Line #76 Creator/MichaelCaine


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_ljib6ofEee1qbz490o1_400_2439.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:He keeps on going and he [[TheUnblinking doesn't blink]]. Even when wearing enormous glasses.]]
3
4	->''"My career is going better now than when I was younger. It used to be that I'd get the girl but not the part. Now I get the part but not the girl!"''
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6	[[Film/TheDarkKnight Some men aren't looking for anything logical like money]]. [[MemeticMutation They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with]]. [[JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere Some men just wanna describe Michael Caine here.]]
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8	Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr.[[note]]He chose to be knighted under his birth name, in honour of his father. However, he officially changed his name, by deed poll, to Michael Caine in 2016, citing constant frustration over officials who'd recognize him but get confused when presented with ID stating his birth name.[[/note]] [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]] (born 14 March 1933 in Rotherhithe, London), better known to the world as [[StageNames Michael Caine]], is an English actor with over a hundred films ranging from ''Film/{{Zulu}}'', the ''Film/HarryPalmer'' films and ''Film/{{Get Carter\|1971}}'' to the pictures of Creator/ChristopherNolan.
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10	Willing to do parts for the [[OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt money, or for art]]. He's an elder statesman of acting, being nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s, sharing the honor only with Creator/JackNicholson. He won twice for Best Supporting Actor for ''Film/HannahAndHerSisters'' (1986) and ''Literature/TheCiderHouseRules'' (1999), and has been nominated for leading roles several times over. Often the source of imitation by many comedians because of his distinct Cockney accent which marked him as noticeably different from other British leading men of the time who tended to use far more polished accents.
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12	Caine has an interest in moving into fictional book authorship, having completed his first novel, ''If You Don't Want To Die'' during the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19]] lockdown. He officially announced his retirement from acting in October 2023 upon the release of ''Film/TheGreatEscaper''.
13	----
14	!!His filmography includes:
15	[[folder:Film roles]]
16	* ''Film/MorningDeparture'' (1950) (uncredited)
17	* ''Film/TheDayTheEarthCaughtFire'' (1961) (uncredited)
18	* ''Film/TheWrongArmOfTheLaw'' (1963) (uncredited)
19	* ''Film/{{Zulu}}'' (1964)
20	* ''Film/HarryPalmer'' series
21	** ''Film/TheIpcressFile'' (1965)
22	** ''Film/FuneralInBerlin'' (1966)
23	** ''Film/BillionDollarBrain'' (1967)
24	* ''Film/{{Alfie}}'' (1966)
25	* ''Film/TheWrongBox'' (1966)
26	* ''Film/HurrySundown'' (1967)
27	* ''Film/PlayDirty'' (1969)
28	* ''Film/BattleOfBritain'' (1969)
29	* ''Film/{{The Italian Job\|1969}}'' (1969)
30	* ''Film/{{Get Carter\|1971}}'' (1971)
31	* ''Film/TheLastValley'' (1971)
32	* ''Theatre/{{Sleuth}}'' (1972)
33	* ''Film/TheManWhoWouldBeKing'' (1975)
34	* ''Film/TheEagleHasLanded'' (1976)
35	* ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' (1977)
36	* ''Film/CaliforniaSuite'' (1978)
37	* ''Film/TheSwarm1978'' (1978)
38	* ''Film/BeyondThePoseidonAdventure'' (1979)
39	* ''Film/DressedToKill'' (1980)
40	* ''Film/TheIsland1980''
41	* ''Film/EscapeToVictory'' (1981)
42	* ''Film/TheHand'' (1981)
43	* ''Film/{{Deathtrap}}'' (1982)
44	* ''Theatre/EducatingRita'' (1983)
45	* ''Film/BlameItOnRio'' (1984)
46	* ''Film/{{Water\|1985}}'' (1985)
47	* ''Film/HannahAndHerSisters'' (1986)
