50 facts about Michael Caine: as soldier in Korea he got into situation where he knew he faced death and memory of that experience has lasted with him forever

Learn 50 interesting things about actor Michael Caine.

1. On the 14th March, 1933, Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in South London.

2. Michael's father worked as a Billingsgate Fish Market porter.

3. His mother was a charwoman.

4. In 1935, his younger brother Stanley was born.

5. Michael grew up in Southwark, South London, but was evacuated to North Runcton in Norfolk during the Second World War.

6. In 1944, Michael won a scholarship to Hackney Downs Grocers' School and after a year there he moved to Wilson's Grammar School.

7. Worked briefly as a filing clerk for Peak Films - his closest step to Hollywood yet.

8. From 1951 Michael completed his National Service and served in the Queens Royal Regiment and the Royal Fusiliers, spending time in Germany and on active duty during the Korean War.

9. As a soldier in Korea, Michael got into a situation where he knew he faced death and the memory of that experience has lasted with him forever and formed his character for the rest of his life.

10. After his time in the Army, Michael went to work at Westminster Repertory in Horsham, Sussex, followed by time at Lowestoft Repertory, where he met his soon-to-be wife Patricia Haines.

11. Once they were married, Michael and Patricia decided to go to London to pursue their acting careers. Unfortunately this proved hard and Michael had to take a lot of soul destroying jobs.

12. Financial circumstances were dire and Patricia had became pregnant, later to give birth to Michael's first daughter, Dominique. Although this was a happy event for the Caine family, Michael found it hard to cope with lack of job opportunities and finance, and after two and a half years of marriage, Patricia took Dominique back to her parents' home. This signalled the end of the marriage, which lasted from 1955 -1962.

13. Suffering with a huge amount of guilt, out of work and penniless, Michael returned home to his family. His father was bedridden with rheumatism and unable to work, so Michael was forced to take a job in a steel yard.

14. His mother advised him to get away and sort himself out, so upon this advice, Michael chose to go to Paris.

15. During his tenure in the French capital, he survived living in a tiny room in a fleapit hotel and worked in a snack bar. Eventually Michael felt ready to return home.

16. On arriving home he found a telegram from his agent, stating that there was a job for him - a part in a film titled "A Hill in Korea." Unfortunately the film wasn't a success and Michael decided to find a new agent.

17. Michael was then sent to the Theatre Workshop in the East End of London where he played a part in the show of Charles Dickens, titled "The Chimes".

18. After the Theatre Workshop, Michael visited a casting agency, where he was chosen to play the part of a policeman in a small film. This was the first of many small jobs like these.

19. Four years of minor roles was getting to Michael and he was very close to giving up the business when his agent found him a job on TV in a play called "The Lark."

20. Michael was known as Michael Scott however his agent informed him that there was already a Michael Scott performing as an actor in London, so he had to come up with a new name.

21. Speaking from a telephone box in Leicester Square, Michael looked around and saw that "The Caine Mutiny" was being shown at the Odeon. He decided to change his name to Michael Caine.

22. Michael has later joked that had a tree been blocking his view, he might have been known as Michael Mutiny!

23. The next few years carried on the same as before, with Michael living hand to mouth, being helped out by friends, with the occasional film or TV bit part.

24. Michael met the director John McGrath, who became a good friend. Michael also met the playwright Harold Pinter, who wrote the play "The Room', in which Michael appeared in.

25. As Michael got to know John McGrath even better, this led to him starring in McGrath's TV play called "The Compartment".

26. After seeing "The Compartment", Dennis Selinger, one of the biggest agents in England, had taken on Michael as a client.

27. It was 1963. Michael had replaced London for the Drakensberg Mountains in northern South Africa for the filming of "Zulu."

28. After the director Lewis Gilbert saw a rough cut of "The Ipcress File", Michael was offered the title role of "Alfie." The reviews of "Alfie" were great and it established Michael as a genuine star.

29. Michael's next film, and possibly most famous, "The Italian Job", started shooting in London, directed by a young newcomer called Peter Collinson. This was followed by an all-star cast blockbuster movie, "The Battle of Britain".

30. The next plan for Michael was for him to become a Producer and he went into partnership with a friend called Michael Klinger, who was a Producer by profession. Michael had the rights to a book called "Jack's Return Home", which together they filmed under the title of "Get Carter."

31. The next film Michael made was the only one for which he was never paid. It was called "Kidnapped" and was based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

32. One evening Michael was at a party when he felt someone reach into his pocket, remove his cigarettes and throw them in the fire. This person turned out to be Tony Curtis. He said "I've been watching you, that's the third cigarette you have lit since you entered the room and you have only been here 20 minutes." Tony then proceeded to give Michael a lecture on the dangers of smoking and he did this with such skills that Michael gave up there and then.

33. One night in 1971, Michael and his friend Paul were watching TV when an advert for Maxwell House coffee came on. On screen was the most beautiful girl Michael had ever seen.The following evening, at a club, Michael bumped into Nigel Politzer, who worked for the company that made the commercial. Nigel told Michael that the girl's name was Shakira Baksh.

34. In January 1973, Michael and Shakira decided to get married in Las Vegas. They decided that they didn't want a big fuss and these chose the romantically named "Little Chapel on the Green".

35. Later that year, in July, Shakira gave birth to a baby girl of 6lb and 12 oz, whom they called Natasha.

36. Michael's next movie in England was called "The Romantic English Women" and was his first foray into the realms of artistic films.

37. One of Michael's dreams had been to open a restaurant and one day he was introduced to Peter Langan, who already owned a restaurant. He told Michael to come and see him when he was ready. When Peter next saw Michael he told him that he had taken on a lease of a very well known restaurant called Coq D'or. Peter offered Michael a third share of the action for £25,000. Michael accepted.

38. Michael played the role of Dr. Frank Bryant and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, as well as an Oscar nomination.

39. Michael starred in the acclaimed film "Little Voice" in 1998. He won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a seedy talent agent.

40. In the 2000 New Year Honours, Michael was knighted as Sir Maurice Micklewhite CBE in recognition of his contribution to cinema.

41. He also received a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award.

42. He also appeared in "Miss Congeniality" and in 2001 starred in "Last Orders".

43. He also leant his voice to animated films in 2011 as he voiced Lord Redbrick in "Gnomeo & Juliet" and Finn McMissile in "Cars 2".

44. 2005 saw Michael play a pivotal part in the rebooted Batman franchise when he was cast as Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman Begins".

45. 2009 saw Michael take the lead role in "Harry Brown", which saw him return to his native South London estate in the titular role.

46. In 2003 Michael co-starred with Robert Duvall in "Secondhand Lions" and in 2004 he played the family elder, Henry Lair, in "Around the Bend."

47. When Michael was asked by director Christopher Nolan to play the part of Alfred, he was skeptical at first. But after reading the script, he realised that this Alfred is a surrogate father, mentor and emotional backbone for Bruce Wayne. Michael approached the role with the same level of dedication as he did his Oscar-winning turns in "The Cider House Rules" and "Hannah and her Sister."

48. He even invented a clever backstory for Alfred, imagining him as a former SAS officer who was wounded in the war - he can't go back into combat so he takes over dining duties for the sergeants - one of whom is Bruce's father. This portrayal of Alfred certainly lived up to the hype and was an integral part of The Dark Knight trilogy.

49. In 2006, Michael joined the cast of sci-fi drama "Children of Men" and also teamed up again with Christopher Nolan to play a supporting role in "The Prestige".

50. Michael starred in the acclaimed film "Little Voice" in 1998. He won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a seedy talent agent.

Source: michaelcaine.com