Known for his films, charges against him of statutory rape, and for his wife's murder by Charles Manson, Roman Polanski is a complex and controversial figure. 
 
 Who Is Roman Polanski? Born Raimund Polanski, on August 18, 1933, in Paris, director Roman Polanski moved to Hollywood in 1968, making his American film debut with the classic Rosemary's Baby. In 1969, Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by members of the Charles Manson cult, and in 1977 Polanski was indicted on six criminal counts for having sexual relations with a minor. 
 
 Early Life in Europe Director, actor. Born Raimund Polanski, on August 18, 1933, in Paris, France. At the age of three, Polanski moved with his family to his father's native city of Krakow, Poland. In 1941, his parents were imprisoned in various Nazi concentration camps, where his mother eventually died in Auschwitz. In order to escape deportation, Polanski lived with several different Polish families until he was reunited with his father in 1944. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website As a teenager, Polanski developed his acting skills in radio dramas and films. In 1954, he enrolled at the Polish National Film Academy in Lodz, where his body of work consisted of short films and documentaries. Upon his graduation, he appeared in a number of movies'many of which were the work of famed Polish director Andrzej Wajda, including Lotna (1959), Innocent Sorcerers (1960), and Samson (1961). In 1962, he directed his first feature-length film, Knife in the Water . The international recognition that followed, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film, gave Polanski the chance to bring his movies to a more mainstream audience. The following year, he moved to London, where his next offering, the psychological thriller Repulsion (1965), was considered equally compelling by critics and audiences. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website 
 
 Wife Sharon Tate's Murder In 1968, Polanski moved to Hollywood, making his American film debut with the classic thriller Rosemary's Baby, which featured exceptional performances by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes. Despite his burgeoning film career, Polanski endured a devastating tragedy the following year when his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by members of the Charles Manson cult. The extreme violence experienced by Polanski throughout his life was often reflected in his films, which tended to focus on the darker themes of alienation and evil-most notably, in the modern film noir Chinatown (1974), featuring John Huston, Jack Nicholson, and Faye Dunaway. 
 
 Sexual Abuse Case In 1977, Polanski was indicted on six criminal counts for having sexual relations with a minor. The alleged act took place with a 13-year-old girl, in the home of the actor Jack Nicholson. Both Nicholson and his longtime girlfriend, actress Anjelica Huston, testified against Polanski when the highly publicized case was brought to trial. Polanski pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse and underwent six weeks of psychiatric evaluation at a state prison in California. Although additional criminal charges were still pending, Polanski fled the United States after his discharge. While authorities were not actively seeking him out, he continued to face the possibility of prison if he returned to America. In May 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled director due to their new ethical standards based on the #MeToo movement. 
 
 Return to Filmmaking Polanski traveled to Europe and eventually settled in Paris, where he directed the critically acclaimed film Tess (1979)—an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Throughout the 1980s, he concentrated on stage acting, appearing in productions of Amadeus (1981) and Metamorphosis (1988). Polanski returned to film work with the intense thriller Frantic (1988), starring Harrison Ford and Betty Buckley, followed by the erotic drama Bitter Moon (1992), with Hugh Grant and Polanski's current wife Emmanuelle Seigner. Both projects failed to impress critics, but Polanski reestablished himself in 1994 with Death and the Maiden, a film adaptation of Ariel Dorfman's play. In 1999, Polanski directed the supernatural thriller The Ninth Gate, which starred Johnny Depp. The film's critical and commercial reception was tepid. ||||| Exiled director Roman Polanski is making a new push to finally put to rest his decades-old child rape case — and return to the United States, his lawyer told The Post on Thursday. 
 
 The “Chinatown” director’s attorney, Harland Braun, has requested that a Los Angeles judge unseal secret testimony that allegedly proves Polanski’s longtime contention that the judge in the 1977 case reneged on a deal for him to spend 42 days at Chino State Prison in Chino, Calif. 
 
 Polanski completed the stint in the lockup and underwent psychiatric evaluation — and Braun now wants the court to honor the plea deal defense attorneys struck with the original LA prosecutor in the case, retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson. 
 
 “I believe there is no current excuse or justification for keeping DDA Roger Gunson’s sworn testimony under seal,” Braun wrote to Judge Scott Gordon in a February 6, 2017, letter obtained by The Post. 
 
 “The truth is that the sealing of the Gunson statement makes it appear that someone fears its contents.” 
 
 The 83-year-old Polanski was accused of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl at the home of actor Jack Nicholson on March 10, 1977. Polanski had lured her there on the pretext of photographing her for French Vogue. 
 
 The late Judge Laurence Rittenband initially signed off on the plea deal, but had a sudden change of heart and ordered Polanski to spend up to 50 years behind bars. 
 
 Polanski fled the United States and has lived in Paris, France, ever since as a fugitive. 
 
 In 2009, Polanski was captured while traveling through Zurich, Switzerland. He was jailed for over 300 days as US authorities tried unsuccessfully to extradite him. 
 
 Braun has been working with Los Angeles prosecutors to resolve the case so that Polanski can travel freely throughout the world.
– It's been 40 years since Roman Polanski set foot on the US mainland, but the disgraced director is said to want to square things up and come back to America without facing jail time, TMZ reports. What needs squaring: his punishment for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977 at Jack Nicholson's house. Lawyer Harland Braun reportedly wants long-sealed testimony in the Polanski case opened to prove that Polanski had cut a deal to spend just 48 days behind bars for the sexual assault. But when the director of Rosemary's Baby was released after serving 42 days, which included psychiatric evaluation, the judge (now deceased) who'd reportedly signed off on the deal allegedly had a change of heart and decided 50 years in prison was a more just punishment. Polanski fled to Paris, where he's been living as a fugitive since, shortly after he agreed to plead guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse and right before his sentencing, per Page Six. A Polish court ruling in a recent Polanski extradition case said Polanski, now 83, had honored his punishment with his original stint behind bars, prompting Braun to call for a Los Angeles County Superior Court to do the same. (Polanski was picked to lead the jury for France's equivalent of the Oscars this month—and women's rights advocates aren't happy.)