Michael Winner, 77, filmmaker, restaurant critic - The Boston Globe Advertisement His 1960s British films included ‘‘West 11,’’ a gritty thriller set in a shabby London neighborhood; ‘‘The System,’’ a tale of young men on the prowl in a seaside town; and ‘‘I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname,’’ starring Oliver Reed as a fed-up London adman and Orson Welles as his boss. Other notable pictures included ‘‘The Big Sleep’’ — a remake of the 1940s film noir — and ‘‘Hannibal Brooks,’’ a comedy caper featuring Reed as a prisoner of war who makes a bid for freedom with an elephant from a German zoo. Mr. Winner was best known for ‘‘Death Wish,’’ which stars Bronson as a law-abiding citizen who turns vigilante when his wife and daughter are attacked. The 1974 film was criticized for its violence, but was a commercial success in an America fretting about urban violence and a fraying social fabric. Mr. Winner declared it ‘‘a pleasant romp’’ with no moralistic intent and went on to direct two more installments.

He also was proud that ‘‘Death Wish’’ featured the film debuts of two future stars: Jeff Goldblum and Denzel Washington, who played ‘‘Freak 1’’ and ‘‘Alley Mugger,’’ respectively. A lover of the high life who collected antiques and rare first editions, Mr. Winner had a second career as restaurant critic with the long-running ‘‘Winner’s Dinners’’ column in the Sunday Times newspaper. His acerbic verdicts got him barred from some eateries, and his highest praise was to declare a meal ‘‘historic.’’ ‘‘He could be very witty but also uncompromising in his demands for good service, which resonated with readers,’’ said Martin Ivens, acting editor of The Sunday Times.

‘‘He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him — often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column.’’ In later years he was famous for a series of insurance ads with the catchphrase ‘‘Calm down, dear!’’ Prime Minister David Cameron once used the phrase to a female lawmaker in the House of Commons, prompting howls of outrage. ‘If you want art, don’t mess about with movies. Buy a Picasso.’ He also founded and helped fund a campaign to erect a London memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty. Mr. Winner had experienced health problems since getting a bacterial infection from bad oysters in 2007. He wrote his final column in December, but refused to say goodbye forever. ‘‘Who knows, after Christmas I might make a comeback,’’ he wrote. ‘‘How many times did Sinatra do it?’’ His wife, a former dancer who met Mr. Winner in 1957 and married him two years ago, said he was ‘‘a wonderful man, brilliant, funny, and generous.

A light has gone out in my life.’’ Top 10 Trending Articles Filmmaker Michael Winner dies at 77 Filmmaker Michael Winner dies at 77 JILL LAWLESS Tweet Share FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 file photo, British director and producer, Michael Winner, signs copies of his autobiography, Unbelievable!, at a central London venue. Film director and restaurant critic Michael Winner has died, his wife Geraldine announced Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. He was 77. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File) More LONDON (AP) — "Death Wish" director Michael Winner, a British filmmaker, restaurant critic and bon vivant, died Monday. He was 77. Winner's wife, Geraldine, said he died at his London home after an illness. Winner's 30 movies included three "Death Wish" films starring the late Charles Bronson. Many of his features sit at the schlockier end of the spectrum, but he also worked with Hollywood icons including Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum and Faye Dunaway.

One of his earliest films was the 1962 nudist feature "Some Like It Cool"; later, he specialized in thrillers and action movies, including "The Mechanic," ''Scorpio" and the violent "Death Wish" series. Winner never took criticism of his films too seriously. "If you want art, don't mess about with movies," he once said. "Buy a Picasso." Born in London in 1935, Winner was writing a showbiz column for a local newspaper by the time he was 14, and as a student edited the Cambridge University newspaper, Varsity. After a stint as a film critic, he started his movie-making career on shorts and documentaries. One of his first films was a travelogue called "This is Belgium." Winner said that because Belgium proved too rainy, it was shot largely in East Grinstead, southern England.

His 1960s British films included "West 11," a gritty thriller set in a shabby London neighborhood; "The System," a tale of young men on the prowl in a seaside town; and "I'll Never Forget What's'isname" starring Oliver Reed as a fed-up London adman and Orson Welles as his boss. Other notable pictures included "The Big Sleep" — a remake of the 1940s film noir — and "Hannibal Brooks," a comedy caper featuring Reed as a prisoner of war who makes a bid for freedom with an elephant from a German zoo. Winner was best known for "Death Wish," which stars Bronson as a law-abiding citizen who turns vigilante when his wife and daughter are attacked. The 1974 film was criticized for its violence, but was a commercial success in an America fretting about urban violence and a fraying social fabric. Winner declared it "a pleasant romp" with no moralistic intent and went on to direct two more installments.

He also was proud that "Death Wish" featured the film debuts of two future stars — Jeff Goldblum and Denzel Washington, who played "Freak 1" and "Alley Mugger," respectively. A lover of the high life who collected antiques and rare first editions, Winner had a second career as restaurant critic with the long-running "Winner's Dinners" column in the Sunday Times newspaper. His acerbic verdicts got him barred from some eateries, and his highest praise was to declare a meal "historic." "He could be very witty but also uncompromising in his demands for good service, which resonated with readers," said Martin Ivens, acting editor of The Sunday Times. "He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him — often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column." In later years he was famous for a series of insurance ads with the catchphrase "Calm down, dear!" Prime Minister David Cameron once used the phrase to a female lawmaker in the House of Commons, prompting howls of outrage.

