Movies - TV
John Wayne's Oddball Advice
Left An Impression On Michael Caine
By JEREMY SMITH
Michael Caine’s long career in Hollywood includes starring in a number of great movies, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, and having lots of fun stories to tell. He told one such story about how his friendship with the great John Wayne started and the unusual piece of advice that Wayne gave him to “‘never wear suede shoes.’”
Caine had shot to stardom in the titular role of “Alfie” in 1966, and it was around that time that he was shooting “Gambit” and hanging around in the Beverly Hills Hotel lobby for celebrity sightings. One of those celebrities happened to be Wayne, who approached Caine to tell him that he saw “Alfie” and that he thought it was “very good,” which was the start of their friendship.
In regards to the advice about the suede shoes, when Caine asked Wayne why he shouldn’t wear them, he answered, “'Because you'll be taking a piss in a men's room and there'll be a guy next to you, and all of a sudden the guy will recognize you and he'll turn and go, 'Michael Caine!' And he'll piss all over your shoes!'” Caine followed Wayne’s advice, saying, “I never wore suede shoes again."