99 Facts About Michael Caine

Sir Michael Caine was born on Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933 and is an English actor.

Michael Caine has received various awards including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Michael Caine is one of only five male actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in five different decades.

Michael Caine solidified his stardom with roles in Get Carter, The Last Valley, The Man Who Would Be King, The Eagle Has Landed, and A Bridge Too Far.

Michael Caine received two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles as Elliot in Woody Allen's comedy Hannah and Her Sisters, and as Dr Wilbur Larch in Lasse Hallstrom's drama The Cider House Rules.

Michael Caine is known for his performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol, and for his comedic roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Miss Congeniality, Austin Powers in Goldmember, and Secondhand Lions.

Michael Caine portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Michael Caine appeared in Nolan's films The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar and Tenet.

Michael Caine appeared in the action films Now You See Me, and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite at St Olave's Hospital in the Rotherhithe district of London on 14 March 1933, the son of cook and charwoman Ellen Frances Marie and fish market porter Maurice Joseph Micklewhite.

Michael Caine had a younger brother named Stanley, who became an actor, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell.

Michael Caine grew up in London's Southwark district; during the Second World War, he was evacuated 100 miles north to North Runcton, Norfolk, where he made his acting debut at the village school and had a pet horse called Lottie.

At the age of 10, Michael Caine acted in a school play as the father of the ugly sisters in Cinderella.

Michael Caine then worked briefly as a filing clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria and film producer Jay Lewis on Wardour Street.

In 1952, Michael Caine was called up to do his national service.

Michael Caine went into Korea feeling sympathetic to communism, coming as he did from a poor family, but the experience left him permanently repelled due to the human wave attacks practised by North Korea and China, which left him with the sense that their governments did not care about their citizens.

Michael Caine experienced a situation in which he thought he was going to die, the memory of which stayed with him and "formed his character".

Michael Caine's uncredited film debut was a walk-on role in Morning Departure.

Michael Caine moved to the Lowestoft Repertory Company in Suffolk for a year when he was 21.

Michael Caine has described the first nine years of his career as "really, really brutal" as well as "more like purgatory than paradise".

Michael Caine appeared in nine plays during his time at the Lowestoft Rep at the Arcadia Theatre with Jackson Stanley's Standard Players.

When his career took him to London in 1954 after his provincial apprenticeship, his agent informed him that there was already a Michael Caine White performing as an actor in London and that he had to come up with a new name immediately.

Michael Caine joked on television in 1987 that, had a tree partly blocking his view been a few feet to the left, he might have been called "Michael Mutiny".

In 1958, Michael Caine played the minor role of a court orderly in a BBC Television adaptation of the story, The Michael Caine Mutiny Court Martial.

Michael Caine moved in with another rising cockney actor, Terence Stamp, and began hanging out with him and Peter O'Toole in the London party scene after he had become O'Toole's understudy in Lindsay Anderson's West End staging of Willis Hall's The Long and the Short and the Tall in 1959.

Michael Caine took over the role when O'Toole left to make Lawrence of Arabia and went on to a four-month tour of the UK and Ireland.

Researcher Pete Dicks noted that Michael Caine played a German officer in the 1958 film The Two-Headed Spy.

Michael Caine's first credited role on the BBC was in 1956, where he played Boudousse in the Jean Anouilh play The Lark.

Michael Caine has appeared on television, in serials The Golden Girl and No Wreath for the General, but was then cast in the play The Compartment, written by Johnny Speight, a two-hander starring Frank Finlay.

Michael Caine acted in radio plays, including Bill Naughton's Looking for Frankie on the BBC Home Service.

When this play moved to the Criterion in Piccadilly with Michael Codron directing, he was visited backstage by Stanley Baker, one of the four stars in Caine's first film, A Hill in Korea, who told him about the part of a Cockney private in his upcoming film Zulu, a film Baker was producing and starring in.

Michael Caine believes Endfield offered him, a Cockney, the role of an aristocrat because, being American, he did not have the endemic British class-prejudice.

Subsequently, Michael Caine's agent got him cast in the BBC production Hamlet at Elsinore as Horatio, in support of Christopher Plummer's Hamlet.

Horatio was the only classical role which Michael Caine, who had never received dramatic training, would ever play.

Michael Caine went on to play Harry Palmer in a further four films, Funeral in Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain, Bullet to Beijing and Midnight in Saint Petersburg.

Michael Caine made his first film in Hollywood in 1966, after an invitation from Shirley MacLaine to play opposite her in Gambit.

Michael Caine starred in the film The Magus which, although BAFTA-nominated for Best Cinematography, failed at the box office.

Michael Caine starred in the 1969 comedy caper film The Italian Job as Charlie Croker, the leader of a Cockney criminal gang released from prison with the intention of doing a "big job" in Italy to steal gold bullion from an armoured security truck.

Michael Caine continued with successes including Sleuth opposite Laurence Olivier, and John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King co-starring Sean Connery, which received widespread acclaim.

In 1974, Michael Caine appeared in The Black Windmill, co-starring Donald Pleasence.

Michael Caine was part of an all-star cast in A Bridge Too Far.

In 1978, Michael Caine starred in Silver Bears, an adaptation of Paul Erdman's 1974 novel of the same name, and co-starred in the Academy Award-winning California Suite.

Michael Caine averaged two films a year, but these included such films as The Swarm, Ashanti and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.

Michael Caine co-starred with Julie Walters in Educating Rita, for which he won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award.

Michael Caine played a suave English conman, opposite a clumsy American played by Steve Martin, in the crime comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, directed by Frank Oz.

In 1987, Michael Caine narrated Hero, the official film of the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Michael Caine played a villain in the Steven Seagal film On Deadly Ground.

Michael Caine was in two straight to video Harry Palmer sequels and a few television films.

The film was a massive box office success and Michael Caine earned praise for his comic turn.

That same year Michael Caine appeared in Philip Kaufman's controversial yet acclaimed film Quills as Dr Royer-Collard opposite Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, and Joaquin Phoenix.

In 2001, Michael Caine starred in the ensemble dramedy Last Orders starring Helen Mirren, Bob Hoskins, and Tom Courtenay.

Michael Caine earned a Golden Globe Award and British Academy Film Award for his performance.

Michael Caine is one of the few actors to have played a starring role in two versions of the same film.

Michael Caine starred multiple comedies during this time, including playing Austin's father in Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Michael Caine played family elder Henry Lair in the 2004 film Around the Bend.

Michael Caine appeared in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller Inception as Prof.

Michael Caine starred in the 2012 film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, as Josh Hutcherson's character's grandfather; the film featured Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens.

Michael Caine reprised his role as Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman sequel The Dark Knight Rises, which was released in July 2012.

Michael Caine played the role of Arthur Tressler, an insurance magnate and the Four Horsemen's sponsor.

Michael Caine appeared in Nolan's 2014 science-fiction film Interstellar as Professor Brand, a high-ranking NASA scientist, ideator of Plan A, former mentor of Cooper and father of Amelia.

In 2015, Caine co-starred in Matthew Vaughn's action spy comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Samuel L Jackson.

Michael Caine appeared in the lead role of retired composer Fred Ballinger, where he and the film won great acclaim at its debut at the Cannes Film Festival.

Michael Caine received a London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actor of the Year nomination for his performance.

In October 2015, Michael Caine read Hans Christian Andersen's "Little Claus and Big Claus" for the children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF, together with Sir Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Dame Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, David Walliams, Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna.

In 2017, Michael Caine was cast in a spoken cameo role in Christopher Nolan's action-thriller Dunkirk, based on the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II, as a Royal Air Force Spitfire pilot, as a nod to his role of RAF fighter pilot Squadron Leader Canfield in Battle of Britain.

In 2018, Michael Caine starred as Brian Reader in King of Thieves, which was based on the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary of 2015.

