Polanski begins house arrest on $4.5M bail

December 5, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

GSTAAD, Switzerland — Roman Polanski began his house arrest on $4.5 million bail Friday, rolling into the luxury resort of Gstaad in a police convoy to a warm welcome from his wife and children at his Alpine chalet. Polanski persuaded Swiss authorities to end his two months of incarceration in a Swiss jail pending their decision on whether to extradite him to the U.S. in a 32-year-old sex case.

Polanski’s family had been waiting eagerly at the chalet, peeking out the windows to look for him as Swiss authorities worked out the last-minute details of his transfer. He has two children — Elvis, 9, and Morgane, 16 — with his wife, French actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

Just before 1 p.m., two police cars went straight into the garage, which has direct access to the house, then left 20 minutes later.

The 76-year-old director won’t be allowed to leave the property while Switzerland decides whether to extradite him to the U.S. for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. His house in Gstaad was fitted with an electronic monitoring system that will trigger an alarm if Polanski leaves the house or removes the tagging bracelet.

Rock hall annex in New York to close

CLEVELAND — The year-old New York City annex to Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will shut down Jan. 3. A news release issued Thursday by S2BN Entertainment, a partner in the venture, gave no reason for the closing.

Rock hall CEO Terry Stewart tells The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland the decision was made by corporate partners who had backed the $10 million annex in downtown Manhattan. Backers had hoped to attract up to a half-million visitors annually but have not said what attendance was. The collection displayed at the annex included Bruce Springsteen’s 1957 Chevy. The rock hall says some of the artifacts could become part of a traveling show.

Twisted Sister guitarist has emergency back surgery

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda is recuperating from emergency back surgery that forced him to miss the band’s concert near Philadelphia. Ojeda experienced intense pain that prevented him from standing or sitting. He went to a hospital and had surgery to repair a ruptured disc, according to bandmate Jay Jay French.

Dan McCafferty, who played guitar in singer Dee Snider’s solo band, was pressed into duty as a last-minute replacement at the Keswick Theater on Wednesday night.

French says Ojeda is feeling better and hopes to perform at the band’s Sunday night concert at New York’s Nokia Theater. If he can’t, McCafferty will fill in there as well.

Today’s birthdays

Singer Little Richard is 77. Opera singer Jose Carreras is 63. Singer Jim Messina (Loggins and Messina, Poco) is 62. Singer-guitarist John Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls is 44. Country singer Gary Allan is 42. Comedian Margaret Cho is 41. Actress Alex Kapp Horner (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is 40. Singer Keri Hilson is 27. Actor Frankie Muniz (“Malcolm in the Middle”) is 24.