Huston’s memoir recalls seedy underbelly of Hollywood

The director of Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown had allegedly drugged and raped teenager Samantha Geimer in a scandal that threw the spotlight onto Hollywood’s seedy underbelly. He denied rape but admitted unlawful sexual intercourse, but fled to France hours before he was due to be sentenced fearing he would be imprisoned or deported.

In extracts from her autobiography published in The Sunday Times Magazine, Huston recounts the moment in 1977 when she returned home to find Polanksi with the teen.

She said she spotted the director’s jacket and cameras in the kitchen and called out looking for him. She said: “A short while later, Roman and a girl came around the corner, he introduced me to her and said they had been taking pictures.”

Huston, 63, who was going out with Nicholson at the time, said she did not give the encounter a second thought until plain-clothed detectives raided her home on Mulholland Drive the next day.

She added: “After that there were newspaper articles, photos, repercussions. Roman was charged with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl at Jack’s house.”

Oscar winner Polanski has continued to make films and work with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. But he has not stepped foot on American soil since he fled in 1978.

Ms Huston’s book, Watch Me, is published this week.