Tuesday 23 January 2007

MICHAEL CAINE TO WRITE A THRILLER - not a lot of people know that



SIR MICHAEL CAINE enjoyed working on his autobiography so much, he's now writing a novel. The double Oscar winner previously wrote a guide to film acting and two collections of trivia - but this is the first time the 73-year-old has turned his hand to fiction.

He says, "I am writing a contemporary thriller about terrorism and I wrote my autobiography a while back. I so enjoyed it I've been doing it ever since. Everybody is supposed to have one book in them and I thought I would see if I've got two."

Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in Rotherithe, South London in 1933, The former Billingsgate fish market worker turned actor came to fame for his portrayal as the eponymous Alfie. And don’t forget that immortal line from the Italian Job: “You were only supposed to blow the bloody DOORS off”.

It was a dodgy start for the young blond-haired Cockney. He went to Joan Littlewood's left-wing Theatre Workshop in the East End, attempting to win a part in their Christmas production of Dickens' The Chimes. Littlewood urged him to immerse himself in his character, to use the Stanislavsky Method, but eventually gave up on him, dismissing him with a withering "Piss off to Shaftesbury Avenue. You will only ever be a star".

Give the old boy his due, he does have a solid background to draw from. His roles as Len Deighton’s spy, Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral In Berlin (1966), Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Or as the hardman Jack Carter in Ted Lewis’ original Get Carter (1971). Mind you, there have been some dodgy performances as well: Blue Ice (1992), On Deadly Ground (1994), Bullet To Beijing (1995) and Midnight In St Petersberg (1997).
Let's see what rolls off the printer, shall we guv'nor?

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