Michael Caine would have been dead ‘long ago’ without Shakira Baksh

Michael Caine says he would have been dead “long ago” had he not married Shakira Baksh. The two married in 1973 and have a daughter, Natasha.

Caine, 82, had previously been married, to the actress Patricia Haines, but credits Baksh with making him a reformed character.

He told the Radio Times: “Without her I would have been dead long ago. I would have probably drunk myself to death.

“I was a bit of a piss artist when I was younger. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and I was smoking too, several packs a day.

“I wasn’t unhappy but it was stress. You know: ‘Am I going to get another picture? How am I going to do this part? How am I going to remember all those lines? I’ve got to get up at six in the morning and I hope the alarm works.’

“There was always some stressful thing. Meeting Shakira calmed me down.

“She’s my right-hand man, my confidante. I tell her everything. I was famous when I met her, but I couldn’t have got this far without her.”

Caine is currently promoting his latest film, Youth, and made a rare appearance on a TV chat show on January 16 to promote it.

In his first televised interview in 10 years, Caine spoke about his own youth as a guest on The Jonathan Ross Show.