Michael Caine arrived when British film still expected received pronunciation from its leads, and Zulu, The Ipcress File and Alfie put a working-class London voice in the centre of the frame. That alone changed what British cinema sounded like.
He has made more than a hundred and thirty films and has been open that many were taken for money, including Jaws: The Revenge, of which he said he had never seen it but had seen the house it built.
The good work is very good. Get Carter, The Man Who Would Be King, Educating Rita, Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules, the last two winning him Best Supporting Actor.
His late career with Christopher Nolan, particularly as Alfred, gave him a second act as the moral centre of large films. He also wrote a genuinely useful book on screen acting technique.
