Michael Caine

Fri 6th Feb - 6:30AM

Meet one of the cinema’s most popular English-speaking actors, who rose from a modest background to fame. Also known as Maurice Micklewhite, he made his breakthrough in 1964 in Zulu and more recently was awarded the CBE by the Queen for his contribution to the arts.

Biography

Curious

Films

Music

Quotes

Related

1 2 3

NEXT >>

Michael Caine
born: 14-03-1933
birth place: Rotherhithe, London, England

Two-time Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine was born Maurice Micklewhite in Rotherhithe, in the East End of London. His father, who was also called Maurice, worked as a porter in a fish market, and his mother, Ellen, worked as a cook and a cleaning lady. When he was two-years-old, his brother, Stanley Victor, was born.

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.

1 2 3

NEXT >>

Links relating to this biography:
Michael Caine: Official Website