Michael Caine's shocking family secret that was kept from him for almost 60 years | Celebrity News

Michael Caine was almost 60 years old when he discovered his mother was hiding a secret that would change his life.

The actor, now 91, only discovered the decades-long secret after his mother, Ellen Burchell, died in 1989.

In 2002, Caine appeared on Michael Parkinson’s chat show, Parkinson, where he opened up about the secret his mother kept from him, his younger brother Stanley and his father all their lives.

The Dark Knight star explained how the truth came to light when an article was written about the state of mental health facilities in England.

While a reporter was talking to residents of a facility, one of them claimed that her boyfriend was Caine’s brother.

“You see that man over there, that’s Michael Caine’s brother,” she reportedly said.

Caine was immediately contacted by the newspaper, which told him he had a secret brother and warned that the story would appear that weekend.

“I went over to see if he was okay,” Caine told the veteran host.

The Hollywood star discovered his mother had had a child out of wedlock six years before she married Caine’s father, Maurice Joseph Micklewhite.

Caine told the Belfast Telegraph: “She was clearly having an affair, and she only met my father… (later). And so she hid the boy

“What happened was that he was born well, but medically he was treated poorly and something went wrong. My mother kept her secret for 30 years. She went to see him every week and none of us knew. My father knew none of this.

The boy, named David, was placed in a foster home and unfortunately became disabled after an epileptic seizure. Due to his condition, David was deemed mentally unwell and spent his years in a hospital.

During his childhood, Caine and his brother visited their aunt every Monday while their mother went shopping. However, Caine realized this was a lie, and she actually visited her secret son every week until her death.

“I was absolutely amazed at how she fooled us every Monday for 50 years,” Caine said. David discovered he had a famous brother after Burchell gave him a photo of Caine as Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead in the 1964 war film Zulu.

Sadly, David died just 18 months after Caine met him.

In his autobiography, Caine wrote, “There was nothing Mom wouldn’t do for her boys – but maybe that was also because there was one boy for whom she couldn’t have done much.”