Film director and restaurant critic Michael Winner has died, his wife Geraldine said today. He was 77.

Mr Winner, who made more than 30 films including the blockbuster Death Wish series, had been ill for some time and died today at his home in Kensington, London, where he was being nursed by his wife.

Paying tribute to her husband Mrs Winner, a former dancer who he married two years ago, said in a statement: ''Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous.

''A light has gone out in my life.''