Michael Caine - ©Theda Bara

The name I want to highlight in this post is that of the excellent British actor Michael Caine, who won two Oscars, both in the Best Supporting Actor category, for his roles in 1987 in “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986), as “Elliot”, and in 2000 in “The Cider House Rules” (1999), as “Dr. Wilbur Larch”. He was nominated four other times for the Best Actor Oscar, but never won.

In addition to his two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, Caine won two BAFTA Awards: Best Actor in 1984 for “Raising Rita” (1983), in the role of “Dr. Frank Bryant”, and the BAFTA Fellowship Award in 2000. Michael Caine won three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical in 1984 and 1999 for “Raising Rita” (1983) and “Little Voice of Laura” (1998), playing the character “Ray Say”, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film in 1989 for “Jack the Ripper, Hemingway” (1988), in the role of “Scotland Yard Inspector Frederick Abberline”.

Michael Caine played the butler “Alfred Pennyworth” in all three films of the trilogy: “Batman Begins” (2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008), and “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012).

Michael Caine was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) in 2000. The ceremony took place at Buckingham Palace, in recognition of his services to film and theatre. On that occasion, he was formally named Sir. Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, his birth name. Michael Caine had already received the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1992.

Michael Caine is yet another British actor who does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, despite his long and award-winning film career.

Maurice Joseph Micklewhite was born on March 14, 1933, at St. Olave’s Hospital in London, United Kingdom, and is 92 years old.

Caine was married twice. First with English television actress Patricia Haines (1932-1977) from 1954 to 1958. The couple had a daughter, British civil servant Dominique Caine (1956-); Fifteen years after their separation, he married former Guyanese-British actress, model and beauty pageant winner Shakira Baksh “Lady” Caine (1947-), who competed in Miss World 1967, where she came in second place.  The couple has been together since 1973. He was 40 and she was 26 when they married. The couple has a daughter, Guyanese fashion designer Natasha Caine (1973-).

George Albert Smith and Edmund Gwenn - ©Theda Bara

With Christmas approaching, in this post I highlight two excellent British actors who played Santa Claus in films. The first, besides acting, was an illusionist, psychologist, professor, astronomer, inventor, and one of the pioneers of British cinema, being the director of the first Christmas short film; I am referring to George Albert Smith, who in the 1898, film entitled “Santa Claus” played “Mr. Claus” himself. Smith was also fascinated by fictional and fantastical themes.

George Albert Smith was born on January 4, 1864, in Cripplegate, London, United Kingdom, and died on May 17, 1959, in Brighton, Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom, at the age of 95.

The filmmaker was married to the British actress and filmmaker Laura Eugenia Bayley (1862–1938) from 1888 to 1938, when she left him a widower. The couple had no children.

The second name is that of a more famous film actor, with more developed characters and dialogues; I’m referring to Edmund Gwenn, considered the first to portray Santa Claus as a prominent character in film, in the 1947 classic, “Miracle on 34th Street”, as the character “Kris Kringle”. Santa’s famous, booming laugh, “Ho, Ho, Ho”, is one of his spontaneous creations that accompanies all other Santa Clauses to this day, whether in fiction or in the commercial world.

Edmund won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1948.

The actor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 1755 Vine Street, in the film category.

Edmund Gwenn was born on September 26, 1877, in Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom, and died on September 6, 1959, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, United States, 20 days before his 82nd birthday.

Edmund was married to British actress Minnie Terry (1882-1964) from 1901 to 1914 and, like George Albert Smith and Santa Claus, also had no children.