Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA) is an Oscar-winning American actor and producer. Among his earliest roles was that as Karl Malden's partner, Inspector Steve Keller in the television series The Streets of San Francisco.
Professional
Douglas starred in the long-running TV series The Streets of San Francisco from 1972 to 1976. Michael Douglas also received an Academy Award as producer for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975. Although Douglas was a capable actor on Streets, his career was somewhat stagnant after the series, and he only appeared in occasional movies which were usually less than popular (for example, 1979's Running).
His fortunes changed when he starred in the 1984 romantic adventure comedy Romancing the Stone. His role in this hit movie re-introduced Douglas as a capable and likable leading man and finally made him a super-star at the age of 40. The film was followed a year later in 1985 by a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. In 1987, Douglas starred in Fatal Attraction with Glenn Close and the film became a world-wide hit. Both Douglas and Close attended the same prep school, Choate Rosemary Hall. In 1988, Douglas received another Academy Award, this time for acting in the leading role of Wall Street.
In 1998, Douglas received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[1]
Douglas continued to be one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood and commands a hefty sum for his roles. After the commercial failure of It Runs in the Family (2003), Douglas did not star in a movie for three years, until The Sentinel in 2006.
Personal
Douglas is the son of the celebrated actor Kirk Douglas and Bermudian actress Diana Dill. He graduated from the prestigious Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts before going on to Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. He married Diandra Luker on March 20 1977. They had one son, Cameron (born December 13 1978). In 1980, Douglas was involved in a serious skiing accident which sidelined his acting career for three years. In September of 1992, he underwent treatment for alcohol abuse at Sierra Tucson Center.
In 2000, after 23 years of marriage, Diandra divorced Douglas, complaining of his womanizing, absenteeism, and not being a proper father to Cameron. Douglas married Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones on November 18, 2000. She is exactly 25 years younger than Douglas (they were both born on September 25). They have two children, Dylan Michael (born August 8, 2000) and Carys Zeta (born April 20, 2003).[2] Despite his previous marital problems Douglas has been an outspoken critic of other celebrities for their divorces, including Julia Roberts, Renée Zellweger, and Brad Pitt, rebuking him for divorcing actress Jennifer Aniston in order to "go hold orphans with Angelina Jolie".[citation needed] Douglas later apologized for his remarks regarding Pitt and Jolie, claiming he had been misquoted.
Douglas is an advocate of nuclear disarmament, is a supporter of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and sits on the Board of Directors of the Ploughshares Fund. In 1998 he was appointed UN Messenger of Peace by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. [citation needed] He is a notable Democrat and has donated money mainly to Democratic candidates.
He and Zeta-Jones hosted the annual Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway on December 11, 2003. They acted as co-masters of ceremony in the concert celebrating the award given to Shirin Ebadi.
In 2006, he was awarded an honorary degree (a D.Litt) by the University of St Andrews.
Douglas and his family splits their time between their homes in Pacific Palisades, CA, New York, NY, Aspen, CO, Bermuda and Majorca
Family tree
| Diana Dill | Kirk Douglas | Anne Buydens | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diandra Luker | Michael Douglas | Catherine Zeta-Jones | Joel Douglas | Peter Vincent Douglas | Eric Douglas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cameron Douglas | Dylan Michael Douglas | Carys Zeta Douglas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Controversy
In 1997, New York caddy, James Parker, sued Douglas for USD$25 million.[1][2] Parker accused Douglas of smacking him in the groin with an errant golf ball, causing Parker to lose a testicle and his job. Parker claims Douglas was unsympathetic and tried to give him $60 to disappear. Parker also accused Douglas of using racial slurs as he was leaving the golf course. Douglas claimed that one of his associates was the one responsible for striking Parker's groin with the ball, and the case was later settled out of court.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Mechanic | Kevin Bishop | (announced) |
| Smoke & Mirrors | Jean Robert-Houdin | (announced) | |
| The King of California | Unknown | (pre-production) | |
| 2006 | Racing the Monsoon | Unknown | (announced)(co-producer) |
| The Ride Down Mt. Morgan | Lyman Felt | (announced) | |
| You, Me and Dupree | Mr. Thompson | ||
| The Sentinel | Pete Garrison | (producer) | |
| 2004 | The Beautiful Country | Man on TV | Footage from Wall Street. |
| Tell Them Who You Are | Himself | (documentary) | |
| 2003 | The In-Laws | Steve Tobias | |
| It Runs in the Family | Alex Gromberg | ||
| Direct Order | Narrator | (documentary) | |
| 2001 | Don't Say a Word | Dr. Nathan R. Conrad | |
| In Search of Peace | Narrator | (documentary) | |
| One Night at McCool's | Mr. Burmeister | (producer) | |
| 2000 | Traffic | Robert Wakefield | |
| Wonder Boys | Professor Grady Tripp | ||
| 1999 | One Day in September | Narrator | (documentary) |
| Get Bruce | Himself | (documentary) | |
| 1998 | A Perfect Murder | Steven Taylor | |
| 1997 | The Game | Nicholas van Orton | |
| 1996 | The Ghost and the Darkness | Charles Remington | (executive producer) |
| 1995 | The American President | President Andrew Shepherd | |
| 1994 | Disclosure | Tom Sanders | |
| 1993 | Falling Down | William "D-Fens" Foster | |
| 1992 | Basic Instinct | Nick Curran | |
| Shining Through | Ed Leland | ||
| Oliver Stone: Inside Out | Himself | (documentary) | |
| 1989 | The War of the Roses | Oliver Rose | |
| Black Rain | Det. Sgt. Nick Conklin | ||
| 1987 | Wall Street | Gordon Gekko | |
| Fatal Attraction | Dan Gallagher | ||
| 1985 | A Chorus Line | Zach | |
| The Jewel of the Nile | Jack Colton | (producer) | |
| 1984 | Romancing the Stone | Jack Colton | (producer) |
| 1983 | The Star Chamber | Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin | |
| 1980 | It's My Turn | Ben Lewin | |
| 1979 | Running | Michael Andropolis | |
| The China Syndrome | Richard Adams | (producer) | |
| 1978 | Coma | Dr. Mark Bellows | |
| 1972 | Napoleon and Samantha | Danny | |
| 1971 | Summertree | Jerry | |
| 1970 | Adam at Six A.M. | Adam Gaines | |
| 1969 | Hail, Hero! | Carl Dixon | |
| 1966 | Cast a Giant Shadow | Jeep driver | minor role |
References
- ^ "33rd Karlovy Vary IFF Awards". Retrieved 2006-09-25.
- ^ "Carys - a name rooted in love". BBC News. 2003-04-22. Retrieved 2006-09-25.
External links
- Michael Douglas at IMDb
- Personal papers of Michael Douglas at the Wisconsin Historical Society - Roughly 45,000 documents on Douglas's personal and professional life
- 1944 births
- American film actors
- American television actors
- Belarusian Americans
- Bermudian people
- Best Actor Academy Award winners
- Jewish American actors
- Living people
- New Brunswick, New Jersey
- New Jersey actors
- Scottish-Americans
- University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
- Will & Grace actors
- Worst Actor Razzie nominees
- Film actors