He also founded and helped fund a campaign to erect a London memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty. Winner had experienced health problems since getting a bacterial infection from bad oysters in 2007. He wrote his final column in December, but refused to say goodbye forever. "Who knows, after Christmas I might make a comeback," he wrote. "How many times did Sinatra do it?" His wife, a former dancer who met Winner in 1957 and married him two years ago, said he was "a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life." Monty Python comedian John Cleese said Winner had been "the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends. I shall miss him terribly." And TV mogul Simon Cowell said he, too, would miss a good friend. "Laughter was never far away when Michael was around, and he is someone who the more I got to know, the fonder I got of him," Cowell said.

Reblog Michael Winner: Death Wish director dies aged 77 - BBC News BBC News Michael Winner: Death Wish director dies aged 77 21 January 2013 From the section Entertainment & Arts comments Close share panel Media captionThe director became well-known for his action films 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." Media captionAA Gill said Winner understood what he was famous for and "enjoyed playing up to it" Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber said he would "deeply miss" his friend, writing on Twitter : "True originals come rarely in a lifetime." Monty Python comedian John Cleese added: "I have just heard the very sad news about Michael. He was the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends. "I shall miss him terribly." And Winner's former editor at The Sunday Times, Andrew Neil, said : "So sad to hear of death of my old mate Michael Winner. One of life's great characters." Martin Ivens, acting editor of The Sunday Times, added: "For nearly 20 years he delighted readers with his inimitable Winner's Dinners column. "He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him - often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column. He will be greatly missed." Michael Winner's one-liners The only way to hold a decent dinner party in Hollywood now is to have a seance.

Cooking is not a speciality act. It does not require four men juggling lavatories or a set of trapeze artists. Ideally, the average woman needs 25 hours attention a day and if she could get a bit more she'd try for that. Men are ridiculous. Women are far better people. Much wiser (not difficult) and with a temperament to deal with life's complexities and men's abrasiveness. They're also far better at washing socks and darning. I've had 130 lovers so I've had a good run. Geraldine makes up for all of them. A little vulgarity is a thoroughly good thing. I do not lurk. I ponce about, cause trouble, bring light and happiness to the world and generally behave with impeccable (if misplaced) self-assurance. A law graduate from Cambridge University, Winner had written about film for local papers and, later, the NME, before he joined Motion Pictures Limited as a writer and editor in 1956. By 1962, he had directed his first full-length movie, Play it Cool, a pop musical starring Billy Fury, at Pinewood Studios.

He established his own film company, Scimitar, in the mid-1960s and 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 movies, especially the violent Death Wish series, starring Charles Bronson as an architect who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are murdered. Speaking to The Big Issue last year, Winner said he knew the film would be his epitaph. "When I die, it's going to be 'Death Wish director dies'," he said. "I don't mind though - Death Wish was an epoch-making film. The first film in the history of cinema where the hero kills other civilians. "It had never been done before. Since then it has been the most copied film ever. Tarantino put it in his top 10 films ever made." In later years, Winner also directed and starred in a series of commercials for a car insurance company featuring the catchphrase: "Calm down dear!" It was fuel to the fire of critics who felt Winner was a brash, sexist oaf, but he insisted it was all done with a hefty dose of irony.

"If you create this comedy character of wealth and opulence swanning around, people hate you," he told The Independent in 2010. "But the ones who hate me don't get me at all. They don't get the joke." Image caption In 1963 he directed Diana Dors in a bedroom scene for the crime drama West 11 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". But he was also a charity campaigner, who established The Police Memorial Trust after the fatal shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. That led to the unveiling of the National Police Memorial in central London, which honours officers killed in the line of duty, in 2005. Winner was reportedly offered an OBE for his charity work the following year but turned it down, saying: "An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King's Cross station".

The director had experienced a run of ill-health since eating a bad oyster on holiday in Barbados in 2007. It gave him the rare bacterial infection Vibrio vulnificus, which kills about 50 per cent of its victims within 48 hours. He was on the brink of death five times and underwent a gruelling 19 operations, including the removal of three tendons, leaving him with mobility difficulties. Image caption The Queen unveiled the National Police Memorial alongside Winner in 2005 Later, he picked up the E coli infection 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.

Michael Winner and Leica / New Product - Customer Forum - Leica Forum Michael Winner and Leica / New Product Started by Seeingeye , Jan 03 2010 16:06 Please log in to reply 11 replies to this topic Advertisement (Gone after free registration) Michael Winner writes a column entitled "Winner's dinners" in the Sunday Times, which is published in the UK. For many years he has used a Leica Minilux for the photograph that is always a feature of the column. Since he normally features in the picture, they are often taken by someone else, quite often his fiancee - Geraldine Lynton-Edwards. Occasionally Winner takes the picture himself, when the byline is "Arnold Crust". In today's column, Michael Winner reveals that he has recently started using a D-Lux 4, which has been lent to him by Richard Swan, Product Manager of Leica Cameras. Winner reports that he had trouble understanding how to use the camera and had to have a demonstration from Richard Swan. He also comments that images are not as sharp as those from the Minilux, which are a "bit crisper".

No technical details given, I'm afraid, but most likely the camera is producing JPEGs using the default settings. Winner also reveals that Swan has told him that a new camera from Leica is coming out soon. He says that Richard Swan has assured him that it is a considerable advance and simpler to operate. Intriguing, although the D-Lux 4 and its Panasonic relation have both had a long run by digital compact standards, so must be due for an update. Regards 239 posts Posted 03 January 2010 - 18:14 Well, with Winner's deep pockets, Richard Swan must surely see him as a potential member of the S2-owning elite. And if the camera exhibits noise, softness in one corner and a vertical line down every image, you can imagine the Leica UK service department's response: "Calm down, dear!" More seriously, the Minilux had a great lens. I am not sure that we will see MW sporting a S2 any time soon.

For one thing, he admits to being baffled by the D-Lux 4 manual and reckons that it will take him six months to work out how to use the new camera when he gets it. He is not really a photographer and used the Minilux as an easy to carry camera with a good lens with which to take the pictures for his column. Besides, he has also commented on his financial woes in his articles - apparently he is several million pounds in debt - so the S2 might actually be beyond him! Not that I shall be weeping any tears on his account, nor do I believe that he seeks any sympathy. Regards 239 posts Posted 03 January 2010 - 20:10 Interesting - and that he's been using film for the newspaper column (you would think they'd have insisted on digital!). Not surprised that the Minilux images looked 'crisper' mind, given the larger 'sensor' and the lens on the Minilux is meant to be superb. I think Bill is right, Winners next camera from Leica will probably be the X1 but then a new PanaLeica is probably due soon too.

As MW is reviewing restaurants, his articles do not have to be up to the minute so film would not necessarily be an issue and the newspaper would have the scanning equipment. When Eamon McCabe spoke at my camera club in 2007, he was still using film at that stage. His argument was that after so many years, he knew how to use it and did not want to learn digital. Art directors for glossy magazines also often prefer film for their shoots. Perhap's Winner's switch of allegiance to the D-Lux 4 has been forced by the newspaper and he is using it as a stop gap until he gets a X1. Regards Here's the article Michael Winner's Michael Winner reviews the Villa Feltrinelli review - Times Online Given that MW has been a film director and producer for many years he probably knows more than a little bit about photography especially lighting. He could be using just a little bit of 'tongue in cheek' ref his comment about him experiencing difficulties using the digital camera. After all, it's a newspaper article ... and intended to entertain readers. Two hours to get the camera out the box??

:-) Happy New Year dunk Edited by dkpeterborough, 03 January 2010 - 22:38. "… but the greatest gift the railways give to us is the proper treatment of time." John Betjeman , BBC Home Service radio broadcast 4 July 1940. City / Ort:London Posted 04 January 2010 - 00:53 I am not sure that we will see MW sporting a S2 any time soon. For one thing, he admits to being baffled by the D-Lux 4 manual and reckons that it will take him six months to work out how to use the new camera when he gets it. He is not really a photographer and used the Minilux as an easy to carry camera with a good lens with which to take the pictures for his column. Besides, he has also commented on his financial woes in his articles - apparently he is several million pounds in debt - so the S2 might actually be beyond him! Not that I shall be weeping any tears on his account, nor do I believe that he seeks any sympathy.

Regards Michael Winner: stars pay tribute - BBC News BBC News Michael Winner: stars pay tribute 21 January 2013 Close share panel Stars have paid tribute to film director and newspaper columnist Michael Winner who has died, aged 77. During his career, he directed more than 30 films including Death Wish, starring Charles Bronson, and Burt Lancaster film Scorpio. He was also famous for his barbed restaurant reviews, written for The Sunday Times under the banner "Winner's Dinners". John Cleese, actor He was the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends. I shall miss him terribly. Simon Cowell, media mogul I'm very sad to hear about Michael passing away. He's become a very good friend over the years and someone whose company I have always really enjoyed. Laughter was never far away when Michael was around and he is someone who, the more I got to know, the fonder I got of him. I am sure there are a lot of other people who, like me, will really miss him. Terry O'Neill, photographer We were friends for over 50 years, since I was about 20.

We first met when I went to photograph one of his films and got Diana Dors out of her dressing room and got her to sweep the snow off the pavements. I worked on lots of his films. He will be greatly missed by the film industry and restaurateurs. He was very popular. He had a tremendous sense of humour and was a great character. He was totally against marriage but we all talked him into it and thank goodness we did. We spoke at 8am every morning without fail, even when he was on holiday. We'd have a 20-minute conversation and this went on for 20 or 30 years. But we hadn't spoken in the last week - he wasn't up to it. He was also a great photographer. If ever you got the wrong angle he would let you know. He was an incredible character and will be greatly missed. Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer‏ True originals come rarely in a lifetime. Madeleine and I will deeply miss you. Martin Ivens, acting editor of The Sunday Times For nearly 20 years, he delighted readers with his inimitable Winner's Dinners column in The Sunday Times.

He could be very witty but also uncompromising in his demands for good service, which resonated with readers. He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him - often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column. He will be greatly missed." Andrew Neil, journalist So sad to hear of death of my old mate Michael Winner. One of life's great characters. Jay Rayner, restaurant critic Politically I had absolutely nothing in common with him and he did make, from my point of view, some pretty atrocious films. But he was actually a very lovely man. People often said to me 'why does the Sunday Times let that Winner review restaurants?' but really what it came down to, was just how entertaining his copy was. He gave you an insight into what his world was like and it was often an absolutely hilarious place. Whether you agreed with what he said or found it at all useful is a moot point because it really was Winner's world. He gave you an insight into what it was to be stupidly wealthy. He could be astonishingly rude but he was also very helpful.

When you actually got to meet him face-to-face he was actually very sweet. The worst thing you could ever do with Michael was take him too seriously. Piers Morgan, journalist Very sad to hear Michael Winner has died. Hilarious, often preposterous, always generous, highly intelligent man. And terrific writer. Rod Gilchrist, journalist He was one of the last of the great Hollywood showmen. Given to extravagant gestures, he lived life at 100mph. He could by turns be incredibly generous, funny, playful and kind, while at the same time Mr Winner made a formidable adversary. With friends he was very loyal, supporting many financially through times of hardship. His films always had populist appeal, but Michael was also a man of refined tastes, enjoying great art. He was also a passionate advocate of the nation's architectural heritage which his own home, a Queen Anne revival mansion in Kensington, bore witness to. Michael cared deeply about the society we live in. When PC Yvonne Fletcher was murdered by Libyan terrorists in St James's Square in the early '80s, he called for the founding of the Police Memorial Trust which honours officers with memorials where they fell. When no one came forward, Michael founded the trust himself.

He subsequently poured much of his fortune into supporting it and was tireless in his work for it. Mr Winner's impeccable connections ensured that four prime ministers attended the laying of memorial stones at different times around the country and the Queen unveiled the National Police Memorial in the Mall in 2005. I don't know anybody else who would have done this or achieved so much for the police and the memory of their officers who had given their lives fighting crime. He was utterly unique. Film director and foodie Michael Winner dies aged 77 after long illness | The Independent Film director and foodie Michael Winner dies aged 77 after long illness Monday 21 January 2013 14:38 BST Click to follow Film director and foodie Michael Winner dies aged 77 after long illness 1/11 Michael Winner Michael Winner and his wife Geraldine 2/11 Michael Winner and Geraldine Lynton-Edwards met in 1957 PA 3/11 SIR MICHAEL WINNER: "The north is not a place I frequently go to, it is an alien country, it is another land, but it is beautiful.

The people are very nice but they provide food that is absolutely pathetic and they are incapable of cooking. So where I am going does not totally thrill me." PA 4/11 Michael Winner Film director and producer Michael Winner and guest attend Sir David Frost's Summer Party at Carlyle Square on 9 July 2008 Getty Images Michael Winner with the Queen at the unveiling of the National Police Memorial in 2005G Getty Images Michael Winner attends the premiere of his film The Wicked Lady in 1983 Getty Images American actor Marlon Brando with British film director Michael Winner Getty Images 8/11 Winner The Nightcomers Michael Winner, the British film director on location in Cambridge, directing his first film for four years, 'The Nightcomers', starring Marlon Brando. Getty Images 9/11 Winner Michael Winner the ebullient British film director taking filming the photographer. He was renowned for never shooting in a studio and is his own best publicist.

Getty Images 10/11 Winner Diana Doors 28th January 1963: Michael Winner directs English actress Diana Dors (1931 - 1984) in a bedroom scene for the crime drama 'West 11'. Getty Images 11/11 Michael Winner 18th July 1962: British film director Michael Winner (left) in conversation with producer Harold Baim during the filming of 'The Cool Mikado'. Getty Images Michael Winner and his wife Geraldine Film director, food writer and bon viveur Michael Winner died today aged 77 after a long illness. Winner was a food critic for the Sunday Times as well as the director of more than 30 films including his famous Death Wish series starring Charles Bronson. He had been unwell for some time, revealing last summer that specialists had given him 18 months to live due to heart and liver problems - and that he had considered going to a Dignitas assisted-dying clinic in Switzerland. His wife Geraldine confirmed his death at their home in Kensington today. Mrs Winner paid tribute to him in a statement: "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous.

A light has gone out in my life." The pair married nearly two years ago at the Chelsea Register Office after a courtship spanning 50 years. Geraldine nee Lynton-Edwards met Winner when she auditioned for his debut film in 1957 aged just 16. She was later cast in his short film The Square. Speaking to The Independent ahead of his wedding in September 2011, Winner revealed he would wear pyjamas to walk down the aisle. "They are handmade pyjama bottoms by Turnbull & Asser and they are very comfortable. They do actually look like nice tartan trousers," he said. "It's true that not many people get married in pyjama bottoms but then not many wait 50 years to get married." Winner credited Geraldine with nursing him through a rare and deadly virus called vibrio vulnificus, which can spread through the body like gangrene. Winners friends and admirers have been quick to respond to the news of his death tioday. Actor Cleese paid tribute to his friend in a statement on his website: "He was the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends.

I shall miss him terribly." Restaurant critic Jay Rayner wrote on Twitter: "RIP Michael Winner. He could be absurd and made some lousy films. But he could also be a rather lovely man. Winner made life more interesting." Piers Morgan tweeted: "Very sad to hear Michael Winner has died. Hilarious, often proposterous, always generous, highly intelligent man. And terrific writer. RIP." Andrew Lloyd Webber said: "True originals come rarely in a lifetime. Madeleine and I will deeply miss you. ALW" Among Winner's contributions to film are the Death Wish films, set in the slums of New York and Los Angeles, the Golden Globe nominated comedy The Jokers, The Nightcomers with Marlon Brando and horror film The Sentinel starring Ava Gardner. Winner became well known in later life for appearing in the Esure car insurance advertisements with the catchphrase "Calm down, dear!" As an actor he also appeared in Danny Boyle's BBC film For The Greater Good and in Steven Berkoff's film Decadence. He had a hit ITV series called Michael Winner's True Crimes in 1994.

He had a prolific career as a food writer and journalist with his pieces continuing to appear in the Daily Mail up until his illness. His restaurant columns appeared weekly in the Sunday Times for 15 years. He wrote about lifestyle and politics for the now defunct tabloid the News of the World for nearly a decade. From aged 14 he wrote a newspaper column in the Kensington Post called "Michael Winner's Showbiz Gossip". At Cambridge he edited the student newspaper Varsity. A book of his restaurant columns titled Winner's Dinners was published in 1999 and became a bestseller leading to several follow-ups including The Winner Guide to Whining and Dining and UNBELIEVABLE! My Life in Restaurants and Other Places. He was famously banned from Le Gavroche. In 1984 Winner founded the Police Memorial Trust charity in tribute to officers slain in the line of duty by placing memorials where they fell. The rights to his wedding to Geraldine were sold to Hello! magazine and the proceeds donated to the PMT. More than 50 officers have been honoured by the trust at sites across the country.

Winner was born in Hampstead in 1935, the son of Helen and George Joseph Winner. His mother was Polish and his father of Russian extraction. He was educated at St Christopher School, Letchworth and Downing College, Cambridge where he studied law and economics. Winner grew up - and died - in a 46 room Victorian mansion in Kensington which he has bequeathed to the nation. Describing it to The Independent in 2007 he said : "There are nine toilets and seven bathrooms - because I'm a bachelor, I don't need many bedrooms, but you could quite easily have 15 if you wanted to. At the moment, there are three bedrooms in active use - one for the housekeeper, one for me and one for Geraldine in case I snore too much." More about: Michael Winner: British film director dies aged 77 - Telegraph Film news Michael Winner: British film director dies aged 77 Michael Winner, the famously forthright British film director and restaurant critic, has died at the age of 77. Michael Winner, with his wife Geraldine.

Photo: Andrew Crowley Comments His wife Geraldine, whom he first met 55 years ago, announced that he had died at his Queen Anne revival mansion in Kensington, west London after battling liver disease. The larger-than-life director, who made more than 30 films including the blockbuster Death Wish series, had been ill for some time and was being nursed by his wife. Last year the film director, who said that liver specialists had told him he had 18 months to live, admitted he had researched services at the assisted-dying institution Dignitas, where more than 150 Britons have travelled to end their lives. Today Mrs Winner, a former dancer whom he married two years ago, issued a statement that paid tribute to her husband. Related Articles Michael Winner adores Christmas cards 25 Nov 2011 She said: "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life." The cigar-chomping bon vivant, once voted the 38th most annoying person in Britain, disclosed his research into assisted suicide last year without apparently telling his wife. He had claimed he was not frightened of death and believes he should be able to end his own life.

He has struggled with ill-health since eating a bad oyster on holiday in Barbados in 2007. He was almost killed by the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus. He was on the brink of death on at least five occasions and underwent 19 gruelling operations, one of which removed his Achilles tendon, which left him struggling to walk. Fans and colleagues took to social media sites this afternoon to post their tributes. &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Gordon Ramsay - Such sad news. The most charismatic food critic ever. Loved him dearly. God bless Michael Winner. Gx&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Andrew Lloyd Webber - Dearest &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;@MrMichaelWinner&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;. True originals come rarely in a lifetime. Madeleine and I will deeply miss you. ALW&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Jay Rayner - RIP Michael Winner.

He could be absurd and made some lousy films.But he could also be a rather lovely man.Winner made life more interesting.&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Irvine Welsh - Sorry to hear of Michael Winner's passing. A true character. Sheperton will be duller place to visit without prospect of running into him.&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Chris Evans - So Michael Winner Esq is no more. Often right, sometimes wrong. But never doubtful of his own opinion. Could have ... &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Grace Dent - &amp;amp;lsquo;This restaurant is a Michael Winner free zone&amp;amp;rsquo; - sticker on many places in &amp;amp;lsquo;90&amp;amp;rsquo;s London he was banned from returning to. What a bloke.&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: christinalamb - very sad to hear of Michael Winner's death.

his column managed to be both exasperating and a must-read. will miss it&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: BAFTA - Saddened to hear that British filmmaker Michael Winner has died. RIP. &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt; &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Piers Morgan - "A team effort is a lot of people doing what I say." Michael Winner. RIP.&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; Actor John Cleese said in a statement: "I have just heard the very sad news about Michael. He was the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends. I shall miss him terribly." Rod Gilchrist, a journalist, described his family friend as "one of the most extraordinary people you could ever meet". He said: "He was one of the last of the great Hollywood showmen. Given to extravagant gestures, he lived life at 100mph. He could by turns be incredibly generous, funny, playful and kind, while at the same time Mr Winner made a formidable adversary.

"With friends he was very loyal, supporting many financially through times of hardship. "His films always had populist appeal, but Michael was also a man of refined tastes, enjoying great art. He was also a passionate advocate of the nation's architectural heritage which his own home bore witness to." He added: "Michael cared deeply about the society we live in. When Pc Yvonne Fletcher was murdered by Libyan terrorists in St James's Square in the early eighties, he called for the founding of the Police Memorial Trust which honours officers with memorials where they fell. "When no one came forward, Michael founded the trust himself. He subsequently poured much of his fortune into supporting it and was tireless in his work for it. "Mr Winner's impeccable connections ensured that four prime ministers attended the laying of memorial stones at different times around the country and the Queen unveiled the National Police Memorial in the Mall in 2005." He continued: "I don't know anybody else who would have done this or achieved so much for the police and the memory of their officers who had given their lives fighting crime.

He was utterly unique." Photographer Terry O'Neill - whose images of Winner include a 1969 photograph of the director smoking a cigar in a football ground with "I can't stand vulgar publicity" written on a scoreboard - said Winner called him at 8am every day for around 30 years. "We were friends for over 50 years, since I was about 20," he said. "We first met when I went to photograph one of his films and got Diana Dors out of her dressing room and got her to sweep the snow off the pavements." "I worked on lots of his films. He will be greatly missed by the film industry and restaurateurs. He was very popular. He had a tremendous sense of humour and was a great character. "He was totally against marriage but we all talked him into it and thank goodness we did." He added: "We spoke at 8am every morning without fail, even when he was on holiday. We'd have a 20-minute conversation and this went on for 20 or 30 years. "But we hadn't spoken in the last week - he wasn't up to it. "He was also a great photographer.

If ever you got the wrong angle he would let you know. He was an incredible character and will be greatly missed." Winner was born in Hampstead, north London in 1935 and was the only child of a couple of Russian emigre stock. His father was a millionaire property developer and his mother, as colourful a character as himself, was an inveterate gambler who lost millions in the casinos in Cannes. At the age of 13, the young Winner was already showing an entrepreneurial streak. He started to write a showbusiness column called Michael Winner's Show Talk, syndicated to 35 local papers. He attended St Christopher's School, Letchworth, and was asked to leave because he was paying another boy to clean his room. He avoided National Service by pretending to be homosexual and was immediately classed as "unfit for military service". He went to Downing College, Cambridge, where he read economics and law, and joined the BBC during a college vacation with the job of knocking on stars' doors to tell them the director was waiting. He began his career as a journalist and film critic before joining Motion Pictures Limited as a writer and editor in 1956.

Winner had an early introduction to showbusiness - by the age of 14 he was writing a column for local newspapers interviewing stars from Louis Armstrong to Laurence Olivier. His time as editor of the Cambridge University newspaper, Varsity, saw him lead a team that included Michael Frayn and Jonathan Miller, before stints as a film critic on Fleet Street. In a film career which spanned more than 50 years, he worked with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including Marlon Brando, Michael Crawford, Robert Mitchum and Faye Dunaway. His first work as a director was satirical but he became more well known for his action films, particulary the violent Death Wish series, starring Charles Bronson as a mild-mannered architect who becomes a violent vigilante after his family is attacked in New York. He later reinvented himself as a restaurant critic, writing about food in his typically flamboyant style in his Winner's Dinners column for the Sunday Times, where he earned a repuation for barbed reviews. Martin Ivens, acting editor of The Sunday Times, said: "It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Michael Winner.

"For nearly 20 years he delighted readers with his inimitable Winner's Dinners column in The Sunday Times. He could be very witty but also uncompromising in his demands for good service, which resonated with readers. "He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him - often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column. He will be greatly missed." Winner, whose appearance in adverts for motor insurance coined the catchphrase "Calm down dear, it's only a commercial". David Cameron was criticised two years ago for using the line to address a female colleague in the House Of Commons during a debate on the NHS. Winner also founded and funded the Police Memorial Trust following the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. More than 50 officers have been honoured by the trust at sites across the country and the initiative led to a National Police Memorial being erected in the Mall, central London. He was a prolific user of Twitter, the micro-blogging site, where more than 38,500 people followed his updates.

He posted almost 23,000 messages under the biography: "I am a totally insane film director, writer, producer, silk shirt cleaner, bad tempered, totally ridiculous example of humanity in deep ----". His last tweet, posted in November, read: "The Whooshy Monster & me have become good friends, in fact I think he's starting a relationship with me. Is it real?" &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Michael Winner - The Whooshy Monster &amp;amp;amp; me have become good friends, in fact I think he's starting a relationship with me. Is it real?&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; Later Natalie, his personal assistant, added: &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Michael Winner - Thanks for the good wishes after the very sad death of Mr Winner, he will be sorely missed and was truly the greatest boss! Natalie - his PA&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; His entry in the 2012 edition of Who's Who, listed his interests as "eating, being difficult, making table mats, washing silk shirts" and "doing Pilates badly".

Winner first met his wife in 1957 when she was an aspiring 16-year-old actress and ballet dancer and he a 21-year-old film-maker. They began dating after she auditioned for a role in his first film but split after several months and she moved to France, where she married and had three children. He moved to Hollywood when his film career took off. During this time Mr Winner claimed he enjoyed 40 lovers every year, admitting he was “grossly unfaithful”. His numerous girlfriends are said to have included actress Jenny Seagrove, whom he was with from 1987 to 1994. He dated the former Benny Hill girl Lorraine Doyle between 1984 and 1986 and Vanessa Perry, the actress 30 years his junior, for five years until 1999. He always claimed he never wanted to marry, blaming his reluctance on a “mental deficiency”. In 2005, he rekindled his romance with the then Miss Lynton-Edwards and asked her to move into his London home. Shortly afterwards, he evicted her and took up with his secretary, Paola Lombard, 39.

The affair only lasted a number of weeks and he and Miss Lynton-Edwards reunited soon after. Start your free 30 day Amazon Prime trial» Michael Winner obituary | Culture | The Guardian Michael Winner obituary Flamboyant film director, best known for Death Wish, and later an outspoken restaurant critic and bon vivant Michael Winner, pictured in 1986, was 'movie mad' at school. His westerns and thrillers were primitively violent. Photograph: Jacques Morell/Kipa/Corbis Monday 21 January 2013 12.28 EST First published on Monday 21 January 2013 12.28 EST Share on Messenger Close Michael Winner, who has died aged 77, supplied interviewers with a list of more than 30 films he had directed, not always including the early travelogue This Is Belgium (1956), mostly shot in East Grinstead. But his enduring work was himself – a bravura creation of movies, television, journalism, the law courts and a catchphrase, ''Calm down, dear", from an exasperating series of television commercials.

He was born in London, the only child of George and Helen Winner, who were of Russian and Polish extraction respectively. His builder father made enough money propping up blitzed houses to invest in London property. The profits funded his wife's gambling, which, her son complained, so distracted "Mumsie" that he was never paid due attention. She left him in the bedroom with the mink coats of guests who came to his barmitzvah only to play poker with her. A boarder at St Christopher school, an independent school in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, Winner was an attention seeker from start to expulsion. According to his school reports he was "spoilt" with a "craving for power which he is trying to achieve by the use of his money". He also earned a "reputation of being movie mad" after he pinned handwritten reviews on the noticeboard. When the publisher Paul Hamlyn addressed the school, Winner, then 14, asked for copies of all his film books and phoned him, reversing the charges, until they were sent.

He then approached British studios, claiming to write for Hamlyn, and when that scam was found out, turned his acquaintance with a child actor into an article for the Kensington Post in 1950. It became a regular, syndicated showbiz column: he was not paid, but the seats were free and he had the undivided attention of Bob Hope , Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye. That became a permanent part of his persona – the enfant terrible among the stars. For his father, he studied law and economics at Downing College, Cambridge, and also edited the Varsity newspaper. He persuaded the owner of the Rex cinema in Cambridge to apply to the local council to approve a showing of The Wild One, banned by the censor because of its violence. The stunt attracted nationwide interest. After university, television companies turned Winner down for a directors' course, so he wrote for both TV and film, and was a gossip columnist of sorts. He hired a Rolls-Royce and was, said a fellow writer, "a master at gathering banal quotes from silly girls down to the last burp".

He invented a debutante, Venetia Crust, a fiction for which he was eventually exposed (later he used the name of her "father", Arnold, for movie credits). Winner's father loaned him £1,500 for his first film, money soon recouped as Some Like It Cool (1962) filled a gap in the market for a comedy in a nudist camp. It was among several films he confected in the early 1960s. None demonstrated his maxim "create your own material to get a better class of employment", but they did end a period in which he sacked secretaries rather than have them know that he had no deals going. Winner shared a new blokey humour emerging in post-Brylcreem Britain: after directing Billy Fury in Play It Cool (1962) and accurately reproducing bedsitter-land in West 11 (1963), he made The System (1964); You Must Be Joking!

(1965) for which he blew up a car in Piccadilly Circus in the rush hour and told police he had no idea who was in charge; The Jokers (1966); and I'll Never Forget What's 'Isname (1967), with Oliver Reed and Orson Welles. Winner extended his boy-genius phase by phoning reference books on his 30th birthday to tell them he was 29, knowing entries would not be changed for three years. He went on the road to make Hannibal Brooks (1969), a comedy lumbering through 200 locations, working again with Reed, and The Games (1969), about an Olympic marathon. "I was looking for something that would keep us employed," he said of his move to Hollywood. "You don't have that much choice." Rejecting The French Connection as a project, he began with the westerns Lawman (1971), shot in Spain with rubber cacti, and Chato's Land (1972). His real metier turned out to be primitive violence.

Winner despised analysis, but it is significant that he directed testosterone-fuelled revenge fantasies during the years when his by then widowed mother (a "nice, little, white-haired lady … She was a killer") sold paintings and antiques left to Winner to fund her casino losses, and set 11 firms of solicitors on him. Winner mentioned to the actor Charles Bronson the idea of a man "justified" by the rape and murder of his womenfolk to shoot muggers, which led to Winner directing Death Wish (1974), and two sequels. He also directed coarse versions of The Big Sleep (with Robert Mitchum, 1978) and The Wicked Lady (1983 – he saw the original 20 times for Margaret Lockwood's bosom). All of these, as Bronson remarked, were abusively hard on women. In 1993 Winner converted Helen Zahavi's novel Dirty Weekend into a fantasy of a female exterminating angel, but it hardly evened the score (nor squared with his claim that his favourite film was Bambi).

Critics disliked a pleasureless tension gripping his films, whether it be The Nightcomers (1971), a prequel to The Turn of the Screw; Won Ton Ton – The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976); or Alan Ayckbourn's A Chorus of Disapproval (1989). Winner was always quick to challenge the press – he taped his interviews – either directly or through legal action (he gave away the damages). Papers would get a warning from the company, Scimitar Films, he ran with John Fraser: back at school, Winner had paid Fraser two shillings a week to clean his room and make his beds, and sixpence for washing up. In 1984 he set up the Police Memorial Trust in response to the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher. Several years later he proposed a naff memorial to officers killed in the course of duty, featuring snarling alsatians (the Queen suggested their mouths be shut).

He began to describe films as a hobby, since he had sufficient millions for Learjet rides, a garage of cars that he drove Mr Toadishly and the slow repurchase of the rest of the Holland Park house in one flat of which his family had lived. The restored mansion, Woodland House, the former home of the Victorian artist Sir Luke Fildes, has more than 40 rooms and housed his valuable collection of artwork for children's books, including EH Shepard's drawings of Winnie-the-Pooh. He also collected the artwork of Donald McGill, master of the ribald, big‑bosomed seaside postcard. A succession of young women shared evenings among his antiques, but did not live on the premises, where more regular companions included five full-time cleaners and herds of soft toys. On more solitary evenings he cut and glued table mats, and said obituarists would describe him as a "table-mat maker", adding "film‑maker" if there were space.

Eventually, he re-encountered Geraldine Lynton-Edwards, whom he had met in 1957 when she was a teenage ballet dancer; they were engaged in 2007, and married in 2011. He had intended to leave his house to the nation, but put it up for sale for £60m just before his marriage. He also auctioned much of his art collection, but swore this was not to repay £9m he had borrowed for little luxuries, including the hire of helicopters. He did not part with his autograph album of star signatures, or the teddy bears. "I ate cornflakes on my own," he replied to questions about his swinging life when he was young and slender, although it was never all that he ate, and certainly not after the Sunday Times encouraged him into restaurant reviewing for his Winner's Dinners columns (published in book form in 1999). These were less about digestion than self-definition: several famous eateries banned him for his bullying.

His "calm down" catchphrase in the telly ads he directed and appeared in (once in drag) for the Esure insurance company displaced his own excitability and fluster on to (female) others. Esure sold a million policies during his era, before replacing him with a stop-motion-animated mouse. By then the ''calm down'' line had developed its own career – David Cameron was heavily criticised when, during prime minister's questions in 2011, he directed it against the Labour MP Angela Eagle. Winner himself had been a fervent supporter of Margaret Thatcher, before a Blairite conversion. He retired from his restaurant column in December 2012. His last years had been a tribulation involving a near-fatal bacterial infection from oysters, MRSA and liver disease. Geraldine survives him. • Michael Robert Winner, film director, producer and writer, born 30 October 1935; died 21 January 2013 • This article was amended on 28 January 2013. The original stated that St Christopher school was a Quaker establishment.

Although its co-principals at the time Winner was a student were Quakers, St Christopher has never been a faith school. Filmmaker Michael Winner dies at 77 | Bemidji Pioneer Filmmaker Michael Winner dies at 77 By Associated Press on Jan 21, 2013 at 1:51 p.m. In this Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 file photo, British director and producer, Michael Winner, signs copies of his autobiography, Unbelievable!, at a central London venue. Film director and restaurant critic Michael Winner has died, his wife Geraldine announced Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. He was 77. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File) Copyright 2010, The Associated Press LONDON (AP) — "Death Wish" director Michael Winner, a British filmmaker, restaurant critic and bon vivant, died Monday. He was 77. Winner's wife, Geraldine, said he died at his London home after an illness. Winner's 30 movies included three "Death Wish" films starring the late Charles Bronson.

Many of his features sit at the schlockier end of the spectrum, but he also worked with Hollywood icons including Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum and Faye Dunaway. One of his earliest films was the 1962 nudist feature "Some Like It Cool"; later, he specialized in thrillers and action movies, including "The Mechanic," ''Scorpio" and the violent "Death Wish" series. Winner never took criticism of his films too seriously. "If you want art, don't mess about with movies," he once said. "Buy a Picasso." Born in London in 1935, Winner was writing a showbiz column for a local newspaper by the time he was 14, and as a student edited the Cambridge University newspaper, Varsity. After a stint as a film critic, he started his movie-making career on shorts and documentaries. One of his first films was a travelogue called "This is Belgium." Winner said that because Belgium proved too rainy, it was shot largely in East Grinstead, southern England.

His 1960s British films included "West 11," a gritty thriller set in a shabby London neighborhood; "The System," a tale of young men on the prowl in a seaside town; and "I'll Never Forget What's'isname" starring Oliver Reed as a fed-up London adman and Orson Welles as his boss. Other notable pictures included "The Big Sleep" — a remake of the 1940s film noir — and "Hannibal Brooks," a comedy caper featuring Reed as a prisoner of war who makes a bid for freedom with an elephant from a German zoo. Winner was best known for "Death Wish," which stars Bronson as a law-abiding citizen who turns vigilante when his wife and daughter are attacked. The 1974 film was criticized for its violence, but was a commercial success in an America fretting about urban violence and a fraying social fabric. Winner declared it "a pleasant romp" with no moralistic intent and went on to direct two more installments.

He also was proud that "Death Wish" featured the film debuts of two future stars — Jeff Goldblum and Denzel Washington, who played "Freak 1" and "Alley Mugger," respectively. A lover of the high life who collected antiques and rare first editions, Winner had a second career as restaurant critic with the long-running "Winner's Dinners" column in the Sunday Times newspaper. His acerbic verdicts got him barred from some eateries, and his highest praise was to declare a meal "historic." "He could be very witty but also uncompromising in his demands for good service, which resonated with readers," said Martin Ivens, acting editor of The Sunday Times. "He was also not afraid to laugh at himself and rejoiced in the huge postbag of letters which poked gentle fun at him — often he would forward particularly insulting letters that had been sent straight to him for inclusion alongside his column." In later years he was famous for a series of insurance ads with the catchphrase "Calm down, dear!" Prime Minister David Cameron once used the phrase to a female lawmaker in the House of Commons, prompting howls of outrage.

He also founded and helped fund a campaign to erect a London memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty. Winner had experienced health problems since getting a bacterial infection from bad oysters in 2007. He wrote his final column in December, but refused to say goodbye forever. "Who knows, after Christmas I might make a comeback," he wrote. "How many times did Sinatra do it?" His wife, a former dancer who met Winner in 1957 and married him two years ago, said he was "a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life." Monty Python comedian John Cleese said Winner had been "the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends. I shall miss him terribly." And TV mogul Simon Cowell said he, too, would miss a good friend. "Laughter was never far away when Michael was around, and he is someone who the more I got to know, the fonder I got of him," Cowell said. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. Explore related topics: entertainment

Question: Michael Winner writes a column called Winners Dinners for which Sunday newspaper?
Answer: SUNDAY TIMES