Sir Michael Caine's Biography

Sir Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on 14th March 1933 in the Old Kent Road, London.

His father was a porter at Billingsgate and his mother was a charlady.

Michael Caine attended Wilson's Grammar School in Peckham and served in the Army from 1951 to 1953 in Berlin and Korea.

Caine did not have drama school training, although he had acted in a youth drama group. He had a long stint in 'rep', particularly at Lowestoft.

Michael Caine took his name from The Caine Mutiny and was to enjoy a prolific career as an actor.

Michael Caine's debut in films was in the 1956 movie, A Hill in Korea, but he first shot to fame in the sixties, initially in Zulu and then portraying characters like the Len Deighton hero, Harry Palmer, and the streetwise cockney in Alfie (a role later reprised by Jude Law).

Interestingly, in 2007, Caine starred alongside Jude Law in another remake of one of his films, Sleuth, in which he originally appeared alongside Sir Laurence Olivier back in 1972.

Some of Sir Michael Caine's most notable performances were in California Suite (1978), Educating Rita (1983) and Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) for which Michael Caine won the best supporting actor Oscar.

He won a second supporting actor Oscar for his role as Wilbur Larch in The Cider House Rules (1999).

A Sunday Telegraph Magazine list called '13 inauspicious debuts' included:

"Michael Caine, walking on stage with his fly undone and forgetting his only line in a Horsham Repertory Company production."

There are a couple of catchphrases associated with Michael Caine: 'Not many people know that'; and 'My name is Michael Caine'; but he is also responsible for a great quote: 'Be like a duck, my mother used to tell me. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath.'

Michael Caine was knighted in 2000.

Sir Michael Caine came 44th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Movie Stars.

In September 2006, Sir Michael Caine, speaking at the premiere of Children of Men at the Venice Film Festival, said that he felt depressed when casting his eye over the Top Ten box-office hits in the US: "I was struck by how stunningly banal and formulaic it all was."

Sir Michael Caine said that he never got tired of watching the likes of Casablanca, On the Waterfront and The Third Man, but of today's films: "I can't think of one I could see again."

Still going strong at 73, when Michael Caine played Cutter in The Prestige, he gave an interesting interview to The Sun. Asked whether he had done any movies for the money, Sir Michael Caine replied "About the first 30!"

Asked whether one sacrifices individuality for fame, Caine responded:

"No, you don't sacrifice your individuality but you do sacrifice your freedom ..."

In 2010 Sir Michael Caine was cast in Inception directed by Christopher Nolan.

In January 2011, Sir Michael Caine received France's highest cultural honour when he was made a Commander of the Arts and Letters.

In 2016, Sir Michael Caine, at the age of 82, starred in Youth.

In 2017, whilst promoting his new film Going in Style, Sir Michael Caine explained why he voted for Brexit, saying he would rather be "a poor master than a rich servant".