Veteran star Michael Caine has revealed his father thought he was gay when he first decided to become an actor.
The Oscar-winning actor, who grew up in Southwark, South London, remembers how taken aback his dad was as it was unusual for a heterosexual man to enter the industry at the time, reported Esquire magazine.
"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," he said.
The 80-year-old may be known for playing confident characters on the big-screen but he admits when growing up he would avoid speaking to anyone he didn't know.
"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."
