Michael Winner

It was preceded by the Billy Fury-led musical Play It Cool (1962) and comedy short Behave Yourself (1961). His first significant project was West 11 (1963), a realistic tale of London drifters starring Alfred Lynch.

Winner's sex comedy The System (1964) began a partnership with actor Oliver Reed that would last for six films over a 25-year period. Winner and Reed closed out the 1960s as a pair with The Jokers (1967) (also starring Michael Crawford), popular comedy-drama I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967), and the World War II satire Hannibal Brooks (1969). A non-Reed comedy, You Must Be Joking! (1965) with Denholm Elliott, and an ambitious Olympic drama, The Games, (1970) were also made.

Hannibal Brooks drew notice in Hollywood and Winner soon received opportunities to direct for American markets. Winner's first American film was Lawman (1971) starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Duvall. Read Less

Based on a novel by Brian Garfield and adapted to the screen by Wendell Mayes, Death Wish was originally planned for director Sidney Lumet under contract with United Artists. The commitment of Lumet to another film and UA's questioning of its subject matter led to an eventual production by Dino De Laurentiis through Paramount Pictures. Death Wish tracks Paul Kersey, a liberal New York architect who becomes a gun-wielding vigilante after his wife is murdered and daughter is raped. With a script adjusted to Bronson's persona, the film generated major controversy during its screenings and was one of the year's highest grossers.

Following the release of Death Wish, Winner became primarily known as an action film director. Most of his attempts to branch into other genres failed at the box office. In 1975 Winner directed Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (released 1976), an animal comedy starring Bruce Dern, Madeline Kahn, Art Carney, and Milton Berle. Also of modest success was his horror film The Sentinel (1977), the remake of Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep (1978), and the organized crime thriller Firepower (1979) with Sophia Loren. Read Less

He stated "I have told Geraldine that it took me 72 years to get engaged so she's not to hold her breath for the marriage". Read Less