Peter Medak
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"The most important thing I've learned about this business is to never give up, under any circumstances. You have to hammer out your point of view and fax it and repeat it every day 10 million times. Eventually, someone will listen." --Peter Medak to PREMIERE, January 1992
Biography
Hungarian-born Peter Medak escaped to England after the 1956 uprising in his homeland. He spent an apprenticeship rising from assistant cameraman to second assistant director with the 1962 remake of "The Phantom of the Opera." The following year, he began directing for TV for Universal and entered features in 1968 with "Negatives." Medak was responsible for one of the most deliriously vicious satires of English upper-crust folly, "The Ruling Class" (1972), featuring a tour de force central performance by Peter O'Toole. The director demonstrated his comedic touch with the middling "Zorro, the Gay Blade" (1981). The best known of Medak's subsequent films, "The Krays" (1990), was a violent look at a rather different segment of English society which featured pop singers Gary and Martin Kemp in the roles of two of Britain's most notorious gangsters while "Let Him Have It" (1991) was a based-on-fact story of a 50s murder case that involved a teenager of questionable intelligence. He also helmed the stylish contemporary noir "Romeo Is Bleeding" (1993). More recently, Medak has concentrated on small screen work, helming episodes of the acclaimed NBC series "Homicide: Life on the Street" and the TNT remake "The Hunchback" (1997), starring Mandy Patinkin and Salma Hayek.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Life Events
1956
Escaped from Budapest and went to England during Hungarian uprising
1958
Worked in major British film studios as assistant cameraman, assistant director and second unit director
1962
First feature film credit, "Phantom of the Opera" (as second assistant director)
1962
Signed long-term contract with Universal studios in Hollywood where he worked as asistant producer and second unit director on TV productions, "Arrest and Trial", "Channing" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour"
1964
Returned to London to set up Universal's English operation as executive producer; work included producing and directing some episodes of TV series, "Court Martial"
1966
First credit as associate producer, "Kaleidoscope"
1966
First credit as second unit director, "Funeral in Berlin"
1967
First feature film as associate director, "Fathom" (also second unit director)
1968
Directed first feature, "Negatives"
1972
Helmed "The Ruling Class" starring Peter O'Toole
1981
Had modest success with the comedy "Zorro, the Gay Blade"
1990
Returned to the milieu of London with the biopic "The Krays", about the rise and fall of British gangster-brothers
1993
Helmed the outlandish noirish "Romeo Is Bleeding"
1994
Directed episodes of the NBC police drama "Homicide: Life on the Street"
1997
Helmed the TNT remake of "The Hunchback" starring Mandy Patinkin and Salma Hayek
1998
Directed "Species II"
Videos
Movie Clip
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"The most important thing I've learned about this business is to never give up, under any circumstances. You have to hammer out your point of view and fax it and repeat it every day 10 million times. Eventually, someone will listen." --Peter Medak to PREMIERE, January 1992
