After a stellar 73 years of acting and winning two Oscars, Michael Caine has confirmed his retirement at the age of 90. After much speculation over his statement last month that he was “sort of retired”, the legendary actor confirmed to the BBC’s Today programme that he is indeed done with acting. “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well, I am now,” Caine said to the news programme.
Caine had been wanting to end his film career on a high note, while acknowledging that his age will no longer net him any leading roles, as he believes younger men and women would be more appropriate. He previously mentioned his plans on retiring and hinted that The Great Escaper, which made its debut last Friday, 6th October in the UK, would be his final film.
Despite his belief that he would no longer land a leading role, Caine is the main star of The Great Escaper. The film is a biographical drama based on the true story of 89-year-old Bernard Jordan, a Royal Navy veteran who made headlines in 2014 when he left his nursing home in Hove, East Sussex, alone to attend celebrations in Normandy for the 70th anniversary of D-Day in France.
Caine is joined by the late Glenda Jackson, also a two-time Oscar winner, who portrays Jordan’s wife, Irene. The duo had previously starred together in the 1975 British film The Romantic Englishwoman. The Great Escaper would also prove to be Jackson’s last film, as she passed away from an undisclosed illness in June of this year.
Caine also said that he turned down a role after filming The Great Escaper. He stated that he received the script, looked at it, noticed that he was only doing a small part, and decided to turn it down and then subsequently retire.
One of the best-known and beloved British stars during his seven decades in front of the camera, Michael Caine has appeared in over 110 films, including Zulu, The Italian Job, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Sleuth, and Interstellar.
Source: The Guardian, BBC, Wikimedia Commons, IMDb, Flickr [1], [2], [3]
