Peter Medak, Director of The Changeling and The Krays, Dies at 88

Peter Medak, the Hungarian-British film and television director, died on Tuesday, October 27, in Los Angeles. He was 88. His family announced the death and said he died peacefully, according to Deadline.

Medak was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937. He went on to work in British and American film and television for about 60 years. Over that time he directed 27 feature films and 59 episodes of television.

Many of his films starred well-known actors. He directed The Changeling, which starred George C. Scott. He also made Romeo Is Bleeding, with Gary Oldman in the lead, and The Krays, which starred Martin and Gary Kemp as the notorious twin gangsters from London's East End.

His 1972 film The Ruling Class stands out in his record. It starred Peter O'Toole, and it earned Medak a nomination for the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. O'Toole received an Academy Award nomination, the Oscars' top acting nod, for the same film.

Medak's credits remain a record of a long working life across cinema and television, from a Cannes-recognised drama to crime films and series that reached audiences in several countries.

For anyone discovering his work for the first time, his filmography is a good place to start. Many of his features are still widely available to watch, and his television episodes give a fuller picture of a career that never stopped moving between formats.