Avid collector says 'every fin must go'

HIS name is Michael Caine – and he lives in a flat in Stonehouse with 6,000 dolphins. Not a lot of people know that.

Word would probably have got out if this was the double Oscar-winning actor.

But the former soldier who shares the film star's name has never had publicity for his huge collection themed on the sea mammal.

Fins ain't what they used to be for Michael, though. He is selling up because of ill health.

"I am not getting any younger and I am not that well," says the 50-year-old, who has diabetes and is registered disabled.

"I have had my enjoyment and I have my memories, so it is time to sell."

In 40 years he has collected just about everything that can be shaped like or carry the image of a dolphin.

His pad is home to a pod of dolphin mirrors, rugs, plates, shower curtains, sculptures, cards, jewellery and cuddly toys. Dolphin-shaped ornaments rest on dolphin-shaped shelves lit by dolphin-shaped lamps.

He can wash in a dolphin-dominated bathroom – complete with a dolphin toilet seat – eat a biscuit from a dolphin cookie jar, drink a cuppa made using his dolphin-shaped kettle (which makes a dolphin 'whistle' when it boils), listen to a dolphin-shaped radio, relax on a dolphin-themed balcony, play dolphin-style games (he has a chess set and any number of puzzles) and stub his cigarette into a dolphin ash tray.

He has a dolphin tattoo and his connection with the creatures won't end when he does – Michael has a dolphin urn ready to take his ashes after cremation.

In all Michael has acquired everything you could think of to do with a dolphin and one that most would never dream of.

"This is dolphin saliva," he says, undoing a dolphin-shaped phial to reveal the liquid.

"It has healing properties. You rub it on your skin."

He got the cetacean secretion during one of his encounters with the creatures at a marine park in Malta.

He has to think long and hard before choosing a favourite from the thousands, and settles on one treasured possession which he helped create: a wine glass.

He explains: "I was working in a restaurant on the Barbican years ago and I was on a break sitting at a table.

"I drew a wine glass with a dolphin stem on a piece of paper.

"A man in the restaurant saw the drawing and liked it and said he could make it for me – he worked at the Barbican Glassworks."

Michael's only regret is that he didn't ask some money for his design. He believes the glass could have become a top seller.

His fascination began when he was a boy, growing up in care.

"I was 10 and a family brought in a box of toys and there was a wooden dolphin," Michael recalls. "I just loved it and then another dolphin toy came in and I started collecting them.

"I saw my first dolphin when I was on a holiday camp visit to Drake's Island when I was 11. We went canoeing and there was this dolphin that came up close. It looked so big in the water but I wasn't scared and it wasn't scared of me.

"They are just the most beautiful creatures. They are healing creatures, so graceful and strong, gentle and intelligent and they like being with people."

His collection grew when he joined the army and travelled abroad, including to Africa. Michael served in what was then the Devon and Dorsets – now incorporated into The Rifles – for six years in the 1970s.

On active service in Northern Ireland he came with inches of being killed.

"I was in a Sangar (observation post) in Old Park, Belfast, when a gunman fired six rounds in through the 'letter box' viewing slot," he says.

"One of the bullets hit my helmet and I was knocked out. The first thing I knew was waking up in hospital the next day.

"They patched me up and four days later I was back on the streets but the trauma got to me."

The event changed his life. He left the army after six years and still gets flashbacks – for which he is being treated today – and is partially deaf.

The incident changed his name, too. He became Michael Caine by deed poll about 20 years ago, partly because he wanted to distance himself from family he believes let him down – but also to honour the comrade who helped save him.

"I've always liked the actor Michael Caine but I chose the name because of a mate called Barry Caine, who pulled me out of the Sangar when I'd been hit."

Michael says his dolphin collection is worth about £40,000 – that's what he reckons he's spent over the last four decades – but hopes it will stay intact despite the large price tag.

He believes a museum or a visitor attraction with a sea theme might take all 6,000 dolphin items in one lot.

The one object he would keep would be the one he wears, a gold ring with dolphins entwined around it, the eyes on each creature studded with the birth stones of his children, Gemma, 21, Michael, 18, and Bryony, two.

"I don't really want the collection to go but the time is right. (My son) Michael said to me, 'if anything happened to you, what would we do with the collection?' and he's right," Mr Caine said. "I'd have my photos, too, and all my memories."

The highlight of those was the first time he swam with a dolphin, in Malta.

He says: "I felt so safe with them, like they were my friends.

"When I touched them it was like velvet. It was like hugging a big cuddly toy. When it was time to get out of the water I cried and cried."

Anyone interested in purchasing the collection can contact Michael on 01752 308541.