How Michael Caine upset Sidney Poitier and Sean Connery
While almost every prominent actor has at least one definitive work that becomes the central gem of their legacy, very few manage to produce multiple masterpieces over several decades like Michael Caine has. Ranging from the beloved 1969 comedy The Italian Job to his highly popular collaboration with Christopher Nolan in The Dark Knight trilogy, Caine’s acclaimed filmography is simultaneously versatile and extensive.
Over the years, Caine has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, like Robert Duvall and Christian Bale. However, there were some collaborators like Roger Moore who were special to Caine since they were close friends in real life. That small list of co-stars included none other than Sean Connery and Sidney Poitier, who were among Caine’s best friends. However, he once ended up pissing off both of them over a game of golf.
During an interview before Connery’s passing, Caine once said: “Sean Connery and I, we were like the Three Musketeers, but one of ‘em lives in Switzerland (Roger Moore), I live in England, and Sean lives in the Bahamas. So, we never see each other, and I don’t think you’ll see much of Sean anywhere. You certainly won’t see him on screen again, that’s for sure, but I doubt whether I’ll see him cos he doesn’t wanna travel. He lives on a golf course in the sunshine. What the hell does he need? He’s got all the money he’s ever gonna want.”
While it’s clear from Caine’s comments that Connery was a serious golf enthusiast, Poitier wasn’t too far behind either. The two of them invited Caine to try the sport as well, but it didn’t go as smoothly as the actor expected. In fact, Caine’s painful absence of golf skills irked Connery so much that he actually grabbed Caine’s golf club and snapped it into two parts. That was enough to convince Caine never to pick up a club again.
When asked about the encounter, Caine opened up about the details of Connery’s infamous temper and how he couldn’t tolerate poor golf skills. He recalled: “My lack of ability made Sidney sad… But it just made Sean angry. He has a terrible temper, and when he tried to teach me golf, he was so incensed by my performance that he grabbed my club and broke it in two. I’ve never played since… I don’t want to upset two of my best friends. Sean, in particular.”
Despite their disagreements when it came to golfing, Connery and Caine remained lifelong friends whose camaraderie was perfectly represented in their on-screen partnership. John Huston’s 1975 adventure movie The Man Who Would Be King is the perfect example of this, starring the two legendary artists as a pair of former soldiers who embark on a strange journey in an unfamiliar landscape.
Watch the trailer below.
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