Why Michael Caine Quit Drinking

Actor Michael Caine is giving up drinking in his late 80s as a part of a new health kick. The actor has spoken about his struggles with alcohol in the past but now tells Candis Magazine that he has reasons to give it up: his grandchildren. He said he is getting healthy to ensure he can spend as much time with them as possible.

"I've decided to live a bit longer, I've cut down on the drink and got a new outlook on life," the 88-year-old actor said. "I thought I wasn't going to have grandchildren, and suddenly I have three. I've had some high points in my life, I've won two Academy Awards and been given a knighthood, and I used to think that you couldn't get better than that but then I got my grandchildren, which is better than anything."

These heartfelt remarks are making Caine a bigger hit than ever with his fans. Caine has two daughters — 65-year-old Dominique and 48-year-old Natasha. Through them he has three grandchildren — 12-year-old Taylor and the 11-year-old twins Miles and Allegra. Despite six decades in Hollywood, Caine said that he views fatherhood as the greatest achievement of his life.

"And I know that I am a great father because if you ask my daughters, they'll tell you so, too, he quipped. Of his grandchildren, he said: "They're my fountain of youth and have given me a new lease of life without any of the worries or troubles. I'm completely besotted and so is my wife."

Caine spoke about his dalliances with alcohol back in 2016, and credited his wife Shakira Baksh with pulling him back from the brink. According to The Sun, he said: "I was a bit of a p—-artist when younger. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and I was smoking 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?'"

Caine wrote about these vices a bit more in one of his memoirs What's It All About? There, he wrote that he was smoking about 80 cigarettes per day in the 1970s, but quit after attending a lecture by Tony Curtis.

In his new interview, Caine reported that he has lost about 30 pounds in body weight between giving up alcohol and cleaning up his diet. He said that he was afraid he might develop cancer, but now feels health and vital.