48	* ''Film/SweetLiberty'' (1986)
49	* ''Film/MonaLisa'' (1986)
50	* ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' (1987)
51	* ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels'' (1988)
52	* ''Film/WithoutAClue'' (1988)
53	* ''Film/MrDestiny'' (1990)
54	* ''Film/AShockToTheSystem'' (1990)
55	* ''Film/{{Bullseye\|1990}}'' (1990)
56	* ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'' (1992)
57	* ''Film/NoisesOff'' (1992)
58	* ''Film/OnDeadlyGround'' (1994)
59	* ''Film/BloodAndWine'' (1996)
60	* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' (1997)
61	* ''Film/LittleVoice'' (1998)
62	* ''Literature/TheCiderHouseRules'' (1999)
63	* ''Film/{{Get Carter\|2000}}'' (2000) (remake of the 1971 film)
64	* ''Film/MissCongeniality'' (2000)
65	* ''Film/{{Quills}}'' (2000)
66	* ''Film/LastOrders'' (2001)
67	* ''Film/AustinPowersInGoldmember'' (2002)
68	* ''Literature/TheQuietAmerican'' (2002)
69	* ''Film/SecondhandLions'' (2003)
70	* ''Film/AroundTheBend'' (2004)
71	* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''
72	** ''Film/BatmanBegins'' (2005) -- First collaboration with Christopher Nolan
73	** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' (2008)-- Third collaboration with Christopher Nolan
74	** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' (2012) -- Fifth collaboration with Christopher Nolan
75	* ''Film/TheWeatherMan'' (2005)
76	* ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'' (2006)
77	* ''Film/ThePrestige'' (2006) -- Second collaboration with Christopher Nolan
78	* ''Film/{{Sleuth\|2007}}'' (2007) (remake of the 1972 film)
79	* ''Film/HarryBrown'' (2009)
80	* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' (2010) -- Fourth collaboration with Christopher Nolan
81	* ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' (2011)
82	* ''Film/Journey2TheMysteriousIsland'' (2012)
83	* ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'' (2013)
84	* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' (2014) -- Sixth collaboration with Christopher Nolan
85	* ''Film/StonehearstAsylum'' (2014)
86	* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' (2015)
87	* ''Film/TheLastWitchHunter'' (2015)
88	* ''Film/NowYouSeeMe2'' (2016)
89	* ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017) [[note]][[UncreditedRole uncredited]] voice cameo[[/note]] -- Seventh collaboration with Christopher Nolan
90	* ''Film/{{Going in Style\|2017}}'' (2017)
91	* ''Film/KingOfThieves'' (2018)
92	* ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' (2020) -- Eighth collaboration with Christopher Nolan
93	* ''Film/TheGreatEscaper'' (2023)
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	!!Tropes related to this actor:
97	* ActorAllusion: Caine was called up for National Service and served with the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Royal Fusiliers]] in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. Appropriately enough, his first film role was playing a British soldier in ''A Hill In Korea''.
98	* AwesomeDearBoy: Why he accepted roles in ''Film/Journey2TheMysteriousIsland'' and ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', which he says was a joy to make.
99	* BeamMeUpScotty: He's associated with the phrase "Not many people know that." Which, oddly, actually came from Creator/PeterSellers doing a Caine impersonation. Caine himself was given the line to say in ''Theatre/EducatingRita'' as an ActorAllusion.
100	* CoolOldGuy: The reason he did ''Film/Journey2TheMysteriousIsland''? He wanted to be in a film where his grandkids can brag about having a grandpa who rode a giant bee.
101	* DeadpanSnarker: In all his films.
102	* FakeAmerican: In ''Film/HurrySundown'',[[note]] In preparation for this film, he was advised by Creator/VivienLeigh to repeat the phrase "four-door Ford" in an American accent. [[/note]] ''Film/TheCiderHouseRules'', and ''Film/SecondhandLions''.
