This film, along with Repulsion (1965) and Le locataire (1976), forms a loose trilogy by Roman Polanski about the horrors of apartment/city dwelling.

Directed by Roman Polanski, whose pregnant wife actress Sharon Tate was murdered in 1969 by Charles Manson and his followers,
who titled their death spree "Helter Skelter" after the 1968 song by The Beatles, one of whose members,
John Lennon, would one day live (and in 1980 be murdered) in the Manhattan apartment building called The Dakota - where Rosemary's Baby had been filmed.

According to Mia Farrow, the scenes where Rosemary walks in front of traffic were spontaneous and genuine. Roman Polanski is reported to have told her that "nobody will hit a pregnant woman."

Before the filming of the scene of Rosemary calling Donald Baumgart (the actor in the story who mysteriously goes blind),
Mia Farrow did not know who would be speaking the lines. It was Tony Curtis, and in the scene Farrow shows slight confusion, finding the voice familiar but not able to place it.
This confusion was exactly the effect director Roman Polanski hoped to capture by having Curtis read the lines.

Mia Farrow does the vocals on the title-sequence lullaby.

This was Roman Polanski's very first adaptation, and it is very faithful to the novel. Pieces of dialog, color schemes and clothes are taken verbatim.

It was on the set of this film that Mia Farrow received divorce papers from then-husband Frank Sinatra.

Producer William Castle wanted to display a grotesque demon baby at the end of the film when Mia Farrow looks at her child but Roman Polanski (and the other producers) vetoed the idea in lieu of a more ambiguous scene.

Mia Farrow went on to play the nanny to "devil child" Damien in the 2006 remake of The Omen (2006) almost 40 years later.
The film was released to coincide with the date 06/06/06 in order to spark interest and gain publicity.