Winner denies amputation reports - Jan 18 2007
Veteran film director Michael Winner today denied reports he is to have "a leg, an arm, a head or even a fingernail" amputated.

The 71-year-old is currently being treated at the London Clinic, a private hospital in Harley Street, after falling ill while on holiday in Barbados.

It was reported that doctors had told him they may have to amputate his diseased leg.

But in a statement today, the Cambridge-educated director of the Death Wish series said he was "happy" to say all his limbs were "solidly where they have been for many years".

He said: "I have been interested in recent newspaper reports suggesting I had lost, or was about to lose, one leg, two legs, an arm, a head - some people suggesting this went some time ago! - or even a fingernail.

"I am happy to tell you that, when I last looked, all of these items appeared solidly where they have been for many years.

"I am further advised that the chance of any of them leaving my persona are non existent. So if you see a leg lying around, it is not mine, unless, of course, it is firmly attached to my body."

Michael was taken to the Bayview Hospital in Barbados by ambulance on January 3, apparently after suffering an allergic reaction to medication prescribed a few days earlier for a fever.

The film director remains in hospital but is making good progress, The London Clinic said.

Michael ’faces amputation’ - Jan 17 2007
Veteran film director and food critic Michael Winner is being treated in hospital after falling ill while on holiday in Barbados.

Michael, 71, is being treated at The London Clinic, a private hospital in Harley Street.

Doctors have told him they might have to amputate his diseased leg to save his life, the Daily Mirror reported.

The Cambridge-educated director of the Death Wish series of movies replied "I would rather die than have it cut off", according to the paper.

Winner was taken to the Bayview Hospital in Barbados by ambulance on January 3, apparently after suffering an allergic reaction to medication prescribed a few days earlier for a fever.

At the time he told the Daily Mail: "Unfortunately, I had an absolutely dreadful reaction to the antibiotic and I came out in enormous blood blisters on my left leg.

"They covered the entire inside of my leg and each one was five inches long.

"Then they all burst and I was rushed to hospital with the sirens blaring."

Before flying back to the UK for further treatment, Michael complained about his Caribbean hospital.

He said: "It’s horrible here. They’re doing their best but the food is disgusting."

It is not the first time Michael - known for his "Calm down dear, it’s only a commercial" catchphrase in adverts for insurer esure - has suffered from a serious medical condition.

He underwent a heart bypass operation in 1993 and spent two days in a private London hospital in 2003 for an undisclosed complaint.


Biography
Calm down dear, it’s only a biography...

Michael Winner was born on October 30 1935 in London to Russian property tycoon and a Polish gambling addict.  Educated first at a Quaker boarding school then at Cambridge University, he had an early interest in film, interviewing the likes of James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich for the Kensington Post aged just 14.