Michael Caine Officially Retires At 90, Going Out With A Lead Role And Glowing Reviews
He’s hinted at it before, but now it seems Michael Caine is officially hanging up his coat on his acting career – due to the lack of good leading roles.
The British double Oscar winner, aged 90, told the BBC on Friday that his latest movie, The Great Escaper, will be his last outing on screen.
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“I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well I am now,” he told the BBC’s Today radio news programme.
“I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and had incredible reviews … What am I going to do that will beat this?”
He added that the scarcity of leading roles for a man his age had factored into his decision.
“The only parts I’m liable to get now are 90-year-old men. Or maybe 85.
“They’re not going to be the lead. You don’t have leading men at 90, you’re going to have young handsome boys and girls. So I thought, I might as well leave with all this.”
His words bring down the curtain on an extraordinarily enduring career lasting 77 years and accruing 176 IMDB credits to his name, including two Oscar wins for Best Supporting Actor – for Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986 and for The Cider House Rules in 1999.
The Great Escaper sees him star as the real-life Bernard Jordan, a war veteran who left his care home on the British south coast, without telling his wife or careers, to attend the 70th anniversary of D-Day commemorations on the Normandy coast. He co-stars with the late Glenda Jackson, who died soon after completing the film.
The actor caused a stir recently, questioning the need for intimacy coordinators on film sets.
“Really? Seriously? What are they? We never had that in my day. Thank God I’m 90 and don’t play lovers anymore is all I can say. In my day you just did the love scene and got on with it without anyone interfering. It’s all changed.”
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