January 21, 2013

Michael Winner: a career in pictures

Michael Winner, the outspoken film director, restaurant reviewer and TV celebrity, has died aged 77. We look back over his career and life in photographs

michael winner: Michael Winner directs Diana Dors — Michael Winner directs Diana Dors in a bedroom scene for the crime drama West 11 (1963). The film, set in the back streets and bedsits of London, also starred Alfred Lynch and Kathleen Breck Photograph: Norman Potter/Getty Images

michael winner: Michael Winner dances with Barbara Ferris — Winner dancing with Barbara Ferris, who starred in his 1964 film, The System. The System was his breakthrough British hit, a seaside-set "bonkbuster" that saw Oliver Reed as the cad-about-town of a small Cornish holiday resort Photograph: Rex Features

michael winner: Film director Michael Winner directs Marianne Faithfull — A young Marianne Faithfull appeared in Winner's first critical hit I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967), which again starred Oliver Reed Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

michael winner: On the set of Scorpio — Winner on set with Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon (in the background) during the filming of Scorpio in 1972. This was his first film in Hollywood, where he was tasked with revitalising the careers of former marquee names like Lancaster
Photograph: JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis Photograph: JP Laffont/ JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis

michael winner: Ava Gardner and Michael Winner on the set of The Sentinel — The Sentinel (1977) saw Winner direct Ava Gardner in a psychological horror about a fashion model (Cristina Raines) persuaded to move into a spooky apartment that seems like a steal but is actually - wait for it - the gateway to hell! Gardner played the estate agent hoping to convince her client to take this devilishly good deal
Photograph: Rex Features Photograph: Rex Features

michael winner: Sophia Loren and Michael Winner on the set of Firepower in 1978 — For a director with a patchy back catalogue, Winner certainly managed to work with some of the greats. Here he is, fooling around with Sophia Loren on the set of Firepower (1979) Photograph: Tazio Secchiaroli/Rex Features

michael winner: Michael Winner smokes a trademark cigar in his director's chai — In his downtime Winner enjoyed fine food, a good laugh and a giant cigar. He's seen here enjoying the latter in a break between filming Photograph: Rex Features

michael winner: Michael Winner lights a cigar in 1982 — 1982. Another day, another cigar. At this point Winner could afford them. A few years earlier the Charles Bronson-starring revenge fantasy Death Wish had been one of the highest grossing films in the US, which lead to Death Wish II and ... Photograph: Martyn Goddard/Rex Features

michael winner: Winner with Charles Bronson on the set of Death Wish 3 in London, 1985 — ... Death Wish III. Here's Bronson and Winner (and cigar) on the set of that sequel. London, 1985. Photograph: Paul Fievez/Rex Features

michael winner: Michael Winner at the Rivoli Bar at the Ritz Hotel — In the 90s, as Winner's interest in film waned, his taste for fine food blossomed, which lead to a stint as a restaurant reviewer for the Sunday Times. Here's Winner with his favourite cocktail, a Banana Daquiri, in the Ritz Hotel in London, 2000 Photograph: Rex Features

michael winner: Michael Winner and HRH Queen Elizabeth II — Michael Winner with HRH Queen Elizabeth II at the unveiling of the National Police memorial (London, 2005), whichl is dedicated to British police killed in active service. Winner founded the Police Memorial Trust (which erects monuments to police officers killed while on active duty) after the shooting of PC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984
Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

michael winner: Director and critic Michael Winner — Winner photographed outside his house in Holland Park for a Guardian interview in 2009. During the photoshoot he told journalist Stephen Moss an anecdote about filming Orson Welles: "Welles once said to me, 'Michael, you're shooting me from below. That will make me look fat.' Orson would have looked fat if you'd shot him from a helicopter."
Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian Photograph: Felix Clay/Guardian

michael winner: Michael Winner at home in his cinema room, London,2011 — Winner at home in his cinema room in London, 2011. "There are very few 74-year-old film directors about," he said in 2009. "You can't expect to make top Hollywood films all your life. The spotlight moves. I ran as a very much employed director from 1960 to 1990, and then it started to crumble. But it does, it does."
Photograph: Andy Hall for the Observer Photograph: Andy Hall/Observer

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