was left “desperately sad” after two heartbreaking phone calls on the same day.
The Italian Job star, 91, made a devastating admission in his 2019 memoir Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life. Michael was contacted by his friend Leslie Bricusse twice in one day – and was forced to unplug the phone after speaking to him.
Recalling the day in 2017 when he was rocked by the tragic news, Michael wrote: “One bright spring evening, the sun was pouring through the windows when our friend Leslie Bricusse called us from his house in the South of France to tell us that had just died.
“He had been sick for a while so it was not a surprise but it was still a shock and it still hurt.
“An hour later, Leslie called again to say that one of my closest friends, Jerry Perenchio, the kindest and most charitable rich man I ever met, had just died.
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Michael Caine was left ‘desperately sad’ (Image: Getty)
“I was stunned with sadness. ‘Leslie, don’t take this the wrong way,’ I said. ‘I love you, but I really don’t want to speak to you again tonight’. I went to bed and unplugged the phone.”
Michael went on to confess that it is “desperately sad” to get to an age when your friends and family start dying, “and your close circle gets smaller and smaller”.
He confessed: “Each successive death does not get any easier to bear”. But the veteran actor insisted that while his inner circle grows smaller, they also grow closer.
Roger Moore died at the age of 89 in 2017 (Image: Getty)
actor Sir died at the age of 89 after battling cancer, with his children releasing a statement which read: “Thank you Pops for being you, and being so very special to so many people. With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir , passed away today. We are all devastated.”
Jerry Perenchio, meanwhile, was the CEO of Univision and a keen philanthropist – leaving behind a $245million LA home.