Polanski

Roman Polanski is as notorious for his private life as for his films. Described as "evil", "perverted", a "genius", and possessing "a mind warped by Hitler's holocaust and the Charles Manson murders", Polanski is wanted in the United States on charges involving sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl, whom he is alleged to have plied with drugs and champagne in Jack Nicholson's jacuzzi, he remains a prolific film-maker from his base in Paris. All his films reverberate with the savagery, voyeurism and deviant sexuality of Polanski's real-life experiences, and in marrying Emmanuelle Seigner, teenage star of "Bitter Moon", he has been accused of pulling the ultimate publicity stunt. In preparing this biography John Parker, who has met Polanski in Paris and London, talked to many of his friends and associates, and gained access to Polish sources - including his first wife, Basia Kwiatkowski. Parker has also written biographies of the Duke of Windsor ("King of Fools"), Jack Nicholson ("The Joker's Wild") and Sean Connery, and "Five of Hollywood", a study of the film industry in the 1950s.