Airport Security Made Actor Michael Caine Change His Name?

The legendary British actor, born Maurice Micklewhite, has officially changed his name to Michael Caine at 80+ years of age. Why? Because having a stage name that’s different than the one on your identification became a huge problem for Caine after the global terrorist threat of ISIS.

Maurice Micklewhite, Michael White, Michael Caine

Michael Caine, née Maurice Micklewhite began his acting career using the stage name Michael Scott on the Sussex Stage. But, when he moved on to London, there was already another famous Michael Scott treading the boards.

“One evening my agent said: ‘I’ve got you a job, I’ve got you three days but you can’t call yourself Michael White, so give me another name.

“I was in a telephone booth in Leicester Square and I was opposite the Odeon and I looked up, and my favorite actor is Humphrey Bogart, and there it was, it said The Caine Mutiny, so I said, ‘Caine! Michael Caine!”

He later quipped, if I’d gone to the Leicester Square Theatre, I’d have been called Michael A Hundred and One Dalmatians!”

Enter ISIS and Airport Control

Caine made the switch from Michael Scott to Michael Caine back in 1954 and managed to travel just fine until the global climate changed.

“I changed my name when all the stuff started with ISIS and all that,” revealed Caine during a Q&A event in London back in 2016. “[An airport security guard] would say, ‘Hi, Michael Caine,’ and suddenly I’d give him a passport with a different name on it,” Caine said. “I could stand there for an hour. So I changed my name.”

So, to save hours at the airport, Maurice Micklewhite officially changed his name to Michael Caine.

And that’s the story of how Michael Caine became Michael Caine.