Caine, Sir Michael

▪ British actor

original name  Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr. 

born March 14, 1933, London, England

      internationally successful British motion-picture actor renowned for his versatility in numerous leading and character roles.

      The former Maurice Micklewhite took his screen name from the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny. Caine entered motion pictures in 1956 and played a variety of roles in such British productions as A Hill in Korea (1956), How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), and Zulu (1964). Success came with The Ipcress File (1965)—the first of four films in which Caine portrayed British spy Harry Palmer—but his real breakthrough was in the title role of Alfie (1966), for which he received an Oscar nomination as best actor. His other successful films of the 1960s include Funeral in Berlin (1966), Gambit (1966), The Wrong Box (1966), Hurry Sundown (1967), and The Italian Job (1969).

      In these early films, Caine established himself as a versatile actor whose everyman qualities were well suited to a variety of roles. His cool urbanity is perhaps the only constant among performances that include cynical secret agents, gregarious playboys, rugged adventurers, refined gentlemen, humble schoolteachers, and psychotic killers. His star quality is not sacrificed for such versatility, and he retains his affable Cockney persona in most roles. He is especially deft at light comedy and usually manages to reveal subtly humorous elements within a given screenplay.

      By the 1970s Caine had achieved international stardom. He appeared in the cult classic Get Carter (1971) and received another best actor Oscar nomination for Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Mankiewicz, Joseph L.)'s Sleuth (1972). He followed these successes with such popular films as John Huston (Huston, John)'s The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and John Sturges's The Eagle Has Landed (1976). He continued his prodigious output during the 1980s, appearing in some two dozen films during the decade. Though many of these films were dismal failures, Caine's reputation did not suffer, because he had garnered respect for being such a tireless workhorse. “I didn't go in search of some of my more questionable films,” he once said, “I was always on the lookout for the great roles. When they weren't offered to me, I'd look for the good ones and when those passed me by, I'd take the ones that would pay the rent.” His better films of the 1980s include Brian De Palma (De Palma, Brian)'s Dressed to Kill (1980), Deathtrap (1982), Educating Rita (1983; best actor Oscar nomination), Mona Lisa (1986), Woody Allen (Allen, Woody)'s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986; Academy Award for best supporting actor), Without a Clue (1988), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988). By the end of the 20th century, Caine had appeared in more than 100 films. He won his second best-supporting-actor Oscar for The Cider House Rules (1999) and was nominated as best actor for his performance as a conflicted British journalist in Vietnam in The Quiet American (2002).

      Caine has authored two best-selling books: Acting in Film (1987) is considered an invaluable resource for actors, and his autobiography, What's It All About? (1993), is noted for its raconteurish charm. Also in 1993, Caine was made Commander of the British Empire, and he was knighted in 2000.

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