Earlier this month David R. Ellis passed away while preparing to shoot his next film in South Africa and now this week it appears that we’ve lost another well-liked genre filmmaker. British director Michael Winner has reportedly died at his home in Kensington, west London, after a long battle with liver cancer. Winner was probably best known for his work with Charles Bronson including the first three Death Wish films and The Mechanic (which was recently remade with Jason Statham). He was also a well-known personality outside of the film industry, acting as a restaurant critic for the Sunday Times and also starring in a series of commercials for insurance company esure. He was 77 years old.

Winner’s career as a director spanned almost four decades, starting with the crime thriller Shoot to Kill and the comedy Some Like it Cool before moving on to a series of Oliver Reed comedies. He eventually made the jump to Hollywood in 1971 with Lawman starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Duvall and The Nightcomers starring Marlon Brando. In the late ’70s he directed The Sentinel and The Big Sleep before becoming a mainstay of the Cannon Films roster throughout the ’80s. What is your favourite Michael Winner flick?