Peter Maxwell

Vienna, Austria

Peter Maxwell (23 January 1921 – 5 April 2013) born as Peter Magitai, was a British, and later Australian director and screenwriter of television and film. He was born in Vienna, Austria, to newspaper journalist Leo Magatai and wife Johanna. His family fled Vienna in the 1930s, and he changed his surname to enter the British Army. After having been posted to India, he returned to Britain to work as an assistant director to Alexander Korda in 1949. He worked briefly in Australia in the early 1960s before returning to England. In 1967 he emigrated to Australia permanently, where he directed such films as Country Town and television series including Bellbird, Rip Tide and A Country Practice.