My father thought I was gay: Michael Caine

Academy Award-winning actor Michael Caine says his father thought he was gay when he told him that he wants to be an actor.

He said: "My dad was a Billingsgate fish market porter. When I told him that I was going to be an actor, he never said a word but I saw his face and thought, he thinks I'm gay. The theatre in those days was very gay. But I wasn't."

Caine won supporting actor Oscar in 1986 for "Hannah and Her Sisters" and later in 1999 for "The Cider House Rules".

The 80-year-old actor also admitted that he was very shy as a kid and avoided talking to anyone.

"I was the shyest child. If strangers came into the house, I'd hide behind the curtains and wouldn't come out until they'd gone," contactmusic.com quoted the actor as saying.

The "Inception" star has since gained a tremendous amount of self-belief and credits his upbringing for helping him turn into the successful actor he is today.

He said: "My three great achievements with which I had absolutely nothing to do are that I was born an Englishman, a Londoner and a Cockney."