polanski Media Reports Archive

News reports and legal information related to Roman Polanski's arrest, plea bargain, guilty plea, conviction, flight from justice, and fugitive status on charges of drugging and raping a 13- year-old girl in 1977. Please note: because there are so many cyber-chumps who "trust the Web," and because rumors, myths, and outright disinformation have been generated and disseminated concerning Roman Polanski, The Zero has established a "one-stop shop" for purely factual information, so that those actually interested in the truth can find it. What you will not find here is commentary, editorials, analysis, opinion, or hearsay. If that's what you are looking for, go find a newsgroup. If you want the truth, here it is.

March, 1977 Grand Jury Testimony of Polanski's victim.

Polanski Named in Rape Charge

Originally published in The Washington Post, March 13, 1977

LOS ANGELES, March 12, 1977 — Polish film director Roman Polanski, widower of murdered actress Sharon Tate, was free on bond today on charges of luring a 13-year-old girl to the home of Jack Nicholson under the pretext of photographing her, then drugging and raping her.

Polanski, 43, was arrested by police to Beverly Wilshire Hotel Friday night following the incident Thursday night at Nicholson's Bel Air home.

In addition to the rape charges, Polanski also was booked on suspicion of sodomy, child molestation and furnishing dangerous drugs to a minor. He was released on $2,500 bond pending his arraignment March 18.

Where was nicholson?

Nicholson was reportedly out of town at the time. A spokesman for the district attorney's office told reporters that Polanski recently met the girl's mother and arranged for the girl to pose for some photographs for the French edition of Vogue magazine.

He said Polanski took some pictures at a first photographic session two weeks ago, and among these pictures was one of the girl nude from the waist up.

He said the mother became angry when she saw the picture and questioned her daughter when she returned home from the second photographic session Thursday night. Officers said the girl told her mother that Polanski had given her a tablet of the powerful tranquilizing drug Quaalude.

The director then raped the girl and forced her to commit various sex acts with him, police said.

Polanski made no public comment on his arrest. He surrendered peacefully when he was taken into custody at the hotel.

Polanski Indicted on Drug, Rape Charges

Originally published in The Washington Post, March 26, 1977

A grand jury has indicted Roman Polanski, director of "Rosemary's Baby" and other macabre movies, on six counts of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at actor Jack Nicholson's home.

Conviction on the charges lodged Thursday could send Polanski to prison for up to 50 years. Polanski, 43, remained free on $2,000 bail and was given until Tuesday to surrender in Superior Court. Prosecutors said Polanski's attorney told them he would appear before then.

The grand jury indictment superseded charges brought March 11 when the director was arrested in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where he was staying.

The grand jury charged Polanski with giving a drug to a minor, committing a lewd act upon a person less than 14, rape of a minor, rape by use of a drug, oral copulation and sodomy. All the charges are felonies.

Personalities Column, by Stephanie A. Lewis

Originally published in The Washington Post, August 10, 1977

Movie director Roman Polanski was ordered to undergo examination by two court-appointed psychiatrists in Los Angeles to determine if he should be institutionalized as a "mentally disordered sex offender" for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski, 43, pleaded guilty to one of six charges facing him, thereby avoiding a trial.

The movie director was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at the request of the girl's mother, who wanted to protect her daughter from the publicity expected to accompany such a trial.

The prosecution agreed to dismiss five other charges, including two more serious counts—furnishing drugs to a minor and rape by use of drugs.

The results of the psychiatric examinations will help determined whether Polanski will be deported as an undesirable alien.

A 90-Day Psychiatric Study for Roman Polanski

Originally published in The Washington Post, September 20, 1977

Movie director Roman Polanski, who had pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl, yesterday was ordered imprisoned for a 90-day psychiatric study to help the judge decide his sentence.

Polanski had contracted to photograph the girl for a French fashion magazine. Prosecutors said he took her to the home of actor Jack Nicholson while Nicholson was away, fed her champagne and Quaaludes, then committed numerous sex acts with her.

The probation report indicated that she consented. The judge said it made no difference.

The technical effect of the judge's decision will be for Polanski to spend some time in prison without having the record of a prison sentence against him unless he is eventually placed behind bars under a formal sentence.

Among the problems Polanski faces is possible deportation. However, the law provides automatic deportation only for those convicted of crimes of moral turpitude who are sentenced to one year or more in prison.

A Roman in Paris

By Jura Koncius
Originally published in The Washington Post, February 3, 1978

Film director Roman Polanski arrived at his Paris apartment yesterday (after a stop in London) having fled the United States just hours before he was to have been sentenced in a California court for his admitted unlawful sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl last March.

Polanski, 44, a French citizen, was said by friends to be exhausted by the 42 days he spent undergoing psychiatric tests.

Polanski's probation report said he was profoundly affected by the brutal murder of his wife, actress Sharon Tate, in 1969. Court sources said the film director, imprisoned in Auschwitz by the Nazis during the World War II, was repelled by the thought of possibly serving more time behind bars.

The British Broadcasting Corp. quoted Polanski as saying by telephone, "I've been tortured by this for a year and that's enough."

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office announced yesterday it will seek to have Polanski extradited from France.

However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice in Paris reaffirmed that French citizens may not be extradited under any circumstances although, he added, French judicial authorities could decide to try the case in France.

Polanski Sentencing

Originally published in The Washington Post, February 15, 1978

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The "in absentia" sentencing of Roman Polanski was postponed indefinitely yesterday when the film director's lawyer charged that the judge in the case was prejudiced and demanded that he be disqualified.

Polanski, 44, fled to Paris Feb. 2 rather than accept an indicated further prison term on his plea of guilty to "unlawful sexual intercourse" with a 13-year-old girl.

