Death Wish is a 1972 novel by Brian Garfield.

Paul Benjamin is a CPA in New York and lifelong liberal. However, his staid life is overturned when his daughter, Carol, and spouse, Esther, are attacked by muggers. His wife does not survive the attack, and his traumatized daughter is left in a vegetative state. Forced to reevaluate his views, Benjamin becomes paranoid and eager for vengeance. After a trip to Arizona, a friend gives him a revolver as a gift. Benjamin shoots a mugger who accosts him. Benjamin continues to take justice into his own hands, drawing would-be muggers into traps by using himself as the bait. In one case, he rents a car, pulls it over to the side of the road, and writes an "Out of Gas" sign on the vehicle. He then hides, waiting for someone to steal the car. When some lawbreakers do so, he shoots them.

It is only within the last fifty pages of the first novel that Benjamin slays his first victim. The second novel, Death Sentence, states that Benjamin murdered seventeen people over five weeks.

Charles Bronson (November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003), born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, of Polish and Lithuanian background, best known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series. He was often cast in the role of a police officer or gunfighter, often in revenge-oriented plot lines. During his career, Bronson had a long-term partnership with directors Michael Winner and J. Lee Thompson.

Bronson was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky (or Buchinskas) in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny Mountain Coal region north of Johnstown. During the McCarthy hearings, he changed his last name to Bronson, fearing that Buchinsky sounded "too Russian".

He was one of 15 children born to a Lithuanian immigrant father of Lipka Tatar ancestry, and a Lithuanian-American mother. His father hailed from the town of Druskininkai (or Druskienniki). His mother, Mary Valinsky, whose parents were from the Lithuania was born in the anthracite coal mining town of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

Michael Robert Winner (born 30 October 1935) is an English former film director and producer, who worked in Great Britain, Europe and the United States, now known as a food critic for the Sunday Times.

Winner was born in London, England, the son of Helen (née Zloty) and George Joseph Winner, a company director. His family was Jewish; his mother was a native of Poland and his father was of Russian extraction. Winner's father was a Freemason. He was educated at St Christopher School, Letchworth and Downing College, Cambridge, where he studied law and economics. He also edited the university's student newspaper, Varsity. Winner had earlier written a newspaper column, 'Michael Winner's Showbiz Gossip,' in the Kensington Post from the age of 14. The first issue of Showgirl Glamour Revue in 1955 has him writing another film and showbusiness gossip column, "Winner's World". Such jobs allowed him to meet and interview several leading film personalities, including James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. He also wrote for the New Musical Express.

Jim Greco (born December 25, 1977, New Haven, CT.) is a professional skateboarder. He currently resides in downtown Los Angeles.

Greco has appeared in videos such as Zero's "Misled Youth", "Baker Bootleg, "Baker 2G", "Baker 3" and "Baker Has A Deathwish".

In 2005, Greco started a new footwear company called Supra, along with Erik Ellington, Tom Penny, Antwuan Dixon, Chad Muska, and KR3W owner Angel Cabada. He has a pro model shoe called the "Thunder" for Supra footwear.

Greco co-founded a new eyewear company called Brigada with Erik Ellington, Andrew Reynolds, and Terry Kennedy in 2007. The company was started without the help of any distributor, and was financed with their own savings.

Greco co-owns Baker Skateboards along with Andrew Reynolds who is the majority owner.

Greco left Baker Skateboards in 2008 along with Erik Ellington and Antwuan Dixon to start Deathwish Skateboards, the sister company to Baker Skateboards.

In 2008, he co-founded Bakerboys Distribution along with Andrew reynolds and Erik Ellington. Bakerboys Distribution distributes Deathwish Skateboards, Shake Junt, and Brigada eyewear.

Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum (born October 22, 1952) is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day. He starred as Detective Zach Nichols for the eighth and ninth seasons of the USA Network's crime drama series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Goldblum was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Homestead, Pennsylvania, the son of Shirley S. (née Temeles), a radio broadcaster who later ran a kitchen equipment and appliances sales firm, and Harold L. Goldblum, a medical doctor. He has a sister, Pamela, and an older brother, Lee. Another older brother, Rick, died at age 23. His family is Jewish and belonged to an Orthodox synagogue.

Goldblum's parents were interested in show business. Goldblum moved to New York City at 17 to become an actor. Goldblum worked on the stage and studied acting at the renowned Neighborhood Playhouse under the guidance of acting coach Sanford Meisner. He made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning musical Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is also an accomplished jazz pianist and declared that if he did not act, he would have become a professional musician. He made his film debut as a thug in the 1974 Charles Bronson film Death Wish. He briefly appeared as a protester in the TV movie Columbo A Case of Immunity (1975).