Shakira, Lady Caine, (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Baksh; born 23 February 1947) is a
Guyanese former actress and
fashion model. She is married to English actor
Michael Caine.
Early life
Shakira was born on 23 February 1947 in
British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
(present-day
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
) to
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Indian parents.
Her mother was a dressmaker, and she aspired to follow in her footsteps and became a
fashion designer
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
.
Modeling and acting career
At the age of 19, while working as a secretary, she was urged by her employer to enter the 1967
Miss Guyana
Miss (pronounced ) is an English language English honorific, honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor (title), Doctor" or "Dame (title), Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her ...
contest, which she won. She later earned third-place in the 1967
Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...
contest held in
London, where she decided to stay to launch a career in modelling.
Baksh appeared in several films, including ''
Some Girls Do
''Some Girls Do'' is a 1969 British comedy spy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was the second of the revamped Bulldog Drummond films (following 1967's ''Deadlier Than the Male'') starring Richard Johnson as Drummond, made following the success ...
'' (1969), ''
Carry On Again Doctor
''Carry On Again Doctor'' is a 1969 British comedy film, the 18th release in the series of 31 ''Carry On'' films (1958–1992). It was released in December 1969 and was the third to feature a medical theme. The film features series regulars S ...
'' (1969), ''
Toomorrow'' (1970), ''
Son of Dracula'' (1974) and, with her husband, ''
The Man Who Would Be King'' (1975). She also appeared in two episodes of the
science fiction TV series ''
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
''. She auditioned for the part of the ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' companion
Jo Grant, alongside third Doctor
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...
in June 1970.
Personal life
After seeing Baksh in a British television advertisement for
Maxwell House coffee in 1971,
Michael Caine became obsessed with finding the woman he considered to be "the most beautiful... he had ever seen."
[ From a friend in the advertising business, he discovered that she lived only a few miles from him in London. The couple were married in Las Vegas on 8 January 1973,]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caine, Shakira
1947 births
Living people
20th-century British actresses
British beauty pageant winners
British female models
British film actresses
British Muslims
British television actresses
Guyanese actresses
Guyanese beauty pageant winners
Guyanese emigrants to England
Guyanese female models
Guyanese Muslims
British people of Indo-Guyanese descent
Guyanese people of Indian descent
Miss World 1967 delegates
Wives of knights