Filmmaker Michael Winner, 'Death Wish' director and restaurant critic, dies at 77

LONDON - The British filmmaker behind "Death Wish," restaurant critic and bon vivant Michael Winner, has died at the age of 77.

Winner's wife Geraldine says he died Monday at his London home after an illness.

Winner's 30 movies included three "Death Wish" films starring the late Charles Bronson.

He had a second career as restaurant critic for the Sunday Times newspaper, where his highest praise was to declare a meal "historic."

His wife, a former dancer who married Winner two years ago, said he was "a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life."