Michael Douglas has experienced a lot in 80 years: two long marriages, two early Oscars – but also health and family problems.
What is called nepotism in today’s Hollywood used to be called more benevolently belonging to an acting dynasty. Let’s put it this way: The fact that Michael Douglas was able to call Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), one of the greatest authorities in the film industry, “dad” certainly didn’t harm his own career. On September 25, Michael Douglas celebrates a milestone birthday, has long since become a cinema legend himself – and thanks to his father Kirk, he knows that life is far from over at 80.
Slick, wicked and manic
What the 50s and 60s were for Kirk Douglas, the 80s and 90s were for his son Michael: After his breakthrough in the series “The Streets of San Francisco” (1972-1976), Douglas was sometimes charming and wicked, sometimes slippery and manic. The romantic adventure comedy “The Hunt for the Green Diamond” (1984) and its sequel “The Jewel of the Nile” (1985) made him a heartthrob on the big screen. In films such as “The War of the Roses” (1989) and “Falling Down” (1993), he lost his mind in a way that was well worth seeing.
In 1988, the first highlight of his acting career came: Douglas was awarded the Oscar for “Best Actor” for his portrayal of the aspiring yuppie Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s (77) “Wall Street”. A great honor, but not his first. In fact, he had already been able to call himself an Oscar winner since 1976: He had co-produced “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, which was released the year before and starred Jack Nicholson (87). To this day, the film about a rebellious inmate of a psychiatric institution is one of the few films to win all of the top categories of the Academy Awards (the “Big Five”).
As an actor, Douglas seemed to follow one genre at every turn: for a while in his career, Douglas was something like “Mr. Erotic Thriller”. From “Fatal Attraction” (1987) to “Basic Instinct” (1992) to “Revelation” (1994) – whenever Hollywood wanted to drop its pants in a suspenseful situation, his number seemed to be on speed dial. A fact that he “owes” a widespread rumor to this day.
Real and fictional addictions
Apparently he played the role of a man of power with a penchant for affairs a little too convincingly. The rumor quickly spread that Douglas suffered from acute sex addiction. Even in old age he had to deal with the – in his opinion baseless – allegation. In 2015 he explained: “Let me explain how this whole ‘sex addiction’ thing happened,” he told the paper. “I had a drinking problem – I had just lost my stepfather and had been through a good rehab.” Since the film “Basic Instinct” had just been released, a “clever editor” came up with sex addiction. “It became a new illness. Nobody had written about it before then, but it has stuck with me ever since.”
Two long-term marriages
A look at his previous marriages proves that Douglas is certainly capable of monogamy. In 1977 he married film producer Diandra Luker (68), and two years later their son Cameron (45) was born. The marriage ended in divorce in 2000 after around 23 years. His marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones – who also has a birthday on September 25th and turns 55 – has lasted even longer, albeit with a break in between.
The fateful meeting between the two took place in 1998 at the Deauville Film Festival. Douglas went all out: “I looked at her and said: ‘Catherine, I will be the father of your children’.” Despite her initial skepticism about the statement, he was proven right: son Dylan (24) was born three months before the wedding in 2000. The wedding celebration in the Plaza Hotel in Central Park cost the equivalent of 2.5 million euros and Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt (60), Danny DeVito (79) and Sir Anthony Hopkins (86) were in attendance. Daughter Carys (21) was born in 2003.
Shock diagnosis and problem child
In 2010, Douglas was diagnosed with a serious illness: a tumor was discovered in his throat. Two years later, the good news came: Douglas had beaten the cancer. Zeta-Jones also had health problems at the time: she went to a clinic in 2011 because of bipolar disorder. The health problems apparently took a toll on their relationship: in August 2013, the two actors announced that they were taking a break. Fortunately, they were soon reconciled and have continued to this day.
In addition to her own personal problems, she was worried about Douglas’ son Cameron, who was initially sentenced to five years and later to a total of seven years for possession of heroin and sale of methamphetamine. “My son’s ordeal was a nightmare. It was stressful, very painful and difficult for everyone involved,” Douglas said in an interview with “Page Six” in July 2018. Cameron has been free since 2016 and Douglas was able to proudly announce: “I am very happy to say that he is in wonderful shape.”
The third spring
So everything is back to normal in his private life and since 2015 Douglas’ career has also experienced something of a third spring. At over 70, he became a Marvel hero in his old age thanks to his role as Henry “Hank” Pym in the film “Ant-Man”. He has played the role three more times since then, most recently last year in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”.
He also conquered the streaming world with the Netflix series “The Kominsky Method” (2018-2021). He shone in three seasons as Sandy Kominsky, an aging actor who now earns his living as an acting teacher. For this role he won the Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Comedy Series”.
The fact that he continues to throw himself headlong into new projects at the age of 80 is probably due to another thing that his father, Kirk Douglas, gave him. The film legend lived to the age of 103 and only ended his career in front of the camera when he was over 90.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
