Michael Winner

What's on in Kensington:

Today, Tomorrow, This Week, This Weekend

Michael Winner

Profession: Film Director and Producer
Place/Date of Birth: London, 30 October 2020

Despite studying law at Cambridge after graduation Winner went on to work as an Assistant Director and ocassional scrennplay writer at the BBC. In the early sixties he emerged as one to watch, first making a splash with Some Like It Cool about the joys of nudism. Later he worked on The System, a sex comedy which would mark the start of a long running partnership with actor Oliver Reed while WWII satire Hannibal Brooks got Winner noticed in Hollywood.

Following The Lawman (with Burt Lancaster) Winner directed Marlon Brando in The Nightcomers, making him hot property in the States, however it was 1974’s Death Wish, starring Charles Bronson that would make him truly famous. Attempts to branch out of the action genre were not well received by audiences and among Winner’s 1970s misses were comedy Won Ton Ton, a remake of The Big Sleep and horror flick The Sentinel.

By the early 80s Winner was short on cash and caved to Charles Bronson’s desire to make Death Wish 2. Although unappreciated by critics it was a hit with audiences, as was Death Wish 3, a spoof of action movies. Despite this success Winners films became less and less successful although he continued to direct up until 1999.

Also known as a restaurant critic Winner has become something of a British icon, having had dalliances with a string of beautiful women including Sophia Loren and Joan Collins and become rather outspoken (he famously declined an OBE, saying that it is ’what you get if you clean the toilets well at Kings Cross Station’). Most recently he has gained new noteriety for a string of cheesey adverts for insurance company Esure.
updated January 2007

previous