Michael Caine Quotes

I've never been out with a married woman, never. I respect others' properties.

I did everything. I ran my life exactly as I wanted to, all the time. I never listened to anybody. I'm pig-headed.

I heard my first laughter on stage, when I was about 10 years old. It was gold pantomime and I remember I was playing Baron Fitznoodle, who was the father of the ugly sisters in "Cinderella." And I walked on and got a great big laugh and I thought that was fantastic, until I looked down and found that my flies were open. And so I always check my flies. I even check my flies on radio.

Comedy is underrepresented in every actor's life, because it's so bloody difficult to write.

I had been in that part of the world as a soldier in Korea, so I had been interested in Vietnam.

I spent 30 years of my life not being wanted at all for films.

I used to get the girl; now I get the part. In 'The Quiet American' you may have noticed I got the part and the girl. It's a milestone for me, because it's the last time I'm going to get the girl.

I have never seen it (Jaws 4) but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built and it is terrific.

I never look back at all. All of my sentiment and emotion goes into my family. I'm an extremely family oriented person and I have a very, very happy family life. That doesn't just include blood relations. I have friends who are close to me.

My father was a fish market porter. So I grew up on fish, because he used to steal one a day, I grew up on the very best fish that money could buy, 'cause he only stole the good stuff.

In my opinion, everybody is getting older and older. We have a great deal of dementia because nobody grew old enough to get it.

If I work with a bad actor, my reaction is to immediately become worse than they are.

I don't think you retire from movies; movies retire you.

January is the garbage can of movies in America, directly after all the Oscar contenders have been out.

And to Tom Cruise, for if you had won this, your asking price would have gone down so fast. Do you have any idea what supporting actors get paid? We get only one trailer, a small one, in the back.

I try to make everyone around me feel comfortable.

I want to stick around with the big boys. I don't want to be in the old folks home.

I think it would be great for the Academy to recognize old age.

When you reach the top, that's when the climb begins.

Since I was 19, I've had the most fun possible every single day, even when I had a rough life. It was the army which taught me about life, and the theater which taught me how good it could be.

A man should dress in a way that you don't notice. He looks good and you don't know why. But it's the tailoring, the materials, and the clothes.

I think life has got to develop as you get older, and I don't want to be wandering along doing the same old thing. I want more out of life.

I never listened to the people who said I should give it up, which is the main advice I got.

You cannot have one bathroom. And it don't matter how much you love your wife and everything, 'cause you wind up with no room at all. You just get a little corner and you've got a toothbrush and your paste and a shaving brush and a razor. And you can never get in there. So you must have two bathrooms. You really must. I think it's essential.

The trouble with women? Elbows.

My own mentality is that I've retired. They send me these scripts and if I absolutely have to do it, then I go to work.

You must always steal, but only from the best people. Steal any trick that looks worthwhile. If you see Vivien Leigh or Robert DeNiro or Meryl Streep do something stunningly effective, and you can analyze how he or she did it, then pinch it. Because you can be sure that they stole it in the first place.

I was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. Imagine signing that autograph! You'd get a broken arm. So I changed my name to Michael Caine after Humphrey Bogart's 'The Caine Mutiny,' which was playing in the theater across from the telephone booth where I learned that I'd gotten my first TV job.

My understanding of women goes only as far as the pleasures.

I was a repertory actor, which meant that I did a play every week. I was a different character every week; for a year, I was doing 40 or 50 characters.

My problem was that I was blond. There were no heroes with blond hair. Robert Taylor and Henry Fonda, they all had dark hair. The only one I found was Van Johnson, who wasn't too cool. He was a nice, homely American boy. So I created my own image. It worked.

At age 11, I went to a Jewish school. I speak Yiddish. I'm Church of England Protestant. My father was Catholic, and my mother was Protestant. My wife is a Muslim.

To be a movie star, you have to invent yourself.

I spent my life in the library reading books.

I need a challenge 'cause I don't get the girl anymore.

I'm a frustrated stand-up comic. If you hand me a microphone and I get one laugh, then I'll go on for 20 minutes.

The first actor I ever saw was The Lone Ranger. I thought: "That's what I want to do."

I admired Marlon Brando as I grew up. I though he was one of the finest screen actors around.

Ive read an awful lot of books, Ive read alot of awful books

Do I believe in God? Yes I do. When you've had a life like mine, you have to.

A lot of my best parts I've been the second choice for, so you never get too egotistical about anything.

You've got to be flexible. Directors do a massive amount of planning and homework, and if after all that your director decides to throw it all out of the window and shoot spontaneously, then you must follow his lead.

I don't have to work, really, but I do enjoy working, and I do enjoy getting paid.

I learn the whole time. I think it would be dull if I thought I was going to work and wouldn't find something new. We always learn.

I learned about life before I went into the theater, which is why I've been so happy. I was a soldier.

You don't sacrifice your individuality; you sacrifice a lot of freedom.

To disappear your complete self into a character is quite difficult. I've tried it 85 times, and I've succeeded two or three times.

I am a great admirer of other actors, but I never compete with other actors. I always compete with what I did last, and I'm my own most vicious critic. So I'm always trying to do it better.