During the 1980s, Caine gained additional acclaim with an Oscar nomination for Educating Rita (1983) and a 1986 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for ‘Hannah and Her Sisters’. He also appeared in the smaller but similarly acclaimed Mona Lisa (1986), and two years later once again proved his comic talents with the hit comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), in which he and Steve Martin starred as scheming con artists.

Although Caine was no less prolific during the 1990s, his career began to falter with a series of lackluster films. Among the disappointments were Steven Seagal's environmental action flick On Deadly Ground (1994) and ‘Blood and Wine’, a 1996 thriller in which he starred with Jack Nicholson and Judy Davis.
In the late '90s, Caine began to rebound, appearing in the acclaimed independent film Little Voice (1998), for which he won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a seedy talent agent. In addition, Caine or Sir Michael, as he was called after receiving his Knighthood in 2000 -- got a new audience through his television work, starring in the 1997 miniseries ‘Mandela and de Klerk’.
The actor, who was ranked 55 in Empire Magazine's 1997 Top 100 Actors of All Time list, also kept busy as the co-owner of a successful London restaurant, and enjoyed a new wave of appreciation from younger filmmakers who praised him as the film industry's enduring model of British cool. This appreciation was further evidenced in 2000, when Caine was honored with a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of an abortionist, Dr. Wilbur Larch, in the excellent film ‘The Cider House Rules’.

After starting off the new millennium with both a revitalised career momentum and newfound popularity among fans who were too young to appreciate his early efforts, Caine once again scored a hit with the art-house circuit as the torturous Dr Royer-Collard in director Phillip Kaufman's ‘Quills’ (2000). Later paid homage by Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone when the muscle-bound actor stepped into Caine's well-worn shoes for a remake of Get Carter (in which Caine also appeared in a minor role) the actor would gain positive notice the following year for his turn as a friend attempting to keep a promise in ‘Last Orders’ (2001). As if the Get Carter remake wasn't enough to emphasize Caine's coolness to a new generation of moviegoers, his turn as bespectacled super-spy Austin Powers' father in Goldmember (2002) proved that even years beyond The Italian Job Caine was still at the top of his game.

Moving seamlessly from kitsch to stirring /drama, Caine's role in 2002's ‘The Quiet American’ earned the actor not only some of the best reviews of his later career, but another Oscar nomination as well. Much like his peer Dame Judy Dench, Sir Michaels career has gone from strength to strength over the last few years with some excellent material.

In Alfonso Cuaróns ‘The children of men’ (2006) he playing a aging liberal hippy in a nihilistic world alongside the wonderful Clive Owen. In the same year he then played Cutter in Christopher Nolans wonderful ‘The Prestige’ . He has of course been playing Alfred Pennyworth, the butler in the Batman series taking over from the wonderful Michael Gough who at 90 was considered too old for the current films.
Sir Michael also runs his own production company, M & M Productions, with business partner Martin Bregman. He was awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2000.

Quotes:
Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.

For all my education, accomplishments, and so called 'wisdom'... I can't fathom my own heart.


Autobiographies:

'What's it all about' 1992

Suggested films to see:

The Quiet American (2002)
The Cider House Rules (1999)
Educating Rita (1983)
Zulu (1964)
Alfie (1966)
The Italian Job (1969)