Prestige Solo

Sir Michael Caine - English Iconic Actor

Sir Michael Caine is one of England's greatest iconic actors and is famous for his starring roles from Harry Palmer etc. Michael Caine was born Born Maurice Micklewhite in Rotherhithe, London, on the 14th March 1933. Michael Caine was the son of a fish-market porter and his mother was a cook and housewife. Caine grew up in Camberwell, London, and during the WWII he was evacuated to North Runcton in Norfolk. As a fan, my favourite film would have to be "Zulu" which is shown most christmas's on British TV.

In 1944, he passed his eleven plus exam, winning a scholarship to Hackney Downs Grocers School. After a year there he moved to Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell (now Wilson's School in Wallington, South London), which he left at sixteen after gaining a School Certificate in six subjects.

He then worked briefly as a filing clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria Street, London and the film producer Jay Lewis in Wardour Street, London.

In 1952, when he was called up to do his National Service, until 1954, he served in the British Army's Royal Fusiliers, first at the BAOR HQ in Iserlohn, Germany and then on active service during the Korean War. Caine has said he would like to see the return of National Service to help combat youth violence, stating: "I'm just saying, put them in the Army for six months. You're there to learn how to defend your country. You belong to the country. Then when you come out, you have a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence."

Upon his return to England he gravitated toward the theatre and got a job as an assistant stage manager. He adopted the name of Caine on the advice of his agent, taking it from a marquee that advertised The Caine Mutiny (1954).

In the years that followed he worked in more than 100 television dramas, with repertory companies throughout England and eventually in the stage hit, "The Long and the Short and the Tall." Zulu (1964), the 1964 epic retelling of a historic 19th-century battle in South Africa between British soldiers and Zulu warriors, brought Caine to international attention. Instead of being typecast as a low-ranking Cockney soldier, he played a snobbish, aristocratic officer. Although "Zulu" was a major success, it was the role of Harry Palmer in Ipcress File (1965) and the title role in Alfie (1966) that made Caine a star of the first magnitude.

He epitomized the new breed of actor in mid-'60s England, the working-class bloke with glasses and a down-home accent. However, after initially starring in some excellent films, particularly in the 1960s, including Gambit (1966), Funeral in Berlin (1966), Play Dirty (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), Too late the Hero (1970), The last Valley (1971) and especially Get Carter (1971). He gave a magnificent performance opposite Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and turned in a solid one as a German colonel in The Eagle has landed (1976). During the 1980's "Educating Rita" (1983) and "Hannah and her Sisters" (1986) (for which he won his first Oscar) were highlights of the 1980s, while more recently Little Voice (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999) (his second Oscar) and Last Orders (2001) have been widely acclaimed.

Films and Actor Credits

• Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

• Harry Brown (2010)

Playing the part of Harry Brown

• Inception (2010)

Playing the part of Miles

• Is Anybody There? (2009)

Playing the part of Clarence

• Flawless (2008)

Playing the part of Hobbs

• The Dark Knight (2008)

Playing the part of Alfred

• Sleuth (2007)

Playing the part of Andrew Wyke

• Children of Men (2006)

Playing the part of Jasper

• The Prestige (2006)

Playing the part of Cutter

• Batman Begins (2005)

Playing the part of Alfred

• Bewitched (2005)

Playing the part of Nigel Bigelow

• The Weather Man (2005)

Playing the part of Robert Spritz

• Around the Bend (2004)

Playing the part of Henry Lair

• Secondhand Lions (2003)

Playing the part of Garth

• The Actors (2003)

Playing the part of Tom O Malley

• The Statement (2003)

Playing the part of Pierre Brossard

• Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Playing the part of Nigel Powers

• The Quiet American (2002)

Playing the part of Thomas Fowler

• Last Orders (2001)

Playing the part of Jack Dodds

• Quicksand (2001)

Playing the part of Jake Mellows

• Shadow Run (2001)

• Get Carter (2000)

Playing the part of Cliff Brumby

• Miss Congeniality (2000)

Playing the part of Victor Melling

• Quills (2000)

Playing the part of Doctor Royer-Collard

• Shiner (2000)

Playing the part of Billy Shiner Simpson

• Curtain Call (1999)

Playing the part of Max Gale

• The Cider House Rules (1999)

Playing the part of Doctor Wilbur Larch

• The Debtors (1999)

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1998)

• Little Voice (1998)

Playing the part of Ray Say

• Blood & Wine (1997)

Playing the part of Victor Spansky

• Mandela & de Klerk (1997)

• Bullet to Beijing (1995)

• Midnight in St. Petersburg (1995)

• On Deadly Ground (1994)

Playing the part of Michael Jennings

• World War II - When Lions Roared (1994)

• On Deadly Ground (1993)

• Blue Ice (1992)

Playing the part of Harry Anders

• Noises Off (1992)

Playing the part of Lloyd Fellowes

• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Playing the part of Scrooge

• Bullseye! (1990)

Playing the part of Dr Daniel Hicklar/ Sidney Lipton

• Mr. Destiny (1990)

Playing the part of Mike

• A Shock to the System (1990)

