Sir Michael Caine Biography

A sickly child, Caine was born suffering from rickets. He grew up in South London, and attended Ruskin Infant’s School in Camberwell from the age of four. Around the same time, he was first introduced to the cinema and enjoyed going to see the Lone Ranger at the Saturday morning children’s matinee. When World War II broke out in 1939, Michael and his little brother were briefly evacuated to Wargrave in Berkshire, but then returned to London to face the perils of ‘the blitz’. Caine’s mother then found accommodation for her family at North Runcton in Norfolk. US air bases were springing up all over the area, and it was here that young Michael was first introduced to chewing gum!

After the war, Caine attended Wilson’s Grammar School in Camberwell but left at the age of 16 with four “O” levels. He then underwent his compulsory period of National Service, and served in the Royal Fusiliers in Germany; he also did a tour of combat duty during the Korean War. After leaving the army, Caine’s acting career began in Sussex, when he took a job as an assistant stage manager for the Westminster Repertory Company, which was based in Horsham. He then succeeded in securing a few walk-on roles at the Carfax Theatre, which gave him his first experience of stage acting. He had now been bitten by the acting bug in earnest. During his early years as an aspiring actor, Caine shared a flat with fellow actor Terence Stamp: the two men became firm friends and have remained so ever since.

After a few minor TV appearances and walk-on roles at the Carfax Theatre, he got his first proper “break”as an upper-class British officer Gonville Bromhead in the film, Zulu. This was something of a breakthrough for Caine, as he epitomized the “working class hero” type of actor with his authentic cockney accent. Moreover, it established him firmly as a leading player in the cinema and opened the door to a string of exciting offers during the 1960s. After the success of Zulu, he played two of his most famous roles: namely, the role of a roguish womanizer in Alfie (1966), and the spy Harry Palmer in the film, The Ipcress File (1965), a cold war thriller based on the novels of bestselling author Len Deighton. Caine reprised the role of Palmer in two further movies, Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion-Dollar Brain (1967).

Although Caine had not yet achieved major success in Hollywood, it was not long before the offers started to pour in. He made his first film in America in 1966, after receiving an invitation from Shirley MacLaine to act alongside her in a movie called Gambit. Whilst working on Gambit, Caine was also introduced to the screen idol John Wayne, who became one of his closest friends, as well as the agent Swifty Lazar.

The 1960s were a phenomenally successful time for Michael Caine, despite the fact that he did not win an Oscar. In 1969, he made yet another hit movie, The Italian Job, alongside the legendary actor Sir Noel Coward, and that same year, he played an RAF fighter pilot in the movie, Battle of Britain. As the 1970s dawned, he consolidated his hard-won screen success. In 1971, he made the movie Get Carter, a classic British gangster story. He then played opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, who was arguably the leading actor of his generation in the classic thriller, Sleuth, before co-starring with Sean Connery in the film, The Man Who Would Be King (1975). Caine‘s performance attracted rave reviews from the critics - but yet again, no Academy Awards were forthcoming. By 1979 Caine had amassed a considerable fortune and decided to move to America for tax reasons.

Taking up residence in the United States made it easier for Caine to work in Hollywood, but for some curious reason, his career suffered something of a downturn during the late 1970s and 1980s. Critics and media journalists blamed this on his poor choice of roles, and it was rumoured that he would accept movie offers not on the basis of the script but simply because of the huge fee he was now capable of commanding. Despite appearing in such all-time classics as A Bridge Too Far, which he made in 1977, his list of credits also included such abysmal duds as The Swarm (1978), Beyond The Poseidon Adventure (1979) and The Hand (1981). His critical reception improved when he produced a stellar performance in the BAFTA-award winning film, Educating Rita, where he played a Pygmalion-type professor of English who introduces Julie Walters to the delights of literature and serious culture. In 1986, after three decades of being nominated, he finally succeeded in winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Woody Allen movie, Hannan And Her Sisters.

As the 1990s dawned, Caine found that good parts were even harder to come by, but paradoxically he began to receive more widespread critical acclaim and recognition of his acting prowess. After appearing in Steven Seagal’s poorly-received movie, On Deadly Ground (1994), and making a variety of TV movies and Harry Palmer sequels, he starred in Little Voice (1998), alongside Jane Horrocks - a performance that earned him a Golden Globe. In 1999, he won an Oscar for his performance in the movie, The Cider House Rules, again earning the Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Interestingly, Caine is one of only two actors ever to be nominated for an Oscar in every decade since the 1960s; the other actor being Jack Nicholson. Despite being well into his seventies, Caine continues to make movies; in 2005, he was cast as Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred, in the Batman film series. In 2006, he appeared in two major films, Prestige and Children Of Men.

Unlike many Hollywood stars, Michael Caine’s private life has been comparatively uneventful. He was briefly married to fellow actress Patricia Haynes during the 1950s; this marriage produced a daughter, called Dominique. Since 1973, Caine has been married to the model and actress Shakira Baksh, with whom he had another daughter, Natasha.

Despite being happily married for over 30 years, Caine’s personal life has also been touched by tragedy. After his mother died, Michael and his brother Stanley learned that they had an elder half-brother called David, who suffered from such severe epilepsy that he had remained in hospital for most of his life. Sadly, Michael’s mother had concealed the truth about his half-brother from everyone else in the family - including her own husband, Michael’s father. On a happier note, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993, in recognition of his contribution to the acting profession. He was then knighted in 2000.

Despite having maintained a demanding schedule as a professional actor for so many years, Michael Caine has still found time to develop his business and artistic interests outside the world of movies. He is a keen restauranteur, and has interests in no less than seven restaurants worldwide, including the prestigious restaurant, Langan’s Brasserie in Mayfair, London. Caine is also a huge fan of ‘chill out’ music - so much so that he has even compiled his own chill out CD, entitled Cained, which was released in early October 2007. Caine is recorded as having received considerable encouragement from Sir Elton John, when he told Sir Elton that he had been recording amateur tapes for many years! Sir Michael has now added “musician” to his list of achievements, since he now has a recording contract with EMI to produce even more chill out music!