There are prestigious actors and others, popular. Not many have both characteristics. Michael Caine, yes. The British interpreter continues to be so loved by the public and by his colleagues that even Tom Cruise chose to skip the last installment of the Oscars and preferred to cross the Atlantic Ocean to be present at Caine’s birthday.
Of course it was not any birthday: the British Michael Caine celebrated 90 years, surrounded by family and friends, in an exclusive London cafe. The friendship arose during the filming of one of the films in the saga of Austin Powers.
Con almost 70 years of career, there are dozens of films in which he participated: his face is one of those that everyone has seen, at least once, on a movie or television screen. Always active, his most recent work is in the film Medieval, released last year, where he plays a priest. A long-lived star, one of those few in Hollywood,
The Secret in Their Eyes
His sense of humor, very british, allowed him to admit, at the height of his popularity as a leading man and fashionable actor, that what many critics identified as a “seductive and mysterious” look, was simply his shortsighted frown. His characteristic square glasses were (still are) another of his trademarks.
Caine, the son of a cook and an Irish laborer working in the port of London, He became a Knight by Queen Elizabeth IIin 2000, “for his contribution to the performing arts” and managed to make a name for himself as part of the history of world cinema.
that child born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr. on March 14, 1933, in London, today he is Sir Michael Caine without denying his origins since, among other things, he never lost his accent cockneytypical of London’s East End, the low-income area where he grew up and grew up.
Before becoming a Hollywood star, Oscar nominated six times (of which he won two, both as a supporting actor for Hannah and her sisters y the rules of life), Caine had to stop studying as a teenager to work in different trades and thus contribute to the home economy, when Great Britain was still suffering from the aftermath of the Second World War.
A soldier in the Korean War
Even before turning to acting, his childhood passion, he served as a soldier in the Korean War. Back in London, he began to work in theater doing a bit of everything, as an actor, assistant and whatever was needed, both on and off stage. Also, it was then that he changed his name to the artistic one with which he became famous worldwide.
The stage name Caine was borrowed from the film The Caine Mutinystarring Humphrey Bogart, one of his acting references.
That first stage gave him training that would later bear fruit in the impressive number of different characters he played.
The hour of the protagonists
After taking part in many secondary roles, in the 1960s the leading roles came to him in mega productions such as Zulu, among other. Until in 1966 he arrived Alfie, the film that made him famous and, incidentally, gave him an extra seductive halo. The film became a classic, so much so that, in 2004, another British star, Jude Law, starred in a remake of the character.
The Man Who Would Be King, Raising Rita, The Honorary Consul, Dressed to Kill, Hannah and Her Sisters, Austin Powers in Goldenmembers, Batman Returns, Escape to Victory, Children of Man, Inception, Interstellar, Youthare some of the many films in which he was a part, in the United States and in Europe.
The actor played dozens of roles: from a real president (the South African Frederik de Klerk) to Batman’s butler Alfred. Caine proved to have both a flair for drama and a special streak for comedy. In real life, those close to him enjoy his continuous jokes, full of irony.
Good health always accompanied him, despite the fact that six years ago, he suffered from cancer and by which he made public his fears. “I want to see my grandchildren grow up,” he declared. His medical treatment and some changes in his diet, in addition togive up alcoholallowed him to recover and move on.
Two years ago, a spinal problem forced him to slow down his work rate and that is why he changed acting and dedicated himself to writing, among other things, his memoirs. “Now I’m a writer and I love it. To start writing, you don’t have to get out of bed,” he declared with his usual sense of humor.
Despite his sustained stardom for more than five decades, Caine dodged scandal quite well. His sentimental life is very quiet: he had two marriages, two daughters (one from each wife) and three grandchildren..
His own Shakira
Curiously, contrary to what happened to soccer player Gerard Piqué, the English actor can say that he found happiness with Shakira, as his second wife is called. The actress and model Shakira Baksh, 78, born in Guyana to a Muslim family, has shared her life with the actor for half a century. He saw her in a coffee advertisement and from that moment, he was dazzled.
Although, within luxury and glamor, Caine seems to have been one of the most discreet figures, from a very young age he could not hide an obsession that he was only able to achieve at the age of 35: owning a Rolls-Royce.
The actor bought the luxurious car, which was also his first car, in 1968. But, as if that were not enough, it was a unique gem within the expensive brand: a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupe, of which the firm only manufactured 506 copies. Sold years later, today the car is on display, in homage to the actor, its first owner.
His sympathy and charisma not only won him fans around the world, but many figures, such as Tom Cruise, became friends with him, such as John Lennon, Elton John, Sean Connery and Roger Mooreof the former James Bond.
Looking back, Michael Caine has a lot of history to tell, but perhaps one of the anecdotes that moves him the most is one that involves his mother. “I think my mother did not quite understand what I was doing”recalls the actor.
“One day he asked me how much I earn for working on a film. When I told him I could earn a million pounds, he asked me: How much is a million pounds? I couldn’t even imagine that amount of money,” he said.
Nor did the woman imagine that a handwritten list in which her son had made a list of things she had pending would become a reality, already an international star: “Bread, milk, newspaper, cigarettes, Rolls-Royce ”.
WD