Judge Can't Wait for Polanski, Retires

Originally published in the Los Angeles Times, July 1, 1989

The Los Angeles judge who once vowed to remain on the bench until Roman Polanski returned for sentencing retired Friday, saying, "I can't wait that long," and turned in his gavel.

Superior Court Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, the 83-year-old "judge of the stars" whose legal career spanned 60 years, presided over Elvis Presley's divorce, Marlon Brando's child custody battle, a paternity suit against Cary Grant and the "Billionaire Boys Club" murder trial of Joe Hunt. Rittenband, with his colorful vocabulary and outspoken style, said because of his age it was time to "let someone else do it."

He has fond memories of Elvis and Priscilla Presley who came to his court for a divorce in 1973.

"Elvis was a nice man," he said.

His memories of Polanski are not as fond, he said.

Rittenband issued an arrest warrant for Polanski in 1978 when the director fled to France rather than appear for sentencing after he had been convicted of having unlawful intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski Can Fight Sex Case, State Court Says

Lawsuit: The Fugitive Director Can Be Defended Against a Civil Suit Filed by a Woman, Then 13, He Had Intercourse With in 1977

Originally published in the Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1990

A state appeals court says film director Roman Polanski, a fugitive since 1977 when he admitted having sex with a 13-year-old girl, can be defended against a civil suit she has filed.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said Polanski did not forfeit the right to defend against civil claims through his attorney by his "reprehensible, irresponsible and unlawful absence."

A lawyer for the woman said the ruling, handed down Monday, would be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Polanski pleaded guilty in August, 1977, to one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, in an incident at the home of actor Jack Nicholson. Polanski fled before being sentenced and now lives in Paris.

The civil suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in December, 1988, when the woman was 25, claims assault, battery, false imprisonment and seduction. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, seeks damages for physical and emotional distress.

Polanski's lawyer filed papers denying the allegations. But Jane Doe's lawyers asked for a ruling declaring Polanski liable by default and barring his lawyer from taking part in the damage proceedings. They argued that a fugitive from justice should not be allowed to use the courts to defend himself.

Superior Court Judge George Dell denied a default and was upheld by the appeals court.

Justice Robert Devich, in the majority opinion, said a fugitive may be denied the right to pursue an appeal of a criminal conviction or to sue for damages. But since it was Jane Doe who took Polanski to court in the civil suit, he can defend himself through his lawyer, Devich said.

He also said Polanski's absence had suspended the normal legal deadline for the woman to file her civil suit, which otherwise might have been dismissed as being late.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Meredith Taylor, assigned to the court for the case, joined Devich's opinion. Justice Rueben A. Ortega dissented from the decision allowing Polanski to defend, saying a court "should not bow to the flagrant demands of a fugitive who refused to acknowledge its authority."

Deal Will End Roman Holiday for Polanski

By Michelle Caruso in Los Angeles and Helen Kennedy in New York
Originally published in the Daily News (New York), October 1, 1997

Twenty years after he fled to Europe to escape punishment for raping a 13-year-old girl, fugitive director Roman Polanski will surrender in Los Angeles, sources confirmed yesterday.

Under a deal worked out in two secret meetings between the judge and Polanski's lawyer, the 63-year-old director won't serve any time in jail, sources said.

Samantha Geimer, who lives in Hawaii with her husband and three sons, went public in March to say she forgave Polanski for drugging her and raping her when she was a starstruck kid. She told London's Mail on Sunday that he should be pardoned. It was not immediately clear when Polanski, director of "Chinatown," "Rosemary's Baby," and "Frantic" might return to Los Angeles.

Since he left Hollywood, his once-bright career has dimmed. He hasn't had a hit since 1979's "Tess," which was shot in France instead of England because he feared being extradited by the British.

The Polish director, whose mother died in a Nazi concentration camp, has had a life as violent as his movies. His 8-months pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson cult in 1969.

Polanski fled to Paris after being indicted in 1977 on six counts of drugging, raping and sodomizing Geimer, whom he lured to Jack Nicholson's empty house.

Polanski told the girl he wanted to photograph her for Vogue, but instead gave her Quaaludes and champagne and took her to bed. He maintained she was a Lolita who knew all about sex and drugs.

Facing up to 50 years in prison if convicted at trial, Polanski pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape. The other five counts were dismissed.

Polanski spent 90 days under psychiatric observation. But just before sentencing, facing a possible 50 years in jail, he jumped bail.

The original judge on the case, Superior Court Judge Laurence Rittenband, died several years ago and the case was reassigned to Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler.

In December, Polanski's lawyer, Douglas Dalton, 69, began meeting with Fidler and Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson.

But under the law, the judge has final say on penalties.

Paris Still Home to Polanski

By Bruce Kirkland
Originally published in The Toronto Sun, March 8, 2000

Despite a flurry of new rumours, Roman Polanski says he has no plans to try to return to the United States, which he fled 22 years ago after being convicted of "unlawful sexual intercourse" with a 13-year-old girl he was photographing.

"I don't know if it's resignation or a lack of interest or a fear of the media circus that would happen," Polanski said in a telephone interview from Paris. The rumour mills are just speculation, he says. "Every now and again they propose the notion that I am doing something about it. Then there is a new round of articles about my possible return. There's nothing!"

Polanski left the U.S. in February, 1978, after serving 42 days in jail for psychiatric evaluation prior to final sentencing. He had plea-bargained and pleaded guilty to the least of six charges against him in the case. Reports that the judge was going to put him away for years inspired his flight. The girl is now a housewife in Hawaii and has never been identified.

The Zero thanks Vince V., a third-year law student, for all his work researching and compiling the articles for this archive.

Polanski reportedly whisked her into a bedroom to molest her, and during the terrifying episode Huston became suspicious and hammered on the door, only to be assured the pair were merely completing a photo session.