London-born film director and newspaper columnist
Michael Winner died today at his home in Kensington, aged 77 (
CLICK). Older readers will remember him as the director of action films such as
Death Wish and
Scorpio. Younger readers will know him for his car insurance commercials with the catchphrase "Calm down dear". He had suffered ill health since 2007, due to eating a bad oyster, and more recently an E coli infection from a steak tartare.
Winner's Dinners could be very dodgy! Last summer liver specialists gave him 18 months to live. Perhaps that's the reason he decided to sell his fine collection of children's illustrations and books (
CLICK). He was also a charity campaigner who established
The Police Memorial Trust after the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. This led to the National Police Memorial in central London. The photo shows
Michael Winner with HM Queen Elizabeth II at its unveiling in 2005. He was reportedly offered an OBE for his charity work, but turned it down with his usual humour.
The Telegraph has posted a slide show: CLICK.
2 Comments:
He'll probably be remembered for the Death Wish films but hopefully the first thing he'll be remembered for will be the Police Memorial Trust.
He predicted his obituary would read something like "Death Wish director dies" and the BBC didn't disappoint him! This is why I chose the photo of him with the Queen at the unveiling of the National Police Memorial.
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