Michael Douglas is one of the few actors who actually appears to be a walking paradox. A household name, an estimated worth of over $200 million, a father (Kirk Douglas) who was one of the world's biggest film stars in the 1950s and 1960s, and a wife whose father is younger than he is, Douglas has indeed gained fame and acclaim. His parents (Kirk and wife Diana Douglas) parents divorced when he was six, and he went to live with his mother and her new husband.

Only seeing Kirk on holidays, Michael attended Eaglebrook school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where he was about a year younger than all of his classmates. Deciding he wanted to be an actor in his teenage years, Michael often asked his father about getting a "foot in the door". Kirk was strongly opposed to Michael pursuing an acting career, saying that it was an industry with many downs and few ups, and that he wanted all four of his sons to stay out of it. Michael, however, was persistent. When he started his career in the early 1970s people were all too ready to tag him as "the next Kirk Douglas". He defied all those critics by accepting sensitive, quiet, hippie-type roles, a far cry from the macho, leading-man, all-American hero parts that his father was most famous for. It didn't earn Michael much credibility, but it earned him his own identity.

His first real break came on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco opposite screen veteran Karl Malden. Michael gained quite a following on this show, and left it to produce One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. His own life was never brilliant either. He had dreams of acting alongside brother Joel Douglas, the one brother out of his three to which he was closest (he would only see Peter Douglas and the late Eric Douglas when he visited his father), but Joel wanted no part of the acting his family was famous for. Michael married the young Diandra Douglas (b. Diane Luker in 1958) in 1977, and they had one son together, Cameron. The marriage failed, as Diandra claimed that she was sick of his womanizing, absenteeism, and not being "a proper father to Cameron".

In the 1980s Michael tried his hand at comedies, the most successful being Romancing the Stone, its sequel The Jewel of the Nile, and The War of the Roses, in which he co-starred with Danny DeVito and Kathleen Turner. It was in the 1990s, though, in which he gained the most notorious aspects of his reputation. He starred in Basic Instinct, a thriller, heavy on sex and violence, that was a worldwide hit. Having played a similar role in Fatal Attraction, it did indeed appear that he was being typecast in "man against woman" type roles, and pictures like Disclosure did nothing to dissuade that opinion. He finally tried to break away from this image with The American President and The Ghost and the Darkness, yet when he started dating Catherine Zeta-Jones, 25 years his junior, this image continued, even after their marriage.

After two children with Jones, Michael is trying to settle down to become a more "family-oriented" actor. The comedy Wonder Boys and the Douglas-clan movie It Runs in the Family were only minor hits, and it appears Michael is again looking for a career change. Trying his hand now at light-hearted comedies, like the re-make of The In-Laws, he hopes to break away from his past reputation.


Traffic (2000): $10,000,000
Wonder Boys (2000): $5,000,000
A Perfect Murder (1998): $20,000,000
The Game (1997): $20,000,000
The American President (1995): $15,000,000
Disclosure (1994): $12,000,000
Basic Instinct (1992): $15,000,000

Son of Kirk Douglas and Diana Douglas. Ranked #74 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Graduated with a B.A. from U.C. Santa Barbara along with singer Jack Johnson and actor Ossie Beck. [1968] Half-brother of Peter Douglas and Eric Douglas. Graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall. Father of Cameron Douglas. Attended Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, MA. Is of Russian-Jewish, Scottish, and Irish heritage. Initially turned down the role of Judge Wakefield in Traffic (2000). He later accepted only after the script underwent extensive re-writes. In 1975, quit the show "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972) to produce the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). In addition to Catherine Zeta-Jones, he also shares a birthday with Will Smith, Heather Locklear, Michael Madsen, Barbara Walters, Mark Hamill, and the late Christopher Reeve. Five days after completing Black Rain (1989/I), he started filming The War of the Roses (1989). In September 1992, he underwent treatment for alcohol and substance abuse at Sierra Tucson Center. He and The China Syndrome (1979) co-stars Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon have all won Oscars for leading roles. Douglas won for Wall Street (1987), Fonda for Klute (1971), and Lemmon for Save the Tiger (1973). Turned down the role of Oliver in Love Story (1970) despite being offered 10% of the gross. His performance as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987) is ranked #25 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Reason for being born in New Brunswick, N.J.: His parents (who had a small apartment in Greenwich Village, N.Y.) were visiting his mother's sister (who was married to one of the founders of Johnson & Johnson which is headquartered in New Bruswick) when he arrived prematurely. Mother is Bermudian. Wrote the obituary tribute for friend and "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972) co-star Karl Malden in Time magazine's "Milestones" section (July 20, 2009). Studied acting with Michael Howard in New York City.