Playing the part of Graham Marshall

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Playing the part of Lawrence Jamieson

• John Huston: The Man, The Movies, The Maverick (1988)

Playing the part of Himself

• Without A Clue (1988)

Playing the part of Sherlock Holmes

• Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

Playing the part of Hoagie

• Surrender (1987)

Playing the part of Sean Stein

• The Fourth Protocol (1987)

Playing the part of John Preston

• The Whistle Blower (1987)

Playing the part of Frank Jones

• Half Moon Street (1986)

Playing the part of Lord Sam Bulbeck

• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Playing the part of Elliot

• Mona Lisa (1986)

Playing the part of Mortwell

• Sweet Liberty (1986)

Playing the part of Elliot James

• Water (1986)

Playing the part of Baxter Thwaites

• The Black Windmill (1986)

• The Holcroft Covenant (1985)

Playing the part of Noel Holcroft

• Blame It on Rio (1984)

Playing the part of Matthew Hollis

• The Jigsaw Man (1984)

Playing the part of Sir Philip Kimberley/ Sergeo Kuzminsky

• Beyond the Limit (1983)

Playing the part of Charley Fortnum

• Educating Rita (1983)

Playing the part of Dr Frank Bryant

• Deathtrap (1982)

Playing the part of Sidney Bruhl

• Victory (1981)

Playing the part of Captain John Colby

• The Hand (1981)

Playing the part of Jon Lansdale

• Dressed to Kill (1980)

Playing the part of Dr. Robert Elliott

• The Island (1980)

Playing the part of Blair Maynard

• Ashanti (1979)

Playing the part of Dr David Linderby

• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

Playing the part of Mike Turner

• California Suite (1978)

Playing the part of Sidney Cochran

• Silver Bears (1978)

Playing the part of Doc Fletcher

• The Swarm (1978)

Playing the part of Brad Crane

• A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Playing the part of Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur

• Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)

Playing the part of Adam Worth

• Peeper (1976)

Playing the part of Leslie Tucker

• The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

Playing the part of Lieutenant-Colonel Kurt Steiner

• The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Playing the part of Peachy Carnehan

• The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)

Playing the part of Lewis

• The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)

Playing the part of Keogh

• The Black Windmill (1974)

Playing the part of Major Tarrant

• The Destructors (1974)

Playing the part of Deray

• Pulp (1972)

Playing the part of Mickey King

• Sleuth (1972)

Playing the part of Milo Tindle

• X Y & Zee (1972)

Playing the part of Robert

• Get Carter (1971)

Playing the part of Jack Carter

• Kidnapped (1971)

Playing the part of Alan Breck

• The Last Valley (1971)

Playing the part of Captain

• Too Late the Hero (1970)

Playing the part of Private Tosh Hearne

• Battle of Britain (1969)

Playing the part of Squadron Leader Canfield

• The Italian Job (1969)

Playing the part of Charlie Croker

• Deadfall (1968)

Playing the part of Henry Clarke

• Play Dirty (1968)

Playing the part of Captain Douglas

• The Magus (1968)

Playing the part of Nicholas Urfe

• Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

Playing the part of Harry Palmer

• Gambit (1967)

Playing the part of Harry

• Hurry Sundown (1967)

Playing the part of Henry Warren

• Tonite Let s All Make Love in London (1967)

Playing the part of Himself

• Woman Times Seven (1967)

Playing the part of Handsome Stranger

• Funeral in Berlin (1966)

Playing the part of Harry Palmer

• Solo For Sparrow (1966)

Playing the part of Mooney

• The Wrong Box (1966)

Playing the part of Michael Finsbury

• Alfie (1965)

Playing the part of Alfie

• The Ipcress File (1965)

Playing the part of Harry Palmer

• Zulu (1964)

Playing the part of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead

• The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962)

• The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

• Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)

• How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1958)

Playing the part of Gilrony

• The Key (1958)

• The Two-Headed Spy (1958)

Playing the part of Gestapo Agent

• A Hell in Korea (1956)

Playing the part of Private Lockyer

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Producer Credits

• Blue Ice (1992)

Producer

• The Fourth Protocol (1987)

Executive Producer

There is, in a filmography of over 80 titles (plus TV work) and his own performances seem from 5 out of 10 up to 10 out of 10. When the material was right, as in The Man Who Would Be King (US, d. John Huston, 1975), few can touch him for conviction and subtlety. In the latter film, his second wife, Shakira Baksh, played her last screen role;

Caine now runs his own production company, M & M Productions, with business partner Martin Bregman. He was made a CBE in 1992, knighted and awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2000.

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The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.

About the Author

My family tree has been traced back to the early Kings of England from the 7th Century AD. I am also a direct descendent of Sir Christopher Wren which has given me an interest in English History and Icons which is great fun to research.

I have recently decided to write articles on my favourite subjects: English Sports, English History, English Icons, English Discoveries and English Inventions.

At present I have written over 100 articles which I call "An Englishman's Favourite Bits Of England" in various Volumes.

Please visit my Blogs page http://Bloggs.Resourcez.Com where I have listed all my articles to date.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.