103	* LoveAtFirstSight: He saw Shakira Baksh in an advert for coffee, thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and, believing her to be in Brazil, expressed an intention to go there and find her. He was later put in touch with her by a friend; they married in 1973 and have been together ever since.
104	* MoneyDearBoy:
105	** The reason he accepted parts in many terrible films like ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' and ''Film/OnDeadlyGround''.
106	--->''"First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent."''
107	** Caine says that ''Film/TheSwarm1978'' was a combination of this and AwesomeDearBoy. He was flattered to be asked to appear in an AllStarCast, and loved working with Hollywood legends like Creator/HenryFonda and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland even if the film wasn't good. But Caine also confirms in his autobiography that his main motivation was the producers offering him the highest salary of his career, up to that time.
108	** He later admitted to regretting not leaving the set of ''Jaws: The Revenge'' to accept his UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for ''Film/HannahAndHerSisters''. By his own account, Caine didn't think he had a chance of winning since the studio did little to promote ''Hannah'' and figured he'd earned [[VacationDearBoy a paid vacation in the Bahamas]]. He later "made damn sure I was there" for his next nomination for ''The Cider House Rules'', which paid off when he won.
109	** Of ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'', he once said: "I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific."
110	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Whether he's playing a Briton, American, or even a German, Caine rarely drops his trademark Cockney accent. Some films like ''Film/TheSwarm1978'' even include explanations why this ostensibly American character sounds like, well, Michael Caine. ''Film/{{Zulu}}'' is an exception, where he does a fair upper-class accent.
111	* OldShame:
112	** Pretty much the only film Caine actually ''regrets'' making is the 1979 drama ''Ashanti'', a heavily sensationalized depiction of the modern slave trade in Africa costarring Creator/WilliamHolden and supermodel Beverly Johnson. Caine says that he "loathed every second of it" and that he "felt rotten the whole way through" production, finding the movie racist and grossly exploitative. When an interviewer commented that few people had seen ''Ashanti'' (which was a massive BoxOfficeBomb), Caine responded "let's hope it stays that way."
113	** In another interview, Caine lists ''Ashanti'', the obscure spy film ''The Magus'' (based on a convoluted novel which he called "impossible to make" into a movie) and, unsurprisingly, ''Film/TheSwarm1978'' as his worst movies.
114	* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his nineties, but looks barely any older today than he did when filming ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'' (late fifties).
115	* ProductionPosse: Tellingly, ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'' is the first Nolan film not to feature him ''at all'' since ''Film/{{Insomnia}}''.
116	* RagsToRiches: He came from a working class background.
117	* ReferencedBy: ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'' is practically a love letter to him and his turn as Alfred in ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. The series' young Alfred (Creator/JackBannon) has a Cockney accent and working class background, is nicknamed "Film/{{Alfie}}", channels Film/HarryPalmer and [[Film/GetCarter1971 Jack Carter]], and a fictional London avenue is called "Micklewhite".
118	* StageNames: Michael Caine was born Maurice Micklewhite. It got laughs in the audience when his first credit appeared on a film so he took the stage name "[[Series/TheOfficeUS Michael Scott]]". His agent told him over the phone he had to change it again because it was already taken. Looking around the public pay phone in Leicester Square he saw a marquee of a theater playing ''Literature/TheCaineMutiny'', and decided to be called Michael Caine. He would joke later that if he looked the other way his name would now be "Michael 101 Dalmatians"!
119	* StarMakingRole: The title role of ''Film/{{Alfie}}'' made him well known internationally, though ''Film/{{Zulu}}'' really got him noticed.
120	* UncreditedRole: He has an uncredited voice-only [[TheCameo cameo]] in ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}''.
121	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/ChristopherNolan wanted him to appear in ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'', but he couldn't move out of the UK for various reasons including his age, and he had scheduling issues with ''Film/TheGreatEscaper''.

Context Creator / MichaelCaine