Among a raft of birthdays today, including Albert Einstein, Mrs Beeton, Eleanor Bron, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Les Brown, Casey Jones, lesbian bookseller and patron of James Joyce Sylvia Beach, Diane Arbus, Johann Strauss Sr., Bill Owen, Jona Lewie, Rita Tushingham, Les Baxter, Billy Crystal, Jasper Carrott, Prince Albert of Monaco, and - erm - Rick Dees of Disco Duck fame, we have not one, but two milestones to celebrate today, dear reader...
...and both with a link to Swinging 60s London [so here's a little something I made earlier (slightly tweaked)]:
Maurice Micklewhite - aka Sir Michael Caine - is a stalwart of British cinema, and he blows out 90 candles on his cake today! He rose to fame as the super-cool "Harry Palmer" [a working-class equivalent of James Bond] in The Ipcress File, as the eponymous "Jack-the-Lad" Alfie, and (of course) as Cockney wide-boy "Charlie Croker" in that archetypal British 60s classic The Italian Job...
...the latter blockbuster [always on telly here, particularly over the Xmas-New Year break] featured a score written by another towering figure with whom Sir Michael shares not merely a birthday, but a birth-date - Mr Quincy Jones, composer, producer, orchestrator and a man who has worked with just about everybody (from the Dorsey brothers to Michael Jackson; from Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald to Patti Austin and Chaka Khan)...
...then in the 1990s, a "tribute" to the Swinging 60s became a massive cinematic success, and Quincy's addictive Soul Bossa Nova was resurrected for the occasion:
[...and Sir Michael appeared in the second sequel...]
Yeah, Baby, Yeah!
Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr., 14th March 1933)
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born 14th March 1933)
FOOTNOTE:
A tribute:
I don't know why but that Madness tune is one of my favourites by them - so thank you for playing it this morning!
ReplyDeleteSx
It's a great song. Jx
DeleteI liked the first Austin Powers film (except for the presence of Michael York), but oh that character gives me the creeps.
ReplyDeleteI'll not have a bad word said about my lifetime crush Michael York! Jx
DeleteSorry! Was blaming him for some idiocy actually said by another star of his vintage.
DeleteNow you have me intrigued... Jx
DeleteAbsolute legend. Love Michael Caine.
ReplyDeleteAnd Michael York obviously.
Agreed!
DeleteOn both. Jx
Mitchell were you thinking of Jeremy Irons? First name I could think of under "British male screen legend who sometimes says stupid stuff"
ReplyDeleteI love Michael Caine. (No' a lo' o' people know vat)
ReplyDeleteDid he ever use that phrase, I wonder, or was it an invention of Rory Bremner or Mike Yarwood? Jx
DeletePeter Sellers, apparently. HERE.
DeleteSx
Mystery solved! Thanks, Ms Marple, I mean Scarlet. Jx
DeleteQuincy has become unhinged. I love when he spills what he knows about Hollywood's elite. In the past few years his interviews have become... well, a bit unbelievable... but, oh, the dirt he dishes - I love it when it has a kernel of truth. Kizzes.
ReplyDeleteBoth he and Sir Michael are at an age where they simply don't give a fuck what anyone thinks! Jx
DeleteMaurice Micklewhite, I wonder why he felt the need to change his name !
ReplyDeleteProbably for much the same reason that Bernice Frankel became Bea Arthur, Frederick Austerlitz became Fred Astaire, Archibald Alexander Leach became Cary Grant, Tula Ellice Finklea became Cyd Charisse and Norma Deloris Egstrom became Peggy Lee.. Jx
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