Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr.) made his breakthrough in the 1960s with the role of an upper-class officer in Zulu (1964), after he assured the director that he could do a posh accent despite his Cockney root, which eventually became his trademark. The role brought him to stardom, and he would go on to become famous for using a regional accent, specifically his working-class Cockney, rather than the Received Pronunciation then considered standard for actors.
Reading a copy of the Evening News, 1965. (Stephan C. Archetti)
One of Caine’s notable roles in the ‘60s was the spy Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965), for which he received his first BAFTA nomination. He would reprise the role in a further two films within the same decade: Funeral in Berlin (1966), and Billion Dollar Brain (1967).
In 1966, Caine gained critical acclaim for his performance as the womanising title character in Alfie, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination and second BAFTA nomination. Caine starred in The Italian Job as a Cockney criminal in 1969, a role considered one of his most celebrated throughout his acting career.
Take a look back at the actor when he was young in the 1960s:
In the BBC television movie ‘The Compartment’, 1961. (Don Smith)
Publicity portrait for the film, ‘Zulu’, South Africa, 1964. (Silver Screen Collection)
At home with his mother and brother, 1964. (Hulton-Deutsch)
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