Peter Medak, a British-Hungarian filmmaker, passed away peacefully in Los Angeles on Tuesday, according to an announcement from his family. The director was 88 years old.
Medak built a prolific career spanning multiple decades in both cinema and television. His filmography included the 1972 adaptations of celebrated stage works, as well as the 1980 horror film The Changeling, which starred George C. Scott and was later cited by Martin Scorsese as a personal favorite. He also helmed two period crime thrillers in the early 1990s: The Krays, featuring Spandau Ballet members Gary and Martin Kemp, and Let Him Have It, which examined the case of Derek Bentley. Beyond features, Medak directed episodes for numerous television programs, including The Twilight Zone, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Hannibal.
Born in Hungary in 1937, Medak survived World War II by going into hiding with his Jewish family. He later fled the country during the Hungarian uprising and relocated to London, where his aunt was a noted opera singer. Through family connections, he secured work at a newsreel production company and gradually advanced through various studio roles. He eventually served as an assistant director before making his feature directorial debut in 1968.
Medak experienced both critical success and significant setbacks throughout his career. While his early work received acclaim, a 1974 Peter Sellers comedy became what he described as the biggest disaster of his life, leading him to later document the troubled production in a documentary shown at the Venice film festival in 2018. Writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who collaborated with Medak on their first produced screenplay, described him as a respectful and encouraging mentor.
Medak was married three times throughout his life: to Katherine La Kermance from 1963 to 1972, Carolyn Seymour from 1973 to 1984, and Julia Migenes from 1988 to 2003.
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