Michael Douglas Biography
The Douglas family name has reigned in showbiz for decades and decades starting with the senior actor in the family, Kirk Douglas, he is the father to Michael Douglas together with his socialite wife Diana Hill. If there was a likely place that Michael Douglas would have been born it would have been on a film set since his parents maintained an active life in the world of acting. He was born Michael Kirk Douglas on September 25 1944 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, and soon after taking on an acting career in 1966 he dropped the middle name taking the professional identity of Michael Douglas.
Douglas comes from a long line of Jewish descendants who enjoyed and replicated their success from generation to generation the actor was educated at the Allen-Stevenson School, the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, the International School of Geneva, The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut and the University of California. Douglas’ childhood was very comfortable as he enjoyed the wealth and spoils that came with being a child to Hollywood celebrities, his circles of friends comprised of children of other celebrities, his schools were prestigious and all that he possessed came with the parting of a lot of money.
After completing his college education Douglas had an easy entry into professional acting partly due to his earlier exposure to the trade and partly due to the influence and respect his father had on the film industry. The first role for the newcomer was in the 1966 film titled Cast a Giant Shadow, Douglas’ role was no more than an extra and this production was unnoticed, he struck it big with the next role in 1969 where he played Carl Dixon in the film Hail, Hero!. This film showed Douglas as a talented act crediting him for the first time as a solo artist where he had initially been credited for his family name, for the role Douglas received an early accolade in a young career from the 1969 Golden Globe Awards for Most Promising Male Newcomer.
His award winning performance was replicated in following films like Adam at Six A.M., Napoleon and Samantha, Summertree and The Streets of San Francisco. The Streets of San Francisco was a television series that surged Douglas higher into stardom as he appeared for the lead role, his presence in the series was seen to be one of the reasons for its success so producers kept him on until the last episode in 1976.
Between the 80’s and 90’s Douglas appeared in more high budget films including Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Basic Instinct, Black Rain, The War of the Roses, Get Bruce, The American President, Disclosure, A Perfect Murder and One Day in September.
Most recent roles by the actor in the 2000’s decade are in Wonder Boys, The In-Laws, It Runs in the Family, Solitary Man, You, Me and Dupree, The Sentinel, King of California, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Douglas is currently directing a production titled Haywire, it will premiere in 2011.
For his outstanding performance in the acting scene Douglas was feted in 2009 with an AFI Life Achievement Award.
|
