Director Peter Medak dies in Los Angeles at 88
Medak directed 27 feature films and 59 television episodes over a 60-year career, including The Changeling and The Ruling Class.
Peter Medak, the Hungarian-British director whose 60-year career spanned 27 feature films and 59 episodes of television, died on Tuesday, October 27 in Los Angeles at the age of 88, Deadline reported. His family announced the death and said he died peacefully.
Medak's feature credits include The Ruling Class, released in 1972, which earned Peter O'Toole an Academy Award nomination, and the 1980 film The Changeling, starring George C. Scott. He also directed The Krays, with Martin Kemp and Gary Kemp, and Romeo Is Bleeding, starring Gary Oldman.
His documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers won Best Documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in 2018.
From Budapest to Los Angeles
Born in Budapest in 1937, Medak was given a 35-millimeter hand-cranked projector by his aunt at age eight. At 13, under the Communist regime, he was banned from going to school, and in 1956, at 18, he fled to England and started as a trainee at Associated British-Pathe.
He worked as an assistant director on The Great Armored Car Swindle and The Phantom of the Opera in 1961 and 1962. In 1963 MCA Universal Pictures brought him to Los Angeles and signed him to a television-directing contract, working on Court Martial, and in 1967 Paramount signed him to direct his first feature, Negatives, with Glenda Jackson.
Quick answers
How old was Peter Medak when he died?
He was 88. He died on Tuesday, October 27 in Los Angeles, and his family said he died peacefully.
What films did Peter Medak direct?
His credits include The Ruling Class, The Changeling, The Krays and Romeo Is Bleeding, as well as the 2018 documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers.
Did Peter Medak win any awards?
The Ghost of Peter Sellers won Best Documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in 2018. He was nominated for the Palme d'Or for his 1972 films.