Sir Michael Caine retires from acting at age 90

"You don't have leading men at 90, you're going to have young handsome boys and girls," Michael Caine says.

Sir Michael Caine has retired from acting.

The 90-year-old actor - who has starred in more than 180 movies over seven decades - insisted he is too old to be a leading man and his latest movie, The Great Escaper, will be his last.

Michael told BBC Radio 4′s Today show: “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well I am now.

”I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and had incredible reviews ... What am I going to do that will beat this?

”The only parts I’m liable to get now are 90-year-old men. Or maybe 85.

”They’re not going to be the lead. You don’t have leading men at 90, you’re going to have young handsome boys and girls. So I thought, I might as well leave with all this.”

In The Great Escaper, Michael stars alongside Glenda Jackson, who died in June after the completion of the film, and revealed he turned down the movie three times before accepting the role.

He plays real-life World War 2 veteran Bernie Jordan who escaped from a care home to attend D-Day celebrations in France.

However, the star - who wed model Shakira Baksh in 1973 after seeing her in a TV advert and tracking her down - is not slowing down and is preparing for the release of his first novel Deadly Game, which follows the adventures of DCI Harry Taylor.

He previously said: “It’s been my ambition for years to write a thriller. It’s the genre I most love to read and I’ve really got a buzz out of working on Deadly Game and teaming up with Hodder once again to publish it.”