RalphC Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Film director and newspaper columnist Michael Winner has died, aged 77, his wife Geraldine has confirmed. Born in Hampstead, London in 1935, he directed more than 30 films, including Death Wish and Scorpio. He was also famous for his barbed restaurant reviews, written for The Sunday Times under the banner "Winner's Dinners". Winner had been ill for some time. Last summer, he said liver specialists had given him 18 months to live. Paying tribute to her husband, Mrs Winner said: "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. "A light has gone out in my life." Winner was born to to Jewish expatriate parents in London. His mother was Polish and his father Russian. He attended St Christopher's School in Letchworth and went on to study law and economics at Cambridge University. According to his official website, he was, at 17, the youngest student there and graduated aged 20. He was enamoured with the film industry, and would often blag his way onto film sets and interviews. This led to work as a journalist and film critic, before he joined Motion Pictures Limited as a writer and editor in 1956. By 1962, he had directed his first movie, Play it Cool, a pop musical starring Billy Fury. With his own film company, Scimitar, established in the mid-60s, he made a number of satirical films starring Oliver Reed, including The System and I'll Never Forget What's 'Is Name. But he became more well-known for his action films, especially the violent Death Wish series, starring Charles Bronson as an architect who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are murdered. In later years, Winner also directed a series of commercials for an insurance company featuring the catchphrase: "Calm down dear!" For his entry in the 2012 edition of Who's Who, the director listed his interests as "eating, being difficult, making table mats, washing silk shirts" and "doing Pilates badly". He had experienced a run of ill-health since eating a bad oyster on holiday in Barbados in 2007. He later picked up the E coli virus from a steak tartare, and was hospitalised eight times in the last few months of his life. But he continued to write his weekly column for The Sunday Times until 2 December, 2012, signing off with the headline: "Geraldine says it's time to get down from the table. Goodbye." Winner met his wife 56 years ago, but did not marry until 2011 in a small ceremony witnessed by actor Michael Caine and his wife Shakira. Mrs Winner said her husband had died on Monday at his home in Kensington, London, where she had been nursing him. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21123532 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missunderstood Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Dreadful old snob and a talentless film director who made crap films. Never seemed to take himself seriously though, and for reasons I cant explain I actually quite liked him. RIP Michael Winner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mayor Of Simpleton Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 RIP Michael. He came across as difficult at times, but did a lot for charity and was tireless in his support for the Police. A very talented man who will be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big J R Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 He lived life exactly the way he wanted and couldn't care less what people said about him R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missunderstood Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 He lived life exactly the way he wanted and couldn't care less what people said about him R.I.P. So did Jimmy Saville. I'm not sure I would want to live in an unstructured world where everyone "lived life exactly how they wanted", but in Winners case I would imagine he lived most of his life on the right side of the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big J R Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 So did Jimmy Saville. I'm not sure I would want to live in an unstructured world where everyone "lived life exactly how they wanted", but in Winners case I would imagine he lived most of his life on the right side of the law. It's a well known fact that he had a passion for young women, very good food and very fine wine. By 'young women', I am NOT inferring a Lolita syndrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhodes Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 a talentless film director who made crap films Like the iconic Death Wish films you mean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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