Shakira Caine

Baksh was born on 23 February 1947 in British Guiana (present-day Guyana) to Muslim Indian parents.^[1] Her mother was a dressmaker, and she aspired to follow in her footsteps and become a fashion designer.

At the age of 19, while working as a secretary at the British embassy,^[2] she was urged by her employer to enter the 1967 Miss Guyana contest, which she won. She later earned third place in the 1967 Miss World contest held in London, where she decided to stay to launch a career in modelling.

Baksh appeared in several films, including Some Girls Do (1969), Carry On Again Doctor (1969), Toomorrow (1970), Son of Dracula (1974) and, with her husband, The Man Who Would Be King (1975). She also appeared in four episodes of the science fiction TV series UFO: ESP, The Responsibility Seat, Identified and The Dalotek Affair.^[3] She auditioned for the part of the Doctor Who companion Jo Grant, alongside third Doctor Jon Pertwee in June 1970.

After seeing Baksh on the BBC TV quiz show "Where in the World"^[4] and in a Brazilian television advertisement for Maxwell House coffee in 1971, Michael Caine became obsessed with finding the woman he considered to be "the most beautiful woman he had ever seen." From a friend in the advertising business, he discovered that she lived only a few miles from him in London. The couple were married at the Algiers Hotel in Las Vegas^[5] on 8 January 1973,^[6] and have one daughter, Natasha, who was born in 1973^{[citation needed]}.

Baksh is a Muslim, while her husband is a Christian. He reflected to The Guardian in 2009: "My wife is a Muslim and she does Muslim stuff; I'm a Christian and I do Christian stuff, and no questions ever come up. The media view of Muslims is different from mine, which is very benign and peaceful."^[7]