Michael is an American film actor, producer, and winner of an Oscar for Best Actor for Wall Street. He has four Golden Globes and is the son of Kirk Douglas, legendary film actor Hollywood classic.

Fame was slow to come for Michael Douglas

Despite being a very capable actor, his career followed a somewhat strange course and it took him a long time to become the great star he is today. Although in 1979 he co-starred with Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda in the hit The China Syndrome, he remained a fairly unknown figure until 1984, when he filmed the romantic adventure comedy Romancing the Stone with Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. His role in this commercially successful film shows him as an actor capable of playing leading roles.

Global Success

Douglas established himself as a box-office star by playing an unfaithful husband in Fatal Attraction, starring Glenn Close as the female lead. The film automatically became a worldwide hit and became part of Hollywood's elite cinema. Michael Douglas would insist on a similar role of a man with problems in two other successful films: Basic Instinct, with Sharon Stone, and Stalking, this time besieged by Demi Moore. His most recent works include Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, the comedy Last Vegas with Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman, and Behind the Candelabra with Matt Damon, in which Douglas plays the pianist Liberace.

Michael Douglas Interesting Facts

• He couldn't act for three years after a serious skiing accident in 1980.
• He was once roommates with Danny DeVito!
• He and his wife share a birthday!