ShoWest 2009 - Michael Caine receives ShoWest Award

Thursday, 12 March 2009 13:48 <a href="http://www.theflickchicks.com/index.php/component/comprofiler/userprofile/Kreatia.html">Judy Thorburn</a> ShoWest - ShoWest News

MICHAEL CAINE RECEIVES SHOWEST LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

CAINE TO STAR IN BIG BEACH’S 'IS ANYBODY THERE?'

Two-time Academy Award winner, Michael Caine, receiveD the ShoWest 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award at ShoWest’s Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 2, at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

“Where does one begin when referring to Michael Caine,” said Mitch Neuhauser, co-managing director of ShoWest. “With over five decades of films to his credit, Michael Caine has quietly commanded the screen in well over 100 roles. He simply does it all, and he does it all so incredibly well be it comedy, drama or action. With such films as ‘Alfie,’ ‘Funeral in Berlin,’ ‘Sleuth,’ ‘The Man Who Would Be King,’ ‘Educating Rita,’ ‘Hannah & Her Sisters,’ ‘The Cider House Rules,’ ‘The Quiet American,’ and of course, ‘The Dark Knight,’ Michael Caine’s diversity has accorded him this incredible ability to draw movie audiences in worldwide throughout his career. We could not be more honored to present this brilliant actor with the ShoWest Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Michael Caine
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn

Set in 1980s seaside England, “Is Anybody There?” tells the story of ten-year-old Edward (Bill Milner) whose parents have turned their house into a retirement home. While his mother struggles to keep the family business afloat and his father copes with the onset of a mid-life crisis, Edward becomes increasingly obsessed with the ghosts and afterlives of the residents when they die. Edward’s is a lonely existence until he meets Clarence (Michael Caine), the latest arrival at the home, a retired magician and grieving widower who refuses to give in gracefully to old age. Their relationship begins at odds until Clarence notices that the boy is growing up even more fitfully than he is growing old. As they begin to face life together, Clarence comes to terms with his past, Edward tames his obsession with the unknown and they are both reminded of what magic is possible when life is lived to its fullest. “Is Anybody There?” was directed by John Crowley, produced by David Heyman, Marc Turtletaub, and Peter Saraf and also stars Bill Milner (Son of Rambow), Anne-Marie Duff (Notes on a Scandal), and David Morrissey (The Other Boleyn Girl). “Is Anybody There?” was screened at the Toronto Film Festival and was produced by Big Beach, Heyday Films, and BBC Films. The film will be released in New York and Los Angeles on April 17, 2009 before expanding wider.

Michael Caine
Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn

Born in South London, Michael Caine’s childhood fascination for cinema, along with his performances in school plays and directing drama in a youth club, all stimulated his imagination and belief that he would one day be an actor. Caine landed his first job, in theater, as an assistant stage manager in Horsham, Sussex, before joining the Lowestoft Repertory Theater in Suffolk as juvenile lead. Caine then moved to London where he obtained a few roles in plays as well as a minor role in the film “A Hill In Korea.” After a brief move to Paris, Caine returned to Britain touring with one repertory company after another and appearing in more than 100 television dramas. The 1966 “Alfie” catapulted him to stardom and earned him his first Academy Award nomination and the New York Critics Prize for Best Actor. Caine has gone on to star in over 100 films and has received six Academy Award Nominations winning two for Best Supporting Actor in “Hannah and Her Sisters,” and “Cider House Rules.” Caine continues to entertain audiences having most recently appeared in box office hit “The Dark Knight,” as well as; “The Prestige,” “Batman Begins,” “The Quiet American” and “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” Caine was honored with a knighthood in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II; and also released his autobiography, What’s It All About?, in 1992.