• Charlotte Lewis, born in 1967, became famous at 19 for her role in “Pirates” and was a popular 1990s actress.
  • Of mixed heritage, she began acting at 11 and faced challenges in her teen years, including substance abuse.
  • She accused Roman Polanski of assault at 16; later reports questioned the truth of her claims.
  • She is a single mother with a son born in 2004 and has an estimated net worth of over $2 million as of 2024.
  • Charlotte is known for “The Golden Child” and a career resurgence with “Lost Angelas” in 2019.

Who is Charlotte Lewis?

Born on 7 August 1967, in Kensington, London, England, Charlotte Lewis is a 56-year-old English actress, who became a star at the age of 19, when she made her silver screen debut in the Roman Polanski movie hit “Pirates”. While she was one of the most popular actresses in the 1990s, she faded into obscurity in the mid-2000s, however, she made headlines again when she claimed that director Roman Polanski had sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old. Additionally, she stated that she didn’t stop acting willingly, but that Hollywood as a whole blacklisted her because she threatened to publicly condemn Polanski. Despite her exotic beauty and acting talent, Lewis is considered one of the more controversial actresses of the last few decades.

Early Life and Education: From London to Paris

Charlotte was born in the capital of England into a mixed family, as her mother is half-Irish and her father is half-Iraqi and half-Chilean. He was/is a physicist, but there is not much information about their names or their personal lives. However, we do know that Charlotte always had a close relationship with her mother, whom she cites as her ‘hero and inspiration’. In 1978 at the tender age of 11, she was cast as Samantha in the hit British TV series “Grange Hill”, which aired on BBC for 30 years and more than 600 episodes. In 1982, she enrolled at Bishop Douglass School in Finchley, London, but didn’t graduate until years later. Her role in “Grange Hill” already made her a star in her home country. At the age of just 14 Charlotte moved to Paris to pursue a career in modelling, but living alone in the capital of France turned out to be a bad decision for Lewis, as she indulged in copious amounts of cocaine and alcohol. ‘I was rebelling against everything,’ Lewis says when asked about that period. ‘I realized I looked about 110 years old, and my body couldn’t take it anymore.’

CategoryInformation
Full NameCharlotte Lewis
Known ForActing career in “Pirates” and “The Golden Child”; Controversy involving Roman Polanski
ProfessionActress
OccupationActress
EducationAttended Bishop Douglass School in Finchley, London
Net WorthEstimated at over $2 million as of mid-2019
ChildrenHas a son born in 2004
ParentsMother is half-Irish; Father is half-Iraqi and half-Chilean
Date of BirthAugust 7, 1967
Zodiac SignLeo
Place of BirthKensington, London, England
NationalityBritish
EthnicityMixed (Irish, Iraqi-Chilean)
Hair ColorDark Brown
Eye ColorDark Brown
GenderFemale
Height5 feet 6 inches (1.69 m)
Weight53 kg
Notable Works“Pirates”, “The Golden Child”, and “Lost Angelas”

Career Beginnings: Pirates

In the mid-1980s, French-Polish director Roman Polanski began living in Paris, on the run from US authorities following accusations that he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl. Unable to continue his work in the US, Polanski was forced to collaborate with mostly European actors and actresses. In 1983 through a mutual friend in the industry, he met young Charlotte who auditioned for a role in one of his movies; they immediately saw eye to eye and she became his newest protege. Even though she was only 16, she was mature beyond her age, mostly because of her experiences living in Paris, and in 1986 Lewis took on the only female role in the blockbuster hit, “Pirates”. The critics praised the performance of the 18-year-old British actress, predicting a bright future for her, however, despite the initial success, rumors began swirling about her being in a relationship with Polanski. ‘Roman never mixes business with pleasure’, she commented. The part of María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde was a difficult one, but Charlotte delivered a stellar performance. At the 1987 Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Costume Design but ultimately missed out.

Continued Success: The Golden Child, Dial: Help and More

The same year, she appeared alongside Charles Dance and Eddie Murphy in “The Golden Child”; even though this movie was initially slammed by critics, it became one of the cult classics of the 1980s. Afterwards, Charlotte took on the role of Jenny Cooper in “Dial: Help”, and as the lead actress, Charlotte finally got the opportunity to showcase her skills. Even though it was an Italian film (the original title was “Minaccia d’amore), it succeeded in attracting worldwide attention, so the rest of the decade was relatively busy for Charlotte, as she rounded out the year 1989 with “Tripwire” and “The Legend of the Emerald Princess”, with the former featuring her in one of the lead roles.