Michael Caine appeared in the children's fantasy film, Come Away starring Angelina Jolie, David Oyelowo, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

In interviews promoting the 2021 film Best Sellers, Michael Caine suggested that he would not make another film, citing difficulty in walking and his new interest in novel-writing developed during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Michael Caine has brought some of British cinema's most iconic characters to life and introduced his very own laid-back cockney gangster into pop culture.

Michael Caine doggedly retained a regional accent at a time when the plummy tones of Received Pronunciation were considered obligatory.

Michael Caine introduces himself with the line, "My name is Michael Paine, and I am a nosy neighbour" and in a spoof of the stakeout at the beginning of The Ipcress File, recounts to the camera the 'suspiciously' mundane behaviour of his neighbours, before saying, "Not a lot of people know that I know that".

At Myers' request, Michael Caine himself starred in Austin Powers in Goldmember, with his portrayal of Nigel Powers, father of Austin Powers, spoofing Harry Palmer.

In 2018, Michael Caine starred in a British Airways' pre-flight safety video, appearing with six other British celebrities, including actresses Olivia Colman and Naomie Harris.

Michael Caine has lived in North Stoke, Oxfordshire; Clewer, Berkshire; Lowestoft, Suffolk; and Chelsea Harbour, London.

Michael Caine still keeps a small flat near where he grew up in London.

Michael Caine was married to actress Patricia Haines from 1954 to 1958.

Michael Caine dated Edina Ronay, Nancy Sinatra, Natalie Wood, Candice Bergen, Bianca Jagger, Jill St John and Francoise Pascal.

Michael Caine has been married to actress and model Shakira Baksh since 8 January 1973.

Michael Caine called her every day for ten days until she finally agreed to meet him.

Michael Caine suffered from severe epilepsy and had been kept in Cane Hill Mental Hospital his entire life.

In July 2016, Michael Caine changed his name by deed poll to his long-time stage name in order to simplify security checks at airports.

Michael Caine stated that because the security guard often recognized him but was unaware of his real name, it would waste a considerable amount of his time as he tried to prove that he and "Maurice Joseph Micklewhite" were the same person:.

Michael Caine has often been outspoken about his political views, referring to himself as a "left-wing Tory" influenced by both his working-class background and Korean War service.

Michael Caine lived in Beverly Hills during that time, but returned to the UK eight years later when taxes had been lowered by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher:.

In July 2014, Michael Caine was reported to have been a celebrity investor in a tax avoidance scheme called Liberty.

In November 2014, Michael Caine described the proposed mansion tax by then Labour leader Ed Miliband as "preposterous and silly".

Michael Caine voted in favour of Brexit in the 2016 European Referendum, stating he would rather be a "poor master than a rich servant".

Michael Caine met his good friend Elton John and was discussing musical tastes, when Caine said that he had been creating chillout mix tapes as an amateur for years.

Also in music, Caine provided vocal samples for the Ska-pop band Madness for their 1984 hit "Michael Caine", as his daughter was a fan.

Michael Caine has sung in film roles as well, including Little Voice and for the 1992 musical film The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Michael Caine quit his 80-a-day smoking habit in the early 1970s after a lecture by Tony Curtis.

Proceeds from the books went to the National Playing Fields Association, a UK charity for which Michael Caine served as vice president, and which aims to protect and promote open spaces for sports and recreation in British cities and towns.

Michael Caine has been nominated for an Oscar six times, winning his first Academy Award for the 1986 film Hannah and Her Sisters, and his second in 1999 for The Cider House Rules, in both cases as a supporting actor.

Michael Caine is one of only two actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s ; Laurence Olivier was nominated for an acting Academy Award in five decades, beginning in 1939 and ending in 1978, as were Paul Newman and Denzel Washington.

Michael Caine appeared in seven films that were ranked in the BFI's 100 greatest British films of the 20th century.

Michael Caine has appeared in seven films that featured in the British Film Institute's 100 greatest British films of the 20th century.

In 2008, Michael Caine was awarded the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Showbusiness at the Variety Club Awards.

In May 2012, Michael Caine was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the London Borough of Southwark as a person of distinction and eminence of the borough.

In 2017, Michael Caine was the recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.