Péter Medák (born 23 December 1937) is a Hungarian-British film and television director.

Early life

Born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Medak, a textile manufacturer. His family was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. In 1956, he fled his native country for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

due to the Hungarian Uprising. There he embarked on a career in the film industry, starting as a trainee and gradually rising to the position of film director.

Career

Medak was signed to direct

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

s for MCA

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

in 1963. In 1967, he signed with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

to make feature films. His first such film was '' Negatives'' (1968). Some of his most notable other works are '' The Ruling Class'' (1972), '' The Changeling'' (1980), '' The Krays'' (1990) and '' Let Him Have It'' (1991). Medak has also directed a number of TV episodes and films, including ''The Feast of All Saints'' (a

mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

), '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'' and ''

Carnivàle ''Carnivàle'' () is an American television series set in the United States Dust Bowl during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The series, created by Daniel Knauf, ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. In tracing the lives of disparate gr ...

''.

Personal life

His marriage to his first wife, Katherine LaKermance, with whom he had two children, ended when she died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1972. He had two further children with his second wife, British actress Carolyn Seymour, from whom he was later divorced. Medak's third wife was

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer Julia Migenes; the marriage lasted from 1988 to 2003.

Partial filmography

* '' Negatives'' (1968) * '' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'' (1972) * '' The Ruling Class'' (1972) * '' The Third Girl From the Left'' (1973) * '' Ghost in the Noonday Sun'' (1974) * '' The Odd Job'' (1978) * '' The Changeling'' (1980) * '' The Babysitter'' (1980) * '' Zorro, The Gay Blade'' (1981) * '' Cry for the Strangers'' (1982) * '' Hart to Hart'' (1982) * ''

Faerie Tale Theatre ''Faerie Tale Theatre'' (also known as ''Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre'') is an American award-winning live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series created and presented by actress Shelley Duvall. The series originally ...

'' (1984) ** Episode 3.03 "

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

" ** Episode 3.05 " Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" ** Episode 4.02 "

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

" ** Episode 4.07 " The Emperor's New Clothes" ** Episode 6.03 " The Dancing Princesses" * ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' (1985) ** Episode 1.09 " Dead Woman's Shoes" * '' The Men's Club'' (1986) * ''The Metamorphosis, a Study: Nabokov on Kafka'' (1989) * '' The Krays'' (1990) * '' Let Him Have It'' (1991) * '' Romeo Is Bleeding'' (1993) * '' Pontiac Moon'' (1994) * '' The Hunchback'' (1997) * '' Species II'' (1998) * ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

'' (2000) * ''The Feast of All Saints'' (2001) (TV mini-series) * '' Masters of Horror'' (2007) ** Episode " The Washingtonians" * ''

'' (2002) ** Episode 1.03 " The Buys" *''

'' (2003) ** Episode 1.04 "Black Blizzard" * ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'' (2004) ** Episodes 1.6 " The Socratic Method" *'' Sex and Lies in Sin City'' (2008) *''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' (2009) ** Episode 2.06 "

Peekaboo Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) is a form of play played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says ''Peekaboo!'', sometimes followed by ''I see you!'' There are many variations: for ...

" *''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

'' (2013) ** Episode 1.04 "Œuf" ** Episode 2.03 "Hassun" *'' Dating Game Killer'' (2017) *'' The Ghost of Peter Sellers'' (2018)

References

External links

* *
Peter Medak
at Britmovie.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Medak, Peter 1937 births English-language film directors Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian Jews Hungarian refugees Mass media people from Budapest Living people British science fiction film directors Hungarian science fiction film directors Hungarian horror film directors British horror film directors British film directors British television directors 20th-century Hungarian Jews 21st-century Hungarian Jews 20th-century British Jews 21st-century British Jews Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom