Starting from a humble family and background, we wrote the biography of Michael Caine, who has become one of the most famous stars of the entertainment and film industry with an acting career of more than 60 years, crowning this with countless awards.
His real name is Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, he was born on March 14, 1933, in Rotherhithe, London. He was born the son of his mother, the cook and cleaner Ellen Frances Burchell Marie, and his father, of Irish and Romani descent, Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market keeper. Caine has a younger brother named Stanley, who is an actor, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. Growing up in London's Southwark area, Caine was evacuated to North Runcton during World War II, where he made his acting debut. At the same time, he had a pet horse named Lottie.
After the war, Caine's father was demobilized and he and his family were housed somewhere in the Elephant and Castle area of London. At the age of 10, Caine played the father of the ugly sisters in a school play called "Cinderella", which inspired him to pursue his acting career. In 1944, he won a scholarship to Hackney Downs School. After spending a year, he attended Wilson's School in Camberwell and dropped out at the age of 16. He then worked briefly as a file clerk and courier for a film company and filmmaker Jay Lewis. Called up for national service in 1952, Caine served in active service from 1952 to 1954.
Caine made his film debut in an unnamed role in the drama film "Morning Departure" (1950). Later, adopting the stage name "Michael White", he appeared in Westminster Repertory Company's production of "Wuthering Heights" in July 1953 as the drunkard Hindley.
Moving to London in 1954, Caine was informed by his manager that he needed a new name, and he decided to change his name to "Michael Caine". In 1958, Caine appeared in the cameo role of a warrant officer in the BBC Television adaptation of the story "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial". Caine moved in with Terence Stamp, an actor, in London. Later, Caine began hanging out with Stamp and actor Peter O'Toole on the London party scene.
Caine made his film debut with Stephen Boyd and Ronald Lewis as one of the soldiers in George Baker's platoon in the war movie "A Hill in Korea" based on the 1956 novel of the same name. Caine has also appeared regularly in small roles on television. He got his first creditable role in the BBC in 1956 as Boudousse in Jean Anouilh's play "The Lark". His other roles include the cop TV series "Dixon of Dock Green", the anthology TV series "Escape" (1957), and the crime/thriller drama TV series "Mister Charlesworth" (1958).
He then starred in the two-person TV series "The Compartment", written by Johnny Speight, with Frank Finlay. He then followed up with roles in different productions, including the drama "Somewhere for the Night", the drama series "Sunday-Night Play" written by Bill Naughton, and the play "The Playmates".
In one of his plays, he was visited backstage by actor Stanley Baker and arranged for Caine to meet with Cy Endfield, the director of the war movie "Zulu," which he produced and starred in. During this meeting, Endfield offered Caine the role of an officer. The film, which received acclaim for its performances, also resulted in a financial gain at the box office. Also, the film rated it as the 93rd best British film ever.
Among Caine's best-known roles came Harry Palmer, who turns from rough-edged little con man into a spy in the spy movie "The Ipcress File" (1965). Likewise, he continued as Alfie Elkins in the comedy-drama film "Alfie" (1966). His performance earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Subsequently, Caine appeared in four films in which he played Harry Palmer. These; the spy movie "Funeral in Berlin"(1966), based on the novel of the same name, came with its sequels "The Billion Dollar Brain"(1967), "Bullet to Beijing"(1995) and "Midnight in Saint Petersburg"(1996). He made his film debut in Hollywood in 1966 to star opposite Shirley MacLaine in the comedy heist movie "Gambit." Later, Caine appeared in the mystery film "The Magus" (1968), directed by Guy Green. The film failed at the box office, despite being nominated for Best Cinematography at the BAFTA Awards.
The following year, Caine co-starred in the 1969 comedy film "The Italian Job," directed by Peter Collinson, as Charlie Croker, the leader of the criminal gang. Later in the year, he appeared as fighter pilot squadron leader Canfield in the war movie "Battle of Britain" directed by Guy Hamilton. He later got the lead role in "Get Carter" (1971), a British gangster crime thriller. He then co-starred with Laurence Olivier in the mystery thriller "Sleuth" (1972), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
In 1974, he appeared in the spy thriller "The Black Windmill" directed by Don Siegel. In 1975, he appeared with Sean Connery in the adventure film "The Man Who Will Be King" (1975), directed by John Huston. His last two films were both box office and critical success. In 1976, he starred as Oberst (Colonel) Kurt Steiner, the commander of a Luftwaffe paratrooper unit disguised as Polish paratroopers, in the war movie "The Eagle Has Landed", a screen adaptation of the novel.
He was also part of a large cast in the war movie "A Bridge Too Far" (1977). In 1978, Caine appeared in the comedy crime thriller "The Silver Bears," based on Paul Erdman's novel of the same name. In the same year, he was among the co-stars in the anthology comedy "California Suite" directed by Herbert Ross.
In the late 1970s, he appeared in the natural horror movie "The Swarm"(1978), the action adventure movie "Ashanti"(1979), and the action disaster movie "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"(1979). Three films did not succeed in both the box office and the critical.
In 1983, he co-starred with Julie Walters in the comedy-drama film "Educating Rita" (1983), directed by Lewis Gilbert. He won a BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for his performance. In 1986, he portrayed the neurotic Elliot in the Woody Allen-directed ensemble comedy "Hannah and Her Sisters," with Barbara Hershey, Dianne Wiest, and Mia Farrow. He won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. He also co-starred with Steve Martin in the crime comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (1988), directed by Frank Oz, for which he earned a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Caine's other successful films include: the psychological thriller "Dressed to Kill"(1980), the war movie "Escape to Victory"(1981), the black comedy movie "Deathtrap"(1982), and the crime drama movie "Mona Lisa"(1986). In 1988, he co-starred with Jane Seymour in the TV mini-series "Jack the Ripper" based on the notorious Jack the Ripper murder.
In 1990, he played the mysterious bartender Mike in the fantasy comedy movie "Mr. Destiny". That same year, "Bullseye!" he co-starred with Roger Moore in the action comedy film. In the following years, he achieved a high score playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the musical film "The Muppet Christmas Carol"(1992).
He also played a villain in Steven Seagal's adventure movie "On Deadly Ground" (1994). In 1998, he made her comeback for his performance in the musical "Little Voice" (1998), written and directed by Mark Herman, for which he won a Golden Globe Award. His success was followed by the drama film "The Cider House Rules" (1999), based on the novel of the same name, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2000, Caine appeared with Sandra Bullock in the action comedy film "Miss Congeniality" (2000), directed by Donald Petrie. Despite mixed reviews, the film was commercially successful at the box office. That same year, Caine appeared as Dr. Royer-Collard in the controversial but acclaimed period film "Quills" (2000), directed by Philip Kaufman. Caine's next film was the drama film "The Quiet American" (2002), directed by Phillip Noyce. For his performance, he won a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award and an Academy Award nomination to critical acclaim.
He later made his name in romantic comedy films by appearing in the spy comedy "Goldmember" (2002), the family comedy "Secondhand Lions" (2003), the road movie "Around the Bend" (2004) and the romantic comedy "Bewitched".
In 2005, he appeared as Bruce Wayne's henchman Alfred Pennyworth in the superhero movie "Batman Begins", the first film in the Batman film franchise. The film, which received acclaim after its release, also achieved success at the box office. In 2006, he starred in the acclaimed dystopian drama thriller "Children of Men," directed by Alfonso Cuaron, in which he co-starred with Clive Owen and Julianne Moore. In the same year, he appeared in the mystery thriller "The Prestige" directed by Christopher Nolan, starring alongside Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. It was both positive at the box office and critically.
He then made his debut as Andrew Wyke in the 2007 version of the thriller "Sleuth," co-starring with Jude Law. Later that year, he got a lead role in "Perfect," a heist crime movie directed by Michael Radford. In the following years, he reprized the role of Alfred in Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed Batman sequels "The Dark Knight" (2008) and "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). Both sequels were critically acclaimed, as well as a huge box office success. It has also garnered many awards and nominations.
Meanwhile, he got a lead role in the action thriller "Harry Brown" directed by Daniel Barber. The following year, he starred as his mentor, Professor Stephen Miles, in the sci-fi thriller "Inception" directed by Christopher Nolan. Upon its release, the film was a financial and critical success. It also garnered 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Later, he voiced Finn McMissile in Pixar's sequel animated comedy "Cars 2"(2011). Despite mixed reviews, the film became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2011 and the highest-grossing film in the series. He also voiced a supporting role in the animated comedy movie "Gnomeo & Juliet" directed by Kelly Asbury.
In 2012, he starred in the sequel, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," as the grandfather of Josh Hutcherson's character, with Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens. Despite mixed reactions, the film was successful at the box office. The following year, Caine appeared as Arthur Tressler in the heist thriller "Now You See Me" alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Morgan Freeman. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film was a financial success at the box office. Later, he appeared in the same role in his sequel movie "Now You See Me 2" (2016). Both films in the series were successful at the box office.
The following year, he starred as Professor Brand in the 2014 science fiction film "Interstellar" directed by Nolan, alongside Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain. The film became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2014. In 2015, Caine co-starred with Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Samuel L. Jackson in the action spy comedy "Kingsman: The Secret Service" directed by Matthew Vaughn. The film, which received generally positive reviews, also made a huge financial gain at the box office. That same year, he appeared in the comedy-drama film "Youth" directed by Paolo Sorrentino, starring retired composer Fred Ballinger, with Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano and Jane Fonda. He earned a nomination for the London Film Critics Circle British Actor of the Year Award for his performance.
In May 2019, Caine co-starred with John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh as British Intelligence officer Sir Michael Crosby in the sci-fi action movie "Tenet" (2020) directed by Christopher Nolan. The movie was released in September 2020 after being delayed many times. Despite all the positive reviews, it was a disappointment at the box office. Additionally, Caine starred in the children's fantasy drama movie "Come Away" with Angelina Jolie, David Oyelowo, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Critics praised the film's performances and flamboyant production design.
In 2021, he played the role of Fagin in the 2021 crime drama film "Twist", an adaptation of Charles Dickens' modern-day novel. In the same year, Craine, who appeared in the 2021 best-selling comedy-drama "Best Sellers," said he had trouble walking and would not appear in another movie, citing his new interest in writing novels during the COVID-19 restrictions. However, he was reportedly not retired by representations. In 2022, he appeared as Lord Boresh in the historical drama film "Medieval" directed by Petr Jákl.
Private life
Caine was married to actress Patricia Haines from 1954 to 1958. The couple has a daughter named Dominique. Later, Caine has been married to actress and model Shakira Baksh since January 8, 1973. The couple has a daughter named Natasha Haleema.
Caine has published three volumes of memoirs called "What's Everything?", "The Elephant to Hollywood", and "Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life". A fan of chill-out music, Caine released a CD called "Cained" in 2007 through the UMTV record label. Also, a cricket fan, Caine often mentions this.