Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water(1962), made in Poland, was nominated for a United States Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[7]He has since received five more Oscar nominations, along with two Baftas, four Césars, a Golden Globe Award and the Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival in France. In the United Kingdom he directed three films, beginning withRepulsion (1965). In 1968 he moved to the United States and cemented his status by directing the horror filmRosemary's Baby (1968), for which Ruth Gordon won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress.
In 1969, Polanski's pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by members of the Manson Family while staying at Polanski's Benedict Canyon, California home.[8]Following Tate's death, Polanski returned to Europe and spent much of his time in Paris and Gstaad, but did not direct another film until Macbeth (1971) in England. The following year he went to Italy to make What? (1973) and subsequently spent the next five years living near Rome. However, he travelled to Hollywood to direct Chinatown (1974). The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and was a critical and box-office success.[9] Polanski's next film, The Tenant (1976), was shot in France, and completed the "Apartment Trilogy", following Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby.[10]
In 1977, after a photo shoot in Los Angeles, Polanski was arrested for the rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer and pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sex with a minor.[11] He was released from prison after serving 42 days and was told that the prosecutors had agreed to ask for him to be put on probation. When he learned that the judge planned to reject the plea bargain, he fled to Paris before sentencing. He publicly offered his apology to Geimer, telling her he regretted the episode.[12][13] In September 2009, he was arrested by Swiss police and later released after Swiss authorities denied a U.S. request for hisextradition.[14][15] In October 2015, after another request for extradition, a judge in Poland refused the request.[16] Geimer supported the Polish decision, adding, "He said he did it, he pled guilty, he went to jail. I don't know what people want from him."[17]
Polanski continued to make films, including The Pianist (2002), a WWII true story drama about Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman. The film won three Academy Awards including Best Director, along with numerous international awards. He also directed other films, including Oliver Twist (2005), a story which parallels his own life as a "young boy attempting to triumph over adversity".[4] In 2009 he received a lifetime-achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival,[18] and in 2011 won Best Director at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival for Carnage. He was awarded Best Director for The Ghost Writer (2010) at the 23rd European Film Awards that year but was unable to receive it in person due to his retention by the Swiss authorities.[19]
