Filmmaker Roman Polanski won his libel suit against 'Vanity Fair' magazine on Friday. The Academy Award winning director sued the magazine over an article that claimed he tried to proposition a woman while on the way to the funeral of his murdered wife, Sharon Tate.
The jury of nine men and three women deliberated for 4 1/2 hours before returning the verdict and awarding Polanski 50,000 pounds (approximately $87,500) plus court costs. Those costs may be substantial. Judge David Eady ordered Conde Nast, the publisher of 'Vanity Fair' to pay $300,000 of Polanski's legal costs within 14 days. The total bill will likely be higher.
The offending article appeared in the magazine in 2002. It said that Polanski approached a woman on the way to his wife's funeral, put his hand on her thigh and said, 'I will make another Sharon Tate out of you.'
Tate was murdered by Charles Manson and his 'family' in 1969.
John Kelsey-Fry, Polanski's lawyer, said his client had been 'monstrously libeled for the sake of a lurid anecdote.'
Actress Mia Farrow testified on Polanski's behalf. Farrow indicated that after Tate's murder, Polanski was 'unable to talk about anything else ... He just kept saying over and over, 'Why? Why?''
Polanski presently lives in France. He fled the United States in 1978 after being charged with having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He would not even appear in a British courtroom for fear of being extradited.
Polanski added that the trial made him 'relive the horrible events of August 1969, the murders of my wife, my unborn child and my friends. The memory of my late wife Sharon Tate was at the forefront of my mind in bringing this action,' he added.
Some of Polanski's more memorable films include 'The Pianist,' 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Chinatown.'
