The most-impersonated Hollywood star of all time has got to be Michael Caine. Everyone thinks that they can take a stab at the flat Cockney vowels that are the hallmarks of the famous Caine voice, even if they will never be as good as Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon outdoing each other in The Trip. Apparently the trick to saying “my name is Michael Caine” in his voice is to say it as “my cocaine” – and this has led to some embarrassment for Caine in the past.
Speaking to Graham Norton, Caine said that the best impression of his voice that he’s heard came from a surprising source – Tom Hanks. He went onto explain; “I was making a picture in The Philippines and I’m in Manila, and we’re invited to this very, very posh expensive house to a party.”
“I’m being introduced to people and the hostess was standing in the corner looking at me rather nastily, considering that I’m a guest. There was a moment when I was free and she called me over and asked me; ‘are you a drug dealer?’ I said; ‘no, why do you ask?’ She said; ‘why is everybody calling you My Cocaine?’ You know that story’s true because you couldn’t make it up.”
Caine turned 90 years old in March 2023, and he had a celebrity-filled birthday bash attended by the likes of Tom Cruise. It happened to occur at the same time as the Oscars. Caine has been acting in movies since the mid-1950s, but his big break came in 1964’s war movie Zulu, which was quickly followed up by the spy movie The Ipcress File and romantic comedy Alfie.
Caine’s most iconic line “you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off” is from 1969’s The Italian Job. Caine has starred in 130 movies during his long career, and it definitely includes some classics but also some stinkers such as Jaws: The Revenge.
Check out our guide to the best movies of all time and the best actors of all time. See if The Italian Job’s iconic car chase made our list of the best action movies, and find out how to watch the Fast and Furious movies in order.