Michael Douglas!

Michael Douglas is born

Actor, producer, director. Born Michael Kirk Douglas, on September 25, 1944, to actor Kirk Douglas and mother Diana Dill. Michael Douglas 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. Michael Douglas began his Hollywood career as an assistant director on some of father Kirk Douglas' 1960s films. After roles in several TV dramas, Michael Douglas gained notoriety by costarring with Karl Malden in the 1970s television series The Streets of San Francisco (ABC, 1972-77). Michael Douglas 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 Michael Douglas coproduced and starred with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome.

Michael Douglas first leading role

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.

Michael Douglas's darker side

He made two films in 1987 which reflected a much darker side: Fatal Attraction, in which Michael Douglas played an adulterer stalked by an ex-lover (played by Glenn Close); and costarred 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.

Michael Douglas in 1992

In 1992 Michael Douglas continued exploring his dark side by costarring with Sharon Stone in the thriller Basic Instinct.

Michael Douglas forms production company

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 Michael Douglas produced Made in America, then starred as a sexually harassed man in Michael Crichton's Disclosure (1994), and as the titular Chief Executive Officer in Rob Reiner's The American President (1995), costarring Annette Bening.

Michael Douglas at Paramount

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). Michael Douglas executive-produced The Rainmaker (1997) starring Matt Damon, and John Woo's action film Face/Off (1997). Douglas earned critical acclaim for his starring role as a rumpled novelist and English professor in Wonder Boys (2000). In the fall of 2001, Douglas headlined the thriller Don't Say a Word. In 2003, Douglas starred in It Runs in the Family alongside his dad Kirk, his mom Diana and his son Cameron. The film, which faired poorly at the box office, told the story of a multi-generation clan trying to get along. The following year, Douglas followed in his father's footsteps as the recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Cecil B. DeMille Award for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment field.

Michael Douglas and human rights

Douglas is active in promoting human rights and serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Michael Douglas married Diandra Luker in 1977.

Michael Douglas becomes a father

They had one son, Cameron, but were separated in 1995 and later divorced. Douglas married Welsh actress and Traffic costar Catherine Zeta-Jones on November 18, 2000; the couple has a son, Dylan Michael Douglas, born in August 2000, and a daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, born in April 2003. In July 2004, Douglas' brother Eric was found dead inside a Manhattan apartment building; the cause of death is uknown.