She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, but she is also the gentlest, kindest person," Michael Caine said.
Shakira Caine, 75, and Michael Caine, 89 recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The Dark Knight series actor, as a father of one, instantly fell in love with Shakira after divorcing his first wife. The actor saw his future wife in a Maxwell House commercial in the early 1970s and fell in love with her right away. He quips that it took a few tries to get her to go on a date with him, but ever since they've been together—they were married in 1973 and have a daughter named Natasha—they've been inseparable.
"We are never apart. She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, but she is also the gentlest, kindest person," he shared about his happy marriage, the subject of PEOPLE's cover issue in 1976. "I have this extraordinarily beautiful Indian wife who cooks fantastic Italian food. Things can't get better than that," he added.
Michael has learned to appreciate his decision to marry Shakira in his old age. In an interview with Radio Times magazine, Michael credited his second wife with saving his life by helping him through a period of tumult after his first divorce in 1962, per Independent. “Without her, I would have been dead long ago. I would have probably drunk myself to death,” he told the publication. He added, “I was a bit of a p**s artist when I was younger, I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and I was smoking too, several packs a day.”
At the time, Michael's acting career was under a great deal of stress, which led him to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle. Fortunately, Shakira intervened to make amends and “calm” the actor down, so everything turned out okay. She does more than simply offer emotional support, as Michael pointed out since she is crucial to setting up his career. “And she’s not the little wife; she runs the whole business side of my life,” he gushed. He said praising her, “She’s my right-hand man, my confidante. I tell her everything. I was famous when I met her, but I couldn’t have gotten this far without her. She is the most important person in my life.”
The two-time Oscar winner stated on The Jonathan Ross Show that he first fell in love when he spotted his wife, in a television advertisement. After seeing the poster, he decided to search for her in Brazil the following morning. "It was a commercial for coffee in Brazil, and I was with one of my best mates and for the first time in years, we were watching television. We just had a night at the disco and I just watched her and I thought, 'That is the woman for me.' I said to my mate, 'We are going to Brazil in the morning, we are going to find her'," he said.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF3oEK_3ImM
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Ian Gavan
