Michael-Douglas

Name: Michael Douglas

Birth Name: Michael Kirk Douglas

Birthdate: Sept. 25, 1944

Birthplace: New Brunswick, N.J.

Being born into a famous acting family didn't necessarily help Douglas in the beginning. Though he starred in the cop series The Streets of San Francisco from 1972-76 and won an Oscar for producing 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, his career stagnated until 1984's Romancing the Stone— he eventually earned leading-man status at age 40. His claim to fame is being unafraid to take on any role no matter how sleazy; the characters he creates are often arrogant yet likable, amoral yet charismatic, i.e. his ice-cold corporate raider Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (Oscar No. 2 for Best Actor), his adulterous husband in Fatal Attraction, his romantic widower in The American President.


1. After a ski accident, he took up golf; he also likes to smoke cigars and collect fine wine.
2. 1996 was a rough year for Douglas: his younger brother Eric was arrested for a DUI (he's also been arrested twice for disrupting behavior on airplanes); his son Cameron entered rehab; his father Kirk suffered a stroke; he proceeded to divorce his first wife, Diandra.
3. Before his attempt at acting at age 21, he had flunked out of school and worked at a gas station.
4. He's involved in a number of organizations including the Anti-Gun Coalition of America, Cease Fire and the Artists Rights Foundation.
5. He owns a hotel in Bermuda, the Ariel Sands Beach Club.


On being the most successful of Kirk Douglas's sons: "I am the alpha son, and the first child in any family tends to be the dominant one. I think it also helped that I was a '60s hippie. Growing up, I wasn't obsessed with money and success. It was a wonderful, magical time to grow up. I didn't feel pressured to succeed and therefore I was never intimidated by failure."
— The Express Daily News, Sept. 7, 1997


Wife: Catherine Zeta-Jones, actress, married Nov. 18, 2000
Wife: Diandra Luker, married March 20, 1977, divorced June 2000
Daughter: (with Zeta-Jones) Carys Zeta Douglas, born 2003
Son: (with Zeta-Jones) Dylan Michael, born 2000
Son: (with Luker) Cameron Morrell, born 1978

2004: Golden Globe: Cecil B. DeMille Award

2001: Golden Globe nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture  Drama, Wonder Boys

1996: Golden Globe nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), The American President

1990: Golden Globe nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), The War of the Roses

1988: Academy Award: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Wall Street; Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama), Wall Street

1976: Academy Award: Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (shared with Saul Zaentz)

1975: Golden Globe nomination: Best TV Actor (Drama), The Streets of San Francisco

1970: Golden Globe nomination: Most Promising Newcomer (Male), Hail, Hero!

 

FILMS

King of California - (2007) - Actor
You, Me and Dupree - (2006) - Actor
The Sentinel - (2006) - Actor, Producer
Tell Them Who You Are - (2005) - Featured
Runaway Jury/Star Chamber/The Boston Strangler/Class Action - (2005) - Actor
It Runs in the Family - (2003) - Actor, Producer
The In-Laws - (2003) - Actor
One Night at McCool's - (2001) - Actor, Producer
Don't Say a Word - (2001) - Actor
Wonder Boys - (2000) - Actor
One Day in September - (2000) - Narrator
Traffic - (2000) - Actor
A Perfect Murder - (1998) - Actor
Big Screen Superstars: Nick Nolte/Richard Gere/Mel Gibson/Michael Douglas - (1998) - Actor
Face/Off - (1997) - Producer
The Game - (1997) - Actor
The Ghost and the Darkness - (1996) - Actor
The American President - (1995) - Actor
Disclosure - (1994) - Actor
Falling Down - (1993) - Actor
Shining Through - (1992) - Actor
Basic Instinct - (1992) - Actor
Flatliners - (1990) - Producer
Black Rain - (1989) - Actor
The War of the Roses - (1989) - Actor
Wall Street - (1987) - Actor
Fatal Attraction - (1987) - Actor
The Jewel of the Nile - (1985) - Actor
Romancing the Stone - (1984) - Actor
The Star Chamber - (1983) - Actor
It's My Turn - (1980) - Actor
The China Syndrome - (1979) - Actor, Producer
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - (1975) - Producer
Napoleon and Samantha - (1972) - Actor
Adam at 6 a.m. - (1970) - Actor
Hail Hero! - (1969) - Actor