Michael Caine’s film characters, such as Alfie and Harry Palmer, as well as his distinctive looks, working-class background and glamorous lifestyle, made him the model of male cool in the 1960s. This celebration of his style presents a portfolio of photographs of the actor during the period, including portraits, film stills and candid pictures, on and off set. A brief introduction and captions set the scene and identify celebrity co-stars and companions, including Natalie Wood, Terence Stamp and Mia Farrow.
Caine appeared in more than 100 films, and his amiable Cockney persona was usually present in each performance. The former Maurice Micklewhite took his screen name from the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny. He began acting on stage in 1953 and entered motion pictures in 1956. He 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 five 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 Academy Award nomination as best actor. His other successful films of the 1960s included 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 was perhaps the only constant among performances that included cynical secret agents, gregarious playboys, rugged adventurers, refined gentlemen, humble schoolteachers, and psychotic killers. His star quality was not sacrificed for such versatility, and he retained his affable Cockney persona in most roles. He was especially deft at light comedy and usually managed to reveal subtly humorous elements within a given screenplay.
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