SCOTT SIMON, host:

 I'm Scott Simon.

We have a guest out  now. He's one of the greatest actors in the world. Along with Jack Nicholson, he's the only actor to have been nominated for an Oscar in every decade since the 1960s. But, as he says in his new book...

Mr. MICHAEL CAINE (Actor): Eighteen years ago, I thought that my career as an actor was over. So I wrote my autobiography, "What's It All About," to round off my professional life. And that, as far as I was concerned, was that. Fortunately, and not for the first time in my life, I was wrong - very wrong. The best was yet [bad word]  which, when I look back at my life - the crazy 1960s, the stars and the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood - is really saying something.

SIMON: That's Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, of course most notably and fondly known as Sir Michael Caine. He is the office boy who made good, went on to appear in I don't know how many films. Our research department says 113. Sir Michael?

Mr. CAINE: That's because when I was a young actor I was in a lot of film doing one day work and two days' work, and they've included all those titles, which I don't even remember. I think I've played the lead in about 75 movies.

SIMON: My gosh. Well, we were able to say that [bad word] the gamut from "Alfie" to "Zulu," from to Z.

Mr. CAINE: They do indeed.

SIMON: Sir Michael Caine's new autobiography is called "The Elephant to Hollywood." So, we said he's in NPR West. You're from an area of London called Elephant and Castle.

Mr. CAINE: Yeah. That's where the [bad word] from. The area is named after a pub called the Elephant and Castle. It's a very tough, rough area. And the pub, actually, when it opened a couple of hundred years ago, was named after a mistress of King Charles II, the Spanish mistress. Her name was the Infanta de Castile. And when they opened the pub, they called it the Infanta de Castile, but the [bad word] couldn't say it so it became the Elephant and Castle.

And that - the title of the book is "The Elephant to Hollywood," which was the journey that I took.

SIMON: When did you first hear laughter on stage?

Mr. CAINE: I was about 10 years old. It was this gold pantomime and I remember I was playing Baron Fitznoodle, who was the father of the ugly sisters in "Cinderella." And I walked on and got a great big laugh and I thought that was fantastic, until I looked down and found that my flies were open. And so I always check my flies. I even check my flies on radio.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. CAINE: That's how - I checked them just before I came in here.

SIMON: Yeah, we...

Mr. CAINE: Theyre okay, by the way...

SIMON: Yeah. And what did set off in you, do you think, hearing that?

Mr. CAINE: What happened to me, there was a Reverend Butterworth, who was a Methodist minister who used to clean up all the juvenile delinquents off the street and take them into his club called Club Land. And in Club Land there was an amateur dramatic society, which I joined - I must admit, the only reason I joined it is because I couldn't get to kiss any girls - I was chasing girls all the time - and so I thought if I join the amateur dramatic society, there might be some love scenes.

And there was a particular girl and I thought I might get to kiss Amy. I never did get to kiss Amy but I did get to kiss Elizabeth Taylor, so it was all right, a lot later.

(Soundbite of laughter)

SIMON: You are kind enough to list a couple of the wisest things you've learned about acting over the years. For example, like playing a [bad word] 

Mr. CAINE: This is a very valuable lesson to me as an actor. I was a very young actor. I was in repertory and I had [bad word] in [bad word] in this scene. And I came in [bad word] and the producer said, just a minute. He said, what are you doin