Maybe something just got lost in translation? After German newspaper Bild quoted Michael Caine as saying that his longtime friend Sean Connery had lost his senses and was suffering from memory problems, Caine stepped forward to set the story straight. Speaking with the U.K.’s Daily Record on Monday, Aug. 26, the legendary film star, 80, slammed rumors of the Bond actor’s declining mental health as “bulls–t” and denied reports that he ever said otherwise.
“It’s completely preposterous, bulls–t,” the Oscar winner told the paper. “This stuff about Alzheimer’s is just nonsense.”
Caine does admit to doing some interviews in Germany for work, but he insists he never said or implied that Connery was ill. “I can only assume that someone has twisted my words or got the wrong end of the stick,” he noted.
Bild’s story, headlined “Connery Forgets His Life,” quoted Caine as saying that “one must have serious concerns” for his former costar. (The two first became friends while filming 1975’s The Man Who Would Be King.) The report claimed the actor was “no longer in full control of his senses” and suffered from “noticeable” memory loss.
Caine told the U.K.’s Record, however, that Connery is fine. “I haven’t seen Sean for a couple of years, but my wife and I spoke to him on the phone on his birthday this week and he was very well,” he said. “He was fine, in complete control of his senses and his usual self. I have no idea where they are getting this stuff from.”
“I know Sean was quite ill a year or so ago,” he added. “But he is much better now and it was never anything to do with his mental state.”
