Biography
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 …
Career Milestones
| Began film training at ABPC studios in Budapest at age 19 | ||
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" | |