Roman Polanski (1933- ): French film director and screenwriter. His second wife, actress Sharon Tate (1943-69), was one of the victims of a multiple murder by followers of cult leader Charles Manson. Has lived in Europe since fleeing the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to a plea bargain charge of "unlawful sexual conduct with a minor" (i.e., drugging and raping a thirteen-year-old girl). Notable movies: Rosemary's Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974), Tess (1979), and The Pianist (Academy Award, 2002).
If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But... fucking, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to fuck young girls. Juries want to fuck young girls. Everyone wants to fuck young girls!
— Roman Polanski, quoted in Martin Amis, Visiting Mrs Nabokov, 1979, p. 264.