The 1990s: The Busiest Period of Her Career

Charlotte used all the publicity and positive critiques as encouragement and motivation to work even harder. She started the decade off with “Bare Essentials” and “Healing Hurts”, which were relatively successful. However, her most notable appearance at the beginning of the ‘90s was in “Broken Badges”. This show revolves around a New Orleans cop. who is willing to do anything to catch the bad guys, even if it means breaking rules and getting his colleagues into trouble. When he gets reassigned to California for several weeks, he teams up with several misfit policemen to solve crimes. Charlotte continued to appear in less popular movies, such as “Men of War”, “Embrace the Vampire” and “Every Dog Has Its Day”, but even though she didn’t manage to capitalize on the initial hype surrounding her, she still became a respected actress.

Charlotte Lewis

Fading Into Obscurity and Returning

After appearing in “Henry X” and “Hey DJ,” with her childhood friend Jon Jacobs, she dropped off the grid. Her fans and people around the movie industry were baffled by her sudden disappearance, but it seemed that she had had enough of the drama surrounding Hollywood, and wanted a break from all the pressure and obligations related to acting. In 2019, however, she surprised everyone when it was announced that she would appear in “Lost Angelas”, a neo-noir thriller which premiered at the Method Fest Film Festival. We don’t know if she is making a permanent return to the industry, or if this was just to rekindle her long-lost love towards her profession.

Rape Accusations Against Roman Polanski

On 14 May 2010, Charlotte shocked the world when she came out with a press release, stating that director and long-time collaborator Roman Polanski sexually abused her when she was only 16. Given the fact that Polanski is already notorious for his incident with Samantha Geimer, the public was outraged and called for Polanski to appear in front of a judge. Coincidentally, Polanski was under house arrest in Switzerland, awaiting extradition to the US. Prosecutors in California confirmed that they would interview Charlotte, in the presence of her lawyer, Gloria Allred, who is known for taking high-profile and controversial cases. People thought that Polanski was going to spend the rest of his life in prison if he was sentenced for both of his alleged crimes, but a small minority thought that the situation was too coincidental to be true, and Charlotte was accused of lying because she had dropped out of the public eye and was ‘hungry for attention.’ However, in late 2010, something unexpected happened.

Uncovering the Truth

When the potential rape case against Polanski was still making headlines, journalists from the French daily Liberation did some digging. During their research, they found an interview by Lewis from 1999, in which she tells a completely different story. ‘I knew that Roman had done something bad in the United States, but I wanted to be with him’, she said. ‘I wanted him probably more than he wanted me.’ This raised a significant number of eyebrows. Furthermore, it was revealed that Polanski and Lewis were in a legitimate relationship and that she eventually left him for Warren Beatty, who was, ironically, Polanski’s good friend. Prominent people in Hollywood even remembered them holding hands at the Cannes Film Festival years after the supposed incident. More research ensued, and Liberation found another interview, this time from 1986. In it, Lewis stated: ‘I’d love to have had a romantic relationship with him, and a physical one. You can’t help falling in love with him. But he didn’t want me that way’. In the aftermath of this scandal, Charlotte was ripped apart by various newspapers because of her false allegations.

Personal Life: Is Charlotte Lewis Married? Does She Have Any Children?

As for her romantic involvements, there is almost no information across all of the credible sources that could accurately describe this element of her life. Charlotte herself tends to keep news about her partners completely private and has not yet come forward to address her fans’ inquiries, but there’s been no other controversy. According to available information, or lack thereof, Lewis is currently single. She has a son born in 2004, whose father’s identity is still a secret. Her current place of residence is in her hometown of London.

What is Charlotte Lewis’ Net Worth?

According to several authoritative sources, Charlotte Lewis has a net worth of over $2 million as of 2024, accumulated largely by modeling and becoming a movie star at a young age. We’re not sure if this amount is sufficient for more than a few years, given the fact that she’s apparently not active as an actress anymore, but it’s quite plausible that she has some sort of side-venture.

Charlotte Lewis

Body Measurements: How Tall is Charlotte Lewis?

Charlotte Lewis is 5ft 6in (167cm) tall, but her weight and vital statistics are unknown.

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Author

Benjy is currently a reporter for BiographyPedia based in Adelaide, Australia. Prior to joining BiographyPedia in July 2019, he was a Bizarre TV reporter and theatre critic at TheSun. Benjy has also written for DailyMail and TMZ. Benjy studied journalism at Goldsmiths University of London, graduating in 2009. You can contact him at [email protected].

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