Filmmaker Peter Medak, Director of ‘The Changeling,’ Dies at 88

WHO:

Variety - Peter Medak was a Hungarian-born director and actor, known for *The Changeling*, *The Krays* and *The Ruling Class*.

Deadline - Medak was a Hungarian-British film and television director; his credits included *The Changeling*, starring George C. Scott; *Romeo Is Bleeding*, with Gary Oldman; and *The Krays*, starring Martin and Gary Kemp.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak directed Peter O’Toole in *The Ruling Class*, George C. Scott in *The Changeling* and Gary Oldman in *Romeo Is Bleeding*.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak’s survivors included his children Christopher, Joshua, Karen and Cornelia, and grandchildren Sacha, Marlowe, Ryden, Oliver and Anders.

WHAT:

Variety - Medak directed 27 feature films over a six-decade career, spanning psychological horror, black comedy and crime dramas.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak made his feature directorial debut with *Negatives* (1968), featuring Glenda Jackson, and followed it with *A Day in the Death of Joe Egg* (1972), starring Alan Bates and Janet Suzman.

The Hollywood Reporter - His films included *The Ruling Class* (1972), *Ghost in the Noonday Sun* (1974), *Zorro: The Gay Blade* (1981), *The Krays* (1990), *Let Him Have It* (1991), *Romeo Is Bleeding* (1993), *Pontiac Moon* (1994) and *Species II* (1998).

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak directed episodes of *Homicide: Life on the Street*, *Hart to Hart*, *Faerie Tale Theatre*, *Breaking Bad*, *The Wire*, *Space: 1999*, *Magnum, P.I.*, *Law & Order: SVU*, *St. Elsewhere*, *Chicago Hope*, *House* and *Cold Case*.

The Hollywood Reporter - His work also included the 1997 telefilm *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*, starring Mandy Patinkin, and early music videos for Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd.

WHERE:

Variety - Medak died in Los Angeles.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak was born in Budapest, Hungary.

WHEN:

Deadline - Medak died Tuesday, October 27, in Los Angeles, aged 88; his family announced his death.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak was born on Dec. 23, 1937, and fled to England in 1956 during Hungary’s uprising against the communists.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak directed *The Changeling* in 1980; Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Amenábar were among its admirers.

WHY:

The Hollywood Reporter - Spielberg said he screened *The Changeling* several times for the *Poltergeist* crew to help set the tone for the horror film.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak said he made *The Ghost of Peter Sellers* in 2018 to revisit the difficult experience of directing *Ghost in the Noonday Sun*.

HOW:

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak started in film as an editor, cameraman and assistant director, and helped Fred Zinnemann on *The Sundowners* (1960).

The Hollywood Reporter - His second-assistant-director work on *The V.I.P.s* led to a seven-year Universal Studios contract in 1963 to direct television in Hollywood and London.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak said Spielberg called *The Changeling* “what it should be,” and said he and Scorsese each had a 35mm copy.

The Hollywood Reporter - Medak was married to Catherine Marie La Kermance from 1963 until her death by suicide in 1972, Carolyn Seymour from 1973 until their 1984 divorce, and opera singer Julia Migenes from 1988 until their 2003 divorce.

(UPDATED October 28, 2026 19:05 UTC)

Hungarian-British filmmaker Peter Medak, director of the acclaimed horror film *The Changeling*, has died in Los Angeles at 88. Across a six-decade career, he directed 27 feature films, including *The Ruling Class*, *The Krays* and *Romeo Is Bleeding*, and worked on television series such as *The Wire*, *Breaking Bad* and *Homicide: Life on the Street*. Medak’s work spanned psychological horror, comedy and crime dramas, and *The Changeling* was admired by filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro.