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| Michael Winner: Death Wish director dies aged 77 | Michael Winner: Death Wish director dies aged 77 |
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| Film director and newspaper columnist Michael Winner has died, aged 77, his wife Geraldine has confirmed. | Film director and newspaper columnist Michael Winner has died, aged 77, his wife Geraldine has confirmed. |
| Born in Hampstead, London in 1935, he directed films including Scorpio and Death Wish. | |
| 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 in a statement: "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. | |
| "A light has gone out in my life." | |
| Winner began his career as a journalist and film critic before joining Motion Pictures Limited as a writer and editor in 1956. | |
| His first work as a director was satirical but he became more well known for his action films, especially the violent Death Wish series, starring Charles Bronson. | |
| In later years, he also directed a series of commercials for an insurance company featuring the catchphrase "calm, down dear!" | |
| Two years ago, Prime Minister David Cameron was criticised for addressing the line to a female colleague in the House Of Commons during a debate on the NHS. | |
| 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". |