Sir Michael Caine has always held women in high regard, acknowledging their significant influence on shaping his life and career.
From his mother, Ellen Maria Burchell, to a teacher from his childhood, his Hollywood agent, and his wife, Shakira, these women have played pivotal roles in his journey.
However, it is his mother whom he holds the utmost respect for, particularly due to the secrets she kept to safeguard him.
In his book, “Blowing The Bloody Doors Off,” Caine reflects on his mother’s resilience and absence of bitterness and self-pity, despite enduring a challenging life.
They lived in a slum, and she worked as a cleaner for the majority of her years.
Amidst her struggles, there was one burden she bore alone.
During his time in Los Angeles in 1991, the renowned actor received a phone call from a reporter revealing the existence of a half-brother he had been unaware of.
David Burchell, his mother’s child born out of wedlock six years before her involvement with Caine’s father, Maurice Micklewhite, resided in a mental institution.
Astonishingly, Caine’s strong-willed mother had been visiting her eldest son every Monday without anyone ever discovering her secret.
“It turns out she had an affair, and she didn’t meet my father until… (later).
Consequently, she concealed the boy.
He was born healthy, but unfortunately, he received inadequate medical attention, leading to complications.
My mother guarded this secret for 30 years.
She visited him every week, and none of us had any idea.
My dad was completely oblivious,” Caine disclosed to Belfast Telegraph.
As a teenager, Caine recalls his mother informing him of her visits to a cousin at Cane Hill mental hospital, cleverly disguising the true nature of her visits.
She attributed them to a mentally ill female cousin, concealing the fact that she was actually seeing her son.
Caine suspects this cousin was, in fact, his half-brother.
His mother attempted to provide for her disabled son in ways she couldn’t when he was born.
Burchell sustained a hip injury during childbirth, confining him to a wheelchair for life.
After being placed in foster care, he developed epilepsy, which further complicated his condition.
Following an epileptic episode, he became disabled and was subsequently shuffled between institutions.
Eventually, at the age of 17, he found himself confined to Cane Hill mental hospital, as reported by UPI.
While Caine remained unaware of his half brother’s existence, the same cannot be said for his elder brother, as their mother had informed Burchell about Caine and had even given him a photo of his brother.
Proudly, Burchell would share stories of his actor brother with fellow patients and staff.
Caine speculates that those responsible for David’s care refrained from divulging the truth due to his mother’s insistence on secrecy.
However, upon discovering his half brother’s existence, the Dark Knight actor resolved to do everything within his means to support him, stating, “I am going to do whatever I can for him.
I have the financial resources to take care of him.”
This commitment was made by a man who grew up in an East End slum.
At the time Caine learned about him, Burchell was 66 years old, and his mother had already passed away.
Nonetheless, he managed to form a connection with his half brother, working to improve his circumstances.
When Burchell sadly passed away in 1991, Caine honored his memory by burying his ashes alongside their mother’s.
Rather than harboring anger towards his mother, this revelation only heightened Caine’s perception of her as an indomitable woman.
He continued to view her as a force of nature and expressed his sentiments to the Guardian in 2009, stating, “It didn’t bother me.
I have a motto: never worry about anything you can’t change.”
Reflecting on his mother’s actions and the impact they had on his half brother, Caine shared with Belfast Telegraph, “To have been able to do that for this boy who would never improve, who would never be of any
