Sir Michael Caine, the British actor who has been in more than 160 films, has been married to his wife, Shakira Baksh Caine, since 1973. Michael knew he had to meet Shakira from the moment he saw her in a Maxwell House coffee commercial.
He wrote about that moment in his 1992 autobiography, What's It All About? "This girl is amazing," he told his friend after seeing Shakira in the commercial. “I want to meet her.” Determined to make his dreams come true, Michael was ready to fly to Brazil.
As it turns out, though, meeting the love of his life did not require flying to another country. While at a bar, Michael happened to meet a man who worked on the commercial that Shakira was in. The man informed him that Shakira lived in London — not Brazil, according to The Daily Mail.
Though Michael was instantly attracted to Shakira and described her as "the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen," Shakira wasn't so sure about him. Michael reportedly called her 11 times before she agreed to go out on a date.
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Even though Shakira didn't exactly experience love at first sight in the way that Michael did, Michael ended up being different from what Shakira expected.
“I fell in love with her in about eight minutes. It took her two hours to fall in love with me," Michael told Radio Times. In 1976, they both spoke to People about their relationship, and Shakira described Michael as being "everything I didn’t expect."
"I had just seen him in Get Carter and he seemed so aggressive and ruthless. Instead, I found him charming and very gentle, someone whom I’d like to spend part of my life with. Michael was at that time still very much against marriage," Shakira told People at the time.
In his 2018 book Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life, Michael explained that he met Shakira around the same time that he was struggling with alcohol abuse. He credits her with saving his life.
"I was never bombed on set, but I thought that a small vodka for breakfast was nothing to worry about, and in the early 1970s I was drinking two bottles of the stuff a day," Michael wrote.
With Shakira in his life at around that time, he began to feel less empty inside. Family responsibilities also pushed him to quit drinking.
"She got pregnant and I was given a second go at fatherhood, and soon I got myself straightened out. I gave up alcohol entirely for a year and now I never drink during the day, and with dinner it's just wine," he wrote.
Michael has spoken about his love for his wife in multiple interviews. "We are never apart," he told People.
"She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, but she is also the gentlest, kindest person," he continued.
In 2012, he spoke to the Mirror about how they keep the romance alive in their relationship by traveling together.
"We’re so romantic. We go off on little honeymoons. Every now and again we go off to a lovely hotel called the George V in Paris and have a weekend honeymoon away from everybody," Michael said.
