Peter Medak

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Peter Medak
Born (1937-12-23) 23 December 1937 (age 86)
Occupation(s)Film and television director
Years active1968–present
Spouses
Katherine LaKermance
(m. 1963; died 1972)
(m. 1973; div. 1984)
(m. 1988; div. 2003)
Children4
Websitepetermedak.net

Péter Medák (born 23 December 1937) is a Hungarian-British film and television director.[1]

Early life

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Born in Budapest, Hungary, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Medak, a textile manufacturer. His family was Jewish. In 1956, he fled his native country for the United Kingdom due to the Hungarian Uprising.[1] There he embarked on a career in the film industry, starting as a trainee and gradually rising to the position of film director.

Career

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Medak was signed to direct television films for MCA Universal Pictures in 1963. In 1967, he signed with Paramount Pictures to make feature films. His first such film was Negatives (1968).[1]

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), Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire[2][3][4][5] and Carnivàle.[6]

Personal life

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His marriage to his first wife, Katherine LaKermance, with whom he had two children, ended when she died in London in 1972. He had two further children with his second wife, British actress Carolyn Seymour,[7] from whom he was later divorced. Medak's third wife was opera singer Julia Migenes; the marriage lasted from 1988 to 2003.[8]

Partial filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Peter Medak". britmovie.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Episode guide - episode 03 The Buys". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  3. ^ a b David Simon, Ed Burns (2002-06-16). "The Buys". The Wire. Season 1. Episode 3. HBO.
  4. ^ "Episode guide - episode 05 The Pager". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  5. ^ David Simon, Ed Burns (2002-06-30). "The Pager". The Wire. Season 1. Episode 5. HBO.
  6. ^ a b Peter Medak (director), William Schmidt (writer) (2003-10-05). "Black Blizzard". Carnivàle. Season 1. Episode 4. HBO.
  7. ^ "Peter Medak Biography, filmreference.com; accessed 22 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Julia Migenes profile". NNDB. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
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