Michael Winner obit

 Kind, funny, generous, and Britain's 38th most annoying man: Film director Michael Winner dies aged 77

A colourful character, he revelled in his public persona of a grumpy old man with a twinkle in his eye

He was not on the list.

Michael Winner, film director, restaurant critic and the man once voted the 38th most annoying person in Britain, died today aged 77.

A colourful character, he revelled in his public persona of a grumpy old man with a twinkle in his eye.

Flamboyant Winner derived great enjoyment from speaking his mind – to the intense irritation of some.

Yet he spent a great deal of his fortune honouring policemen and women murdered doing their job.

He dismissed using the assisted suicide centre Dignitas after he was given 18 months to live last summer because of heart and liver problems.

But he passed away at his Holland Park mansion, West London, where his wife Geraldine cared for him.

She said: “Michael was a wonderful man, ­brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life.”

Close friend Simon Cowell led ­tributes to the director of Death Wish.

The pop mogul said: “I’m very sad to hear about Michael passing away.

“Laughter was never far away when Michael was around.

"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.”

Monty Python legend John Cleese said: “Michael was the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends. I shall miss him terribly.”

Winner was the son of a wealthy company director but his mother gambled away a lot of their money.

He was born in Hampstead, North London, on October 30, 1935.

After private school, then Cambridge, he entered journalism, starting on the Showgirl Glamour Revue, where he rubbed shoulders with Hollywood stars, including James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.

Winner avoided National Service by pretending to be gay and was classed as “unfit for military service”.

He joined the BBC where he cut his teeth directing Playschool.

The tone for his career was set at the helm of his first film in 1962. Some Like It Cool was a “documentary” about a young woman introducing her family to the joys of naturism.

The full frontal nudity escaped the strict censor through its “factual” ­presentation and the £9,000 cost was recouped in four weeks as crowds flocked to see it.

In 1964 Winner discovered actor Oliver Reed and they began a six-film partnership which would bring them both Hollywood attention, especially after the release of 1969’s Hannibal Brooks. He directed Marlon Brando in The Nightcomers then Charles Bronson in Chato’s Land.

When Winner and Bronson were reunited for 1974’s Death Wish, he became box office gold.

The director dated a string of beautiful women including Jill Ireland and Catherine Neilson and was accused of breaking up from actress Jenny Seagrove to achieve maximum publicity for a film.

His movie-making career tapered out in the Eighties and he became an outspoken columnist and restaurant reviewer instead.

He disliked celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay and once said: “Oh, celebrity chefs are a joke, aren’t they? Why are they celebrities? We’ll have celebrity plumbers soon and celebrity road sweepers.”

Winner also became the star of an annoying series of insurance adverts for Esure.

His catchphrase “calm down, dear” was adopted by David Cameron who used it in a Commons spat with Labour MP Angela Eagle.

The ads and his pompous persona earned plenty of ridicule.

But Winner also founded and funded the Police Memorial Trust following the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.

Winner turned down an OBE for his police work with the catty statement: “An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King’s Cross.”

But he was game enough to accept the Mirror’s invitation to meet the railway station’s cleaning staff.

Two years ago he married long-time love Geraldine Lynton-Edwards.

They first met in 1967 when he was a budding film-maker and she a 16-year-old actress and ballet dancer.

They became engaged 50 years later, tying the knot in 2011 with actor Michael Caine and wife Shakira as witnesses

He said: “This was the longest courtship in history.” He added: “I’ve had 130 lovers so I’ve had a good run.”

But his final years were dogged by illness, initially caused by a bad oyster during New Year celebrations in 2007.

It left him close to death five times and led to 12 operations. An E.coli infection last October also nearly killed him.

Summing himself up, he once said: “If you create a comedy character of wealth and opulence swanning around, people hate you.

“But the ones who hate me don’t get me at all. They don’t get the joke.”

 

Filmography

(from 1967 also producer)

 

Shorts

The Square (1956)

This Is Belgium (1956)

Man with a Gun (1958)

It's Magic (1958)

Danger, Women at Work (1959)

Floating Fortress (1959) (associate producer)

Girls, Girls, Girls! (1961) (directed and written by)

Haunted England (1961)

Behave Yourself (1962)

Feature films

Climb Up the Wall (1960)

Shoot to Kill (1960)

Some Like It Cool (1961)

Old Mac (1961)

Out of the Shadow (1961)

Play It Cool (1962)

The Cool Mikado (1963)

West 11 (1963)

The System (1964)

You Must Be Joking! (1965)

The Jokers (1967)

I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967)

Hannibal Brooks (1969)

The Games (1970)

Lawman (1971)

The Nightcomers (1971)

Chato's Land (1972)

The Mechanic (1972)

Scorpio (1973)

The Stone Killer (1973)

Death Wish (1974)

Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)

The Sentinel (1977)

The Big Sleep (1978)

Firepower (1979)

Death Wish II (1982)

The Wicked Lady (1983)

Scream for Help (1984)

Death Wish 3 (1985)

Appointment with Death (1988)

A Chorus of Disapproval (1989)

Bullseye! (1990)

Dirty Weekend (1993)

Parting Shots (1999)