The Ageing Body of an Actor and the Only Answer to the Question: "Bothered by the required nudity?"

“It didn’t matter to me because it’s the only body I’ve got. At least it was a reality. An aging body, to people who are not old, this is what’s going to happen to you. So don’t get too smart about it.” 

Michael Caine

photographs by Brian Duffy via

"Sad to be at a stage in your life where you have to play 'old people'?"

“The only alternative to playing old people is playing dead people. I’ll pick elderly people. I have three grandchildren and I live for them. But also, I remember, I once read a script and I sent the script back [to the producer] saying the part was too small. He sent it back to me saying, ‘I did not want you to read the lover. I wanted you to read the father.’ And that’s when my career changed. I suddenly realized I wasn’t going to get the girl anymore. But I was going to get the part, and I really did get some parts.” 
Michael Caine

photograph via

The -ism Series (5): Classism

"I'm every bourgeois nightmare - a Cockney with intelligence and a million dollars."
Michael Caine



Class is a rather vague term. So are class distinctions in many countries. In some, there is the prevailing myth of a classless society adding to its elusive nature. Although it is called a myth, the construct of class is said to influence virtually everybody. Money is a crucial aspect of class but it is also about power, prestige (Russell, 1996) and access to resources. The concept of power is strongly linked to class since it can predict to what extent one can benefit from a society's resources. It correlates with life experiences and has an impact on what an individual is likely to learn, believe, achieve (Lott, 2012) and think about himself or herself. The experience that one belongs to a disapprobated group can affect self-concept and self-esteem and may lead to an internalisation of classism (Russell, 1996).

Cockney is both a regional dialect and a class dialect. It is connected with London's working class and used to be considered as the most despised non-standard form of English probably because Cockneys lived near London's high society which made the difference to standard English more noticeable. Today, people seem to be comparably more tolerable to Cockney (Koudelkova, 2012). No longer "every bourgeouis nightmare"...

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- Lott, B. (2012) The Social Psychology of Class and Classism, American Psychologist, 650-658
- Koudelkova, L. (2012) Cockney and Estuary English. Diploma Thesis via
- Richardson, L. (2005) Sticks and Stones: An Exploration of the Embodiment of Social Classism. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(4), 485-491
- Russell, G. M. (1996) Internalized Classism: The Role of Class in the Development of Self. 59-71
- Photograph of Michael Caine (by Brian Duffy) via

Quoting Quincy Jones

"The climate in the '50s and '60s for black performers or black people in the entertainment business was atrocious. It was atrocious."
Quincy Jones



The Italian Job (1969) Opening "On Days Like These", music by Quincy Jones



Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. is the first African-American to be nominated twice in one year for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, the first African-American to be named musical director of the Academy Awards ceremony, the first African-American to receive the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and one of the first African-Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Jones started supporting Martin Luther King in the 1960s. He is one of the founders of the Institute of Black American Music and of the Black Arts Festival in Chicago. He formed the Quincy Jones Workshops, founded the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation and supports a great many more charities (via).

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This posting was slightly modified in August 2017 (photograph added).