04 September 2014
Newsdesk
Michael Caine and his wife are "equal in everything".
The British icon tied the knot with actress-and-former model Shakira Baksh in 1973 and together they have daughter Natasha Haleema.
Even now, over 40 years on, the couple are still blissfully happy and Michael has shared his secret to a successful marriage.
"My wife and I are equal in everything. There’s no little woman married to the big film star or sh*t like that. She runs the whole business, and we’re equal partners in it, and she does as much work off screen as I do on it, which is terribly important," he explained to the latest issue of British magazine Esquire.
"And she comes with me everywhere I go, because if you’re on your own, you start having your own friends that the other one doesn’t know. And you start with the parallel lines. And as we all know about parallel lines, that they taught us in geometry, they never meet again. That’s the most important part – you must not lead parallel lives. You’ve got to introduce your wife to everything."
He also noted that having separate bathrooms is key, as if he shared with Shakira he would be left with a "tiny corner" for his toiletries.
Michael also has daughter Dominique with his ex-wife Patricia Haines, and the 81-year-old actor admits that, rather than learning more about women from his two girls, he finds it "difficult".
"When you see the guys they bring home. And you go, 'Get rid of him.' And they go, 'No, I’m not going to do that.'
Fortunately, they listened to me on a lot of them," he smiled. "I got very bright daughters – extremely intelligent, both of them. But I’m so protective, it’s impossible. I’m terrible."
Michael also used to look out for his younger brother Stanley, who passed away last year from cancer. The star found that his fame affected their relationship slightly as his sibling often begrudged his status.
"I think it’s the most terrible thing to have to do. And I looked after him all his life," Michael said of the idea of being Michael Caine's brother. "I bought him a little house. First one and then another one to rent, so he could live off that, because I knew he couldn’t compete. It was a bugger and very often, he wouldn’t speak to me, you know what I mean'"
