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Ten Interesting Facts about Michael Caine
July 13, 2020 by John Rabon

Love at First Sight
After seeing model Shakira Baksh in a Maxwell Coffee advertisement in 1971, Caine declared she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.  Mistakenly believing she was from Brazil, he vowed to go there to find her.  From a friend in the advertisement business, he learned she lived only a few miles away.  They’ve been married since 1973.

A Misnomer
Despite all of his success, Caine never legally changed his name out of respect for his family.  When he was knighted and made a Commander of the British Empire in 2000, he was invested as Sir Maurice Mickelwhite.  It’s thus technically incorrect to refer to him as “Sir Michael Caine”.

His Favorite
Interestingly enough, for all of the great roles he’s performed over the years, one of his top favorites was playing Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Muppet Christmas Carol.  Rather than clowning around with the puppets, Caine said “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.  I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety.  I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.”  The result of this was truly one of the best Scrooge performances that’s been put to screen and Caine’s seriousness makes him a perfect straight man for the wacky Muppets.