Michael Caine discusses which Beatle he was closest friends with
Throughout the excesses of the 1960s, musicians and actors and everyone in the entertainment industries came together in one big party, with thespians and rockstars rubbing shoulders with one another in moments of true glamour. From the world of acting, at the centre of it all was one of Britain’s biggest stars: Michael Caine.
Caine had performed in some big-hitting movies in the 1960s, like The Italian Job, Zulu and The Ipcress File, laying the foundation for his future success as an actor. As such, he was in the thick of all the action that fame and fortune tend to provide and was a frequent attendee of the most exclusive soirees that London offered.
“I knew all the Beatles, all the Rolling Stones,” Caine once told Rolling Stone. “I knew everybody in the music business, and we spent our lives in discotheques. I drank alcohol quite heavily for some time. But I never did any drugs. I was at a party with [actor] Richard Harris, and I said, ‘I’ve never smoked marijuana,’ and he said, ‘Well, smoke one.’ I smoked the marijuana, and I must have been terribly tense, because I laughed for five hours.”
The legendary actor continued: “I couldn’t get a taxi home because I was standing at one o’clock in the morning on the pavement trying to wave a taxi: ‘I’m not picking him up, he’s nuts or drunk.’ Also, I was told by my doctor not to do it. He said, ‘You’re an actor, you’ve got to remember lines, and marijuana is murder for the memory.’”
Being around such music stars like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles must have meant that the temptation to get high was always there, but Caine has admitted that drugs were never really his thing, considering himself more of a drinker. Still, he retained a close relationship with the Beatles, and in particular with George Harrison, sometimes known as “the quiet one” of the Fab Four.
Discussing his friendship with the band and with Harrison in particular, Caine noted, “I knew John quite well, but George and I were neighbours and we used to go to each other’s houses for dinner. I never did that with Paul or John. I invited George to dinner one evening, and he brought what we thought was a guitar, and we thought he was going to sing for us, and we were all excited.”
Caine signed off with his memory of the guitarist, “What I didn’t know was that George was the president of the George Formby fan club. He was a famous, very funny singer who used to sing these silly songs. George had brought a ukulele and sang George Formby songs all evening. Which were great, but it was such a surprise.”
The actor would have had countless opportunities to form friendships with the big names of entertainment in the second half of the 20th century, but it looked like Harrison was one of his closest allies, with the two legends of cinema and music forming a lasting bond over the work of George Formby, a camaraderie of historical status.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.