Polanski testifies in London legal case - 'shocked' at allegations

Jul 18, 2005, 16:33 GMT

London - Oscar-winning film director Roman Polanski, aged 71, told a London court by video link Monday that he had been in a "state of shock" about a magazine article alleging he had been unfaithful to his former wife, the actress Sharon Tate.

Polanski, who lives in Paris, won the right to testify by video link to the High Court in London after expressing fears that he could face extradition to the United States on child sex charges if he travelled to Britain.

The article, published in Vanity Fair in July 2002, is at the heart of the libel case now conducted. The publishers, Conde Nast, deny libel.

"This was the worst thing ever written about me. It's absolutely not true," Polanski told the jury of nine men and three women.

"But I think it was particularly hurtful, because it dishonours my memory of Sharon," he added.

The article referred to events following the death of Tate, who was murdered by followers of Charles Manson in Los Angeles in 1969.

"It's all lies," said Polanski, wearing a black suit and standing during his testimony. "That's not the way I behave. Still I had some honour. Still I have it now."

Polanski struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke of his late wife.

"Sharon was sweet, bright, brilliant. She had a great sense of humour. She was in my eyes the perfect woman."

However, questioned by Tom Shields, lawyer for Vanity Fair, about his sexual promiscuity, Polanski admitted he had been unfaithful to Tate before and during their marriage.

Polanski's lawyer, John Kelsey-Fry, said the action was not about the director's "somewhat laissez-faire attitude to casual sex" earlier in his life.

The director was convicted of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in Hollywood in 1977. He fled the U.S. and faces immediate arrest should he return.

Kelsey-Fry said the incident was a "most unsightly blot" on Polanski's reputation, but that it had nothing to do with the current libel case.

He said the accusations levelled at the director in the Vanity Fair article suggested "a callous indifference to what had happened and to his wife's memory of breathtaking proportions".

Publisher Conde Nast is based in the United States, but the claim is being pursued in the English courts, which are perceived as being more generous toward libel claimants.

Actress Mia Farrow is also expected to testify, in person, on behalf of the director with whom she made "Rosemary's Baby" in 1968.