Michael Caine
Michael Caine has had and continues to have the professional career that all actors and entertainers dream of. He has received critical acclaim and success in over 100 films and owns his own film production company as well as seven restaurants, and has been knighted by the Queen of England for his work in the performing arts. He is now over 70 and is still lining up work for the years to come. Caine is also one of only two actors to be nominated for an Academy Award in every decade since the 1960’s (Jack Nicholson is the other).
Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in 1933 in Southeast London . He shares a birthday with Quincy Jones. His father, Maurice was a Catholic fish-porter and his mom, Ellen Maria was a Protestant charlady. During World War II Caine was evacuated to Norfolk . He left school at sixteen and served in the British army between 1952 and 1954, traveling to and .
In 1955, after his service in the army had ended, Caine married the English actress Patricia Haines. The two have one daughter together, Dominique. The couple divorced in 1958. Caine has one younger brother and one older half-brother named David. Michael, along with his brother and father, did not know of David’s existence until shortly after his mother died. David was severely epileptic and had been hospitalized his entire life. Although his mother would visit him in the hospital often, she never told her husband or other sons of his existence.
When Caine began acting, he used the stage name, Michael Scott. His agent informed him over the phone that someone else was already using the name Michael Scott and he must change it immediately. Michael was in a phone booth at the time and looking around saw that The Caine Mutiny was playing in theaters, it was then that he decided to change his name to Michael Caine.
Throughout the mid-1950’s and early 1960’s Caine made several small appearances in a handful of films. His first starring role was in Zulu (1964), in which he played an upper class British army officer. His working-class cockney accent was seen as a breath of fresh air and he soon landed two of his most notable films, The Ipcress File (1965) and Alfie (1966), opposite Shelley Winters. Even though Caine wore his trademark horn-rimmed glasses in films he still became a heartthrob, which was unusual at the time.
After his success in Alfie, Caine starred in The Italian Job (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), co-starring Christopher Plummer and Laurence Olivier, and Get Carter (1971). In 1986, Caines starred in Hannah and Her Sisters, opposite Mia Farrow. The film earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The following year he was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the Razzie Awards for his role in Jaws: the Revenge (1987), co-starring Mario Van Peebles and Lynn Whitfield. Throughout the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s Caine continued to cement himself as a leading actor. He starred in a wide variety of films from being critically acclaimed to criticized.
In 1973, Caine married the actress/model, Shakira Baksh. He reportedly fell in love with her after seeing her in a television commercial and decided to hunt her down and make her acquaintance. The couple has one daughter together, Natasha, and has remained married. Most recently, Caine has starred in several blockbusters, including Weatherman (2005) opposite Nicolas Cage, Batman Begins (2005) co-starring Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman. Caine is also scheduled to come out with Children of Men (2006), which will co-star Julianne Moore and Clive Owen.
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