Michael Caine at 90: From a humble start to Hollywood
March 14, 2023
"The only alternative to playing old people is to play dead people. I'll pick elderly people," quipped Michael Caine while presenting his film "Youth" in Cannes in 2015. Now, as he turns 90, ending his acting career is not an alternative Caine is considering at all.
The British actor has performed in roughly 160 films, among them numerous brilliant works, and some not as remarkable ones. Actor Kevin Kline likes to joke that in the 1990s, a video shop in London even had a small section called "Films Without Michael Caine." There's a grain of truth to this, as Caine is a workaholic among the stars. What drives him is having fun with his work.
'I did a lot of crap'
"Sir" Michael, as he may call himself after having been knighted by the queen, was born in London on March 14, 1933. His father was a fish-market worker and his mother a cleaning lady. He grew up in dire poverty, which has affected him throughout his life.
As his main objective was to make a lot of money, he wasn't particularly picky in his choice of roles. "I did a lot of crap," he has openly admitted in several interviews. Talking about "Jaws 4," he told the German weekly magazine Focus that he accepted the insignificant role in it only because it paid well and because he wanted to buy a house for someone in his family.
The career of Caine, born Maurice Micklewhite, began in the mid-1950s with small stage and television roles.
He obtained his first main role with "Zulu" (1964), playing a colonial officer defending a Swedish mission against an attack of local warriors. "Director Cy Endfield was an American. A British director would never have given me, a proletarian, the role of a lieutenant," Caine once told the German weekly Die Zeit.
Oscar nominations and awards
In 1967, Caine received his first Oscar nomination for his performance in "Alfie." The movie's protagonist was a narcissist charmer with a Cockney accent; such a portrayal was unseen in Britain's conservative society at the time.
In his private life, Caine never got rid of his Cockney accent, although he speaks pure Oxford English in most of his films.
Other Oscar nominations followed suit, namely for "Sleuth" in 1973, as well as for "Educating Rita" in 1984, a modern film adaptation based on the novel "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw.
In 1987, Caine finally received his first Academy Award, for best actor in a supporting role as Elliot in Woody Allen's "Hannah and her Sisters."
Speaking about his collaboration with director Woody Allen, who has since been accused of sexual assault by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, Caine told The Guardian in a 2018 interview: "I can't come to terms with it, because I loved Woody and had a wonderful time with him. I even introduced him to Mia [Farrow]. I don't regret working with him, which I did in complete innocence; but I wouldn't work with him again."
A second Oscar followed in 2000 for Caine's portrayal of Dr. Wilbur Larch in a film adaptation of John Irving's "The Cider House Rules."
In 2003, Caine, then almost 70, was once again nominated for an Oscar for his performance in "The Quiet American," based on a novel of the same title by Graham Greene.
Over the years
In addition to his work, Caine is interested in amateur theater, real estate and collecting artworks. And he has some strong political views: "I voted for Brexit ... I'd rather be a poor master than a rich servant."
His private life hasn't always been happy. Only recently, Caine admitted in an interview with Radio Times that at the beginning of his career, he used to drink an entire bottle of vodka every day: "I wasn't unhappy, but I had a lot of stress."
His wife Shakira, with whom he has been married since 1973, gave him comfort. "Without her, I would have died a long time ago. I probably would have boozed myself to death." Today, he prefers to have a glass of wine only with a meal.
In 2017, Caine starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin in the comedy "Going in Style," which is all about senior citizens. "What's come into fashion, fortunately for me, is films for older people," he told The Guardian.
Still on the film set at 90
His recently shot film, "The Great Escaper," is scheduled for release in 2023. In it, he plays a war veteran who disappears from his retirement home to make his way to the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of D-Day in France.
This article was originally written in German.