Rajmund Roman Thierry Polanski was born as on the 18th August 1933, in Paris, France, and is a French-Polish film director, actor, producer, and writer, best known for his films “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), “Chinatown” (1974), and “The Pianist” (2002). Polanski is one of the most acclaimed directors of our time, and has won numerous awards including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and three BAFTA Awards. Polanski’s career started in 1954.
Have you ever wondered how rich Roman Polanski is, as of mid- 2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Roman Polanski’s net worth is as high as $45 million, an amount earned through his successful career in cinema. In addition to being highly-rated director and writer, Polanski has also worked as an actor and producer which improved his wealth.
Roman Polanski Net Worth $45 Million
Roman Polanski was born a son of Ryszard Polanski, a painter and manufacturer of sculptures, and Bula. His father was Jewish from Poland and mother half-Jewish from Russia. The family moved to Krakow from Paris in 1936 and stayed there during the WWII. Polanski managed to escape and find shelter with Polish Roman-Catholic family, while his father was sent to concentration camp Mauthausen in Austria, and his mother to Auschwitz where she died.
Roman developed an interest in the cinema from an early age and often went to see movies with his parents before the war started. He later went to the National Film School in Łódź and began his acting career in Andrzej Wajda’s movie “Pokolenie (A Generation)” in 1955. He later acted in such films as “Zaczarowany rower” (1955), “Wraki” (1957), “Koniec nocy” (1957), “Speed” (1959), ‘Do widzenia, do jutra…” (1960), ‘Innocent Sorcerers” (1960), and “Samson” (1961).
Polanski had his debut as a writer and director in 1955, but these were mainly short films. However, in 1962, his first feature film “Knife in the Water” saw the light, and was immediately noticed in Hollywood, winning an Oscar for Best Foreign Movie. It was also nominated for a BAFTA and won the FIPRESCI Prize at Venice Film Festival. The movie was Polanski’s breakthrough, and he would later make several classics. He spent more time directing and writing, but also had some acting roles, usually in his own movies.
In 1965, Polanski wrote and directed “Repulsion” starring Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, and John Fraser. The “Cul-De-Sac” (1966) with Donald Pleasence, Françoise Dorléac, and Lionel Stander was his next film, and later he directed, wrote, and starred in “The Fearless Vampire Killers” (1967). In 1968, Polanski wrote and directed the masterpiece “Rosemary’s Baby” starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, and Ruth Gordon, which won an Oscar and Golden Globe, and significantly improved Polanski’s net worth as well as reputation.
In the ’70’s, Polanski filmed “Macbeth” (1971) with Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, and Martin Shaw, and the blockbuster “Chinatown” (1974) starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, which was Polanski’s highest-rated to date, and won an Oscar with ten more nominations, won five Golden Globes, and three BAFTA’s. He later continued with “The Tenant” (1976) in which he starred with Isabelle Adjani and Melvyn Douglas, and “Tesa” (1979) starring Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, and Leigh Lawson, which won three Oscars, two Golden Globes, and a BAFTA.
Polanski had problems with authorities concerning an alleged sexual assault of 13-year-old Samantha Gailey in 1977, and since 50 years in prison was the sentence that waited him, he decided to get out of USA and go to London and later France, where he currently resides. Since he’s France’s citizen, he cannot be extradited, but during the 80’s and 90’s he made fewer movies than usual. However, he filmed “Pirates” (1986), “Frantic” (1989) starring Harrison Ford, “Bitter Moon” (1992) with Hugh Grant, “Death and the Maiden” (1994) starring Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, and Stuart Wilson, and “The Ninth Gate” (1999) with Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, and Lena Olin, all adding to his net worth..
These movies weren’t very successful, but Polanski managed to get back into the stars with his film “The Pianist” (2002) starring Adrien Brody, which won three Oscars including for Best Director, but Polanski couldn’t receive his only Academy Award, being a fugitive from US justice; Harrison Ford took it on his behalf. It also additionally improved his net worth.
Polanski later directed “Oliver Twist” (2005), “The Ghost Writer” (2010) starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, and Olivia Williams, “Carnage” (2011) with Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz, and “Venus in Fur” (2013) starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric. Most recently, Polanski is filming a drama called “Based on a True Story” that will come out in 2018.
Regarding his personal life, Roman Polanski was married to Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass from 1959 to 1962. His second wife was the late Sharon Tate from 1968 to her death in 1969, when members of Charles Manson’s “family” broke into her home and stabbed her to death. Polanski’s third wife is Emmanuelle Seigner, since 1989.
