Peter Medak, Director of 'The Changeling,' Dies at 88

Peter Medak, the director and actor known for helming "The Changeling" and "The Ruling Class," has died in Los Angeles. The Hungarian-born filmmaker was 88 years old at the time of his death on Tuesday.

Medak completed 27 feature films during a career that spanned six decades. His work ranged across psychological horror, black comedy, and crime drama. He won the Evening Standard Award for best director in 1990 for his gangster film "The Krays."

His 1980 supernatural thriller "The Changeling" starred George C. Scott. The film collected eight Genie Awards, including the award for best motion picture. Medak also directed the 1972 satire "The Ruling Class," which featured Peter O'Toole. That film competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and earned O'Toole an Academy Award nomination.

Medak was born in Budapest in 1937. He spent part of World War II hiding with his family. Under Hungary's Communist regime, his father faced imprisonment and Medak was barred from school. He fled to England during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. In Britain, he began as an assistant director before moving to Hollywood. His first feature as a director was "Negatives" in 1968, which starred Glenda Jackson.

Medak directed episodes of television series including "Homicide: Life on the Street," "The Wire," "Breaking Bad," and "House." He released the documentary "The Ghost of Peter Sellers" in 2018. The film examined his experience producing the 1970s comedy "Ghost in the Noonday Sun."

He is survived by four children, Christopher, Joshua, Karen, and Cornela, as well as five grandchildren.