Michael Caine

British cultural icon and two-time Oscar winner, Sir Michael Caine retired in 2023 after eight decades on screen.

Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on 14 March 1933, the English actor Sir Michael Caine is now retired and performed in over 130 films across eight decades.^[1] By 2017, the total worldwide box office gross of Caine's films exceeded $7.8 billion.^[2]

Quick Facts

Birth name: Maurice Joseph Micklewhite
Born: 14 March 1933
Birthplace: London, England
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1950–2023
Children: 2
Relatives: Stanley Caine (brother)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Caine was born at St Olave's Hospital in the Rotherhithe district of London to a cook and a fish market porter.^[3] He grew up in Southwark and was evacuated to Norfolk during the Second World War, where he made his acting debut at the village school.^[4] His film debut was an uncredited walk-on role in Morning Departure (1950).^[5] He adopted the stage name Michael Caine after seeing The Caine Mutiny advertised at a cinema.^[6]

Caine was conscripted for national service in the British Army in 1951, and subsequently served in the Korean War.^[7] A second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor was awarded to Caine for his role in The Cider House Rules (1999).^[8]

What the cited sources add

A CNN article notes that Caine's catchphrases include "Not a lot of people know that" and "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"^[9] A Guardian review from 2011 describes Caine's performance in Hannah and Her Sisters as gaining "force and touching sincerity with the years"^[10] A Metro article from 2009 reports that Caine said "You don't retire in this business; the business retires you"^[11] A Guardian article from 2009 reports that Caine called for the return of national service to give youths "a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence".^[12]

According to the same CNN source, Caine and Jack Nicholson are the only two actors who have received an Academy Award nomination in every decade starting from the 1960s.^[9] A Globe and Mail article reports that Caine is one of just two performers—the other being Jack Nicholson—who have been nominated for an Academy Award across five consecutive decades.^[13]

References

Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McIntosh, "Michael Caine confirms retirement from acting after The Great Escaper", BBC News, 13 October 2023; Reed, "Michael Caine's 'Best Sellers' Has Something to Say About the Death of Literacy, If You Can Manage to Stay Awake", The Observer, 16 September 2021; O'Connor, "Michael Caine 'not retiring' despite saying Best Sellers was his 'last part'", The Independent, 16 October 2021; Stephenson, "Sir Michael Caine – story of a British film icon", The Yorkshire Post, 18 October 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Michael Caine – Box Office Data Movie Star", The-numbers.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Caine 1992; "Michael Caine Biography", Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 9 July 2023.; Caine 2010, p. 16; "Michael Caine Family Tree"; Caine 2010, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Caine 2018; "Michaorfolk childhood", Runctonweb.co.uk (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Horsham Carfax Electric Theatre – Hidden Horsham", Hidden Horsham; 'Storms Outside - and Within: Theatre Royal Horsham', West Sussex County Times, 17 July 1953, p. 4.; "Michael Caine: Tales of a jobbing cockney", The Independent, 24 January 2016; Interview with Mike Ostler by Roxanne Blakelock (15 October 2004) for the British Library Theatre Archive Project at www.bl.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Michael Caine: Tales of a jobbing cockney", The Independent, 24 January 2016; "Michael Caine: Tales of a jobbing cockney", The Independent, 24 January 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wills, "Michael Caine – Biography", Talk Talk, p. 27; Stilwell, "Listen to Actor Michael Caine Talk About Fighting in Korea", Military.com, 13 April 2022; "Sir Michael Caine", Fusilier Museum London, n.d. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Michael Caine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sir Michael Caine collects top French honour". BBC News. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Mackay, "Screening Room Special: Michael Caine", CNN, 25 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. edition.cnn.com
Bradshaw, "Hannah and Her Sisters – review", The Guardian, 22 December 2011. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
"Caine rules out retirement rumours", Metro, 13 September 2009. facts only, no text reused. metro.co.uk
Child, "Michael Caine: bring back national service", The Guardian, 11 November 2009. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Posner, "For Michael Caine, vengeance means big box office", The Globe and Mail, 22 May 2010. facts only, no text reused. theglobeandmail.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Michael Caine (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.