Michael Douglas
(Grady Tripp)
Biography
Actor, producer, director, born Michael Kirk Douglas, on September 25, 1944, to actor Kirk Douglas and mother Diana Dill. He is the brother of Joel, Peter, and Eric.
Douglas studied drama at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and in New York at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the American Place Theatre. He began his Hollywood career as an assistant director on some of father Kirk Douglas’ 1960s films. After roles in several TV dramas, he gained notoriety by co-starring with Karl Malden in the 1970s television series The Streets of San Francisco (ABC, 1972-77). He also directed two episodes of the show. In 1975, Douglas was executive producer for Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture. In 1979 he co-produced and starred with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome.
Douglas landed his first leading man role in Romancing the Stone (1984), portraying Jack Colton, an Indiana Jones-type adventurer. This successful teaming of Douglas with Danny DeVito and Kathleen Turner led to a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile (1985). The three worked again in The War of the Roses (1989), a black comedy about an ugly divorce.
He made two films in 1987 which reflected a much darker side: Fatal Attraction, in which he played an adulterer stalked by an ex-lover (played by Glenn Close); and co-starred in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street as the corporate raider Gordon Gekko, whose trademark slogan is “Greed is good.” Douglas won a Best Actor Academy Award for this role. In 1992 he continued exploring his dark side by co-starring with Sharon Stone in the thriller Basic Instinct.
In 1988, Douglas formed a production company, Stonebridge Entertainment, Inc., which produced Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) and Richard Donner’s Radio Flyer (1992). In 1993 he produced Made in America, then starred as a sexually harassed man in Michael Crichton’s Disclosure (1994), and as the Chief Executive Officer in Rob Reiner’s The American President (1995), co-starring Annette Bening.
He signed a development deal at Paramount in 1994, which included The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), The Game (1997) and A Perfect Murder (1998). He executive-produced The Rainmaker (1997) starring Matt Damon, and John Woo’s action film Face/Off (1997). Other projects include Still Life with Meryl Streep (1999), One Night at McCool’s (2000), and A Song for David (2000), which will co-star his father, Kirk.
Douglas married Diandra Luker in 1977. They had a son, Cameron. The couple divorced in 1995. He is romantically linked with Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones.
Douglas is active in promoting human rights and serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace
Works
1969 Where's Jack?
1969 Hail, Hero!
1970 Adam at 6 A.M.
1971 Summertree
1971 When Michael Calls (TV)
1972 Napoleon and Samantha
1972 " The Streets of San Francisco " TV Series
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Producer
1978 Coma
1979 The China Syndrome (also Producer)
1979 Running
1980 It's My Turn
1980 A Perfect Circle
1983 The Star Chamber
1984 Starman (Executive Producer)
1984 Romancing the Stone (also Producer)
1985 The Jewel of the Nile (also Producer)
1985 A Chorus Line Producer
1986 "Starman" (TV series) (Executive Producer)
1987 Fatal Attraction
1987 Wall Street
1989 The War of the Roses
1989 Black Rain
1990 Flatliners Producer
1991 Eyes of an Angel (Executive Producer)
1992 Basic Instinct
1992 Shining Through
1993 Made in America
1993 Falling Down
1994 Disclosure
1995 The American President
1996 The Ghost and the Darkness (also Executive Producer)
1997 The Game
1997 Face/Off (Executive Producer)
1997 The Rainmaker (Executive Producer)
1997 Cannes... les 400 coups (TV)
1998 A Perfect Murder (also Producer)
1999 Still Life
(unknown) Wonder Boys
2000 A Song for David (also Producer)
2000 One Night at McCool's (also Producer)
