Did Woman Of The Hour's Rodney Alcala Really Study Under Roman Polanski?

Warning! This post contains spoilers for Woman of the Hour.


This post contains mentions of sexual assault, murder, physical abuse, and Rodney Alcala’s real-life violent crimes.


Woman of the Hour‘s Rodney Alcala mentions he studied under Roman Polanski, leaving one curious whether the actual serial killer he is based on had any real-life connections with the renowned director. Almost throughout its runtime, Woman of the Hour primarily focuses on retelling the story behind Rodney Alcala’s appearance on The Dating Game before he was convicted of multiple violent crimes. However, to highlight that he had a criminal history even before he ended up on the game show, the Anna Kendrick true-story thriller also walks through some of his previous murders.

For instance, it shows how Rodney Alcala murdered a flight attendant in Manhattan after she accepted his help in moving some furniture to her new apartment. Before attacking the flight attendant in the movie, Alcala talks to her about his background in filmmaking and reveals he briefly studied under Rosemary’s Baby‘s director, Roman Polanski. Since Woman of the Hour‘s true-story explorations are not bereft of creative liberties, it is hard not to wonder if the serial killer was Roman Polanski’s student at some point.



Rodney Alcala Really Did Attend Roman Polanski’s Class While In New York

He Took A Class From Him At NYU

Rodney Alcala’s earliest known crime was in 1968. He had abducted 8-year-old Tali Shapiro by lying to her that he knew her family and had sexually assaulted and physically abused her before the police arrived at the girl’s rescue.

Woman of the Hour Key Facts Breakdown

Directed By

Anna Kendrick

Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score

90%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

70%

Running Time

1 hour 29 minutes


To evade the arrest warrant for the crime, Rodney Alcala left California and went to New York. In New York, he enrolled in New York University even though he had previously graduated from the UCLA School of Fine Arts. According to several reports, this is where he took a filmmaking class under Roman Polanski, confirming the movie’s account is true.

How Rodney Alcala Attended NYU

He Changed His Name After His First Brush With The Law

Following the 1968 assault, Rodney Alcala was registered as a sex offender. In 1971, the FBI even added him to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. However, despite his criminal background, he was able to attend NYU because he changed his identity after fleeing California. To avoid getting arrested, Alcala registered himself as “John Berger” in NYU. He later changed his name to “John Burger” before landing a counseling job at a New Hampshire arts camp for children.


Anna Kendrick smiling as Sheryl in Woman of the Hour

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Woman Of The Hour: What Happened To The Real Cheryl Bradshaw

Cheryl Bradshaw plays a pivotal role in Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour, which shares the wild story about Rodney Alcala’s time on The Dating Game.

Around the same time, he also worked for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where serial killer Richard Cottingham was also employed. However, Alcala eventually got caught when two children from the art camp noticed his picture on an FBI poster in a post office. Owing to its limited runtime, Woman of the Hour avoids delving too deep into this segment of Rodney Alcala’s story. It still hints that Rodney Alcala had a long history of crimes before he was cast as one of the contestants in The Dating Game.