Age, Biography, and Wiki
Michael Kirk Douglas was born on September 25, 1944, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. As of 2025, he is 80 years old. The son of legendary actor Kirk Douglas, Michael carved his own path in Hollywood through a mix of acting, producing, and directing. Douglas has accumulated over 65 acting credits, more than 30 producer credits, and has directed at least one major project.
His Wikipedia page provides a detailed look at his life and prolific career.
| Occupation | Film Producer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 25 September 1944 |
| Age | 80 Years |
| Birth Place | New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | Jersey |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Michael Douglas stands at approximately 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm) tall. His weight is estimated to be around 165 pounds (75 kg). These measurements are based on historical public records and interviews, as he generally keeps his private health details out of the spotlight.
In November 2010, Douglas' doctors put him on a weight-gain diet due to excessive weight loss that left him weak. On January 11, 2011, he said that the tumor was gone, though the illness and aggressive treatment had caused him to lose 32 pounds (14.5 kg). He said he would require monthly screenings because of a high chance of recurrence within three years. In June 2013, Douglas told The Guardian that his type of cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus transmitted by cunnilingus, leading some media to report this as well. His spokesman denied these reports and portrayed Douglas' conversation with The Guardian as general and not referring specifically to his diagnosis.
| Height | 5 feet 10 inches |
| Weight | 75 kg |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Michael Douglas has been married twice. He was first married to Diandra Douglas, with whom he has a son, Cameron. The couple divorced in 2000 after 23 years of marriage. In 2000, Douglas married actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. They have two children together, Dylan and Carys. As of 2025, Michael Douglas is happily married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the couple is frequently seen together at public events and on social media.
The elder son of Kirk Douglas and Diana Dill, Douglas earned his Bachelor of Arts in drama from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), having acquired the rights to the novel from his father and later earned the Academy Award for Best Picture as a producer. Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987), a role which he reprised in the sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010). Other notable roles include in The China Syndrome (1979), Romancing the Stone (1984), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Fatal Attraction (1987), The War of the Roses (1989), Basic Instinct (1992), Falling Down (1993), The American President (1995), The Game (1997), Traffic (2000), Wonder Boys (2000), and Solitary Man (2009).
Michael's paternal grandparents were emigrants from Chavusy in the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus). His mother was from Devonshire Parish, Bermuda, and had English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, French, Belgian, and Dutch ancestry. Douglas' uncle was politician Sir Nicholas Bayard Dill, and Douglas' maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Melville Dill, served as Attorney General of Bermuda, as a Member of the Parliament of Bermuda (MCP), and as commanding officer of the Bermuda Militia Artillery. Douglas is a US citizen by birth in the United States and has Bermudian Status from his mother's birth in Bermuda.
His great-grandfather, Thomas Newbold Dill (1837–1910), was a merchant, an MCP for Devonshire Parish from 1868 to 1888, a member of the legislative council and an assistant justice from 1888, mayor of the City of Hamilton from 1891 to 1897, served on numerous committees and boards, and was a member of the Devonshire Church (Church of England) and Devonshire Parish vestries. Thomas Newbold Dill's father, another Thomas Melville Dill, was a sea captain who took the Bermudian-built barque Sir George F. Seymour from Bermuda to Ireland in thirteen days in March 1858, but lost his master's certificate after the wreck of the Bermudian-built Cedrine on the Isle of Wight while returning the last convict laborers from the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda to Britain in 1863. The current (installed on 29 May 2013) Bishop of Bermuda, the Right Reverend Nicholas Dill, is a cousin of Michael Douglas.
In late 1971, Douglas received from his father, Kirk Douglas, the rights to the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which had been purchased by Bryna Productions in February 1962. Michael went on to produce the film of the same name with Saul Zaentz. Kirk Douglas hoped to portray McMurphy himself, having starred in an earlier stage version, but the director, Milos Forman, went with Jack Nicholson, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Douglas won the Award for Best Picture for producing the film. In December 1976, Michael and his brother Peter became head of their father's film production company, The Bryna Company, though Michael would depart by 1978 to focus exclusively on producing through his own Bigstick Productions.
In 2000, Douglas starred in Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed film Traffic, opposite Benicio del Toro and future wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Douglas and the cast of Traffic were awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. That same year he also received critical acclaim for his role in Wonder Boys, as a professor and novelist suffering from writer's block. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Douglas starred in Don't Say a Word (2001), filmed shortly before his marriage to Zeta-Jones. In 2003, he starred in It Runs in the Family, which featured three generations of his family (his parents, Kirk and Diana, as well as his son, Cameron). Although a labor of love, the film was not successful, critically or at the box office. Also in 2003, Douglas starred in The In-Laws. Douglas was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes in 2004. Michael and Kirk Douglas are the only father and son pair to have both been awarded this recognition. He then starred in and produced the action-thriller The Sentinel in 2006. During that time, he also guest starred on the episode "Fagel Attraction" of the television sitcom Will & Grace as a gay cop attracted to Will Truman (Eric McCormack); the performance earned Douglas an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Show. Douglas was also the voice of founding father Benjamin Franklin in Freedom: A History of US, the PBS television adaptation of Joy Hakim's 10-volume book A History of US.
Douglas collaborated with Steven Soderbergh again on the 2013 film Behind the Candelabra, playing Liberace, opposite Matt Damon as Scott Thorson. The film dramatizes the last 10 years of the pianist's life and the relationship he had with Thorson. His portrayal of Liberace received critical acclaim, which resulted in him receiving the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. He also won SAG and Golden Globe Awards for the performance. Also that year, he starred in Last Vegas, a comedy also starring Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline. In 2014, Douglas starred alongside Diane Keaton in the romantic comedy, And So It Goes and he produced and starred in Beyond the Reach.
These themes of perceived male victimization are seen in films such as Fatal Attraction (1987) with Glenn Close, The War of the Roses (1989) with Kathleen Turner, Basic Instinct (1992) with Sharon Stone, Falling Down (1993), and Disclosure (1994) with Demi Moore. For his characters in films such as these, "any kind of sexual contact with someone other than his mate and the mother of his children is destined to come at a costly price." Edelman describes his characters as the "Everyman who must contend with, and be victimized by, these women and their raging, psychotic sexuality".
In March 1999, Douglas began dating Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. The pair married on November 18, 2000. Zeta-Jones says that when they met in Deauville, France, Douglas said, "I want to father your children." They have two children, son Dylan Michael (born August 8, 2000) and daughter Carys Zeta (born April 20, 2003). The family has a coastal estate near Valldemossa, Mallorca.
In a preemptive statement, Douglas admitted to using coarse language but categorically denied any other wrongdoing. Zeta-Jones, asked about the allegations while promoting Cocaine Godmother, did not address them directly but said that her husband was "110 percent behind" the #MeToo movement and that she was "very, very happy" with his statement.
In a 2016 interview with Town & Country magazine, Douglas described his philanthropic giving as the "sprinkle approach". He has given to over 70 organizations including Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the hospital where he was treated for cancer. Douglas is a benefactor and board member of the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City and a longstanding board member of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT where he worked for three summers during college. He attended the ribbon-cutting opening ceremony in September 2023. He supports PEN America and has presented awards at the organization's annual galas. In 1999, Douglas funded the establishment of UC San Francisco's Michael Douglas Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Center. Douglas is a supporter of the Clinton Global Initiative, part of the Clinton Foundation. In 2023, Douglas voiced the opening film, "Keep Going!" shown at the opening event of the annual meeting. For 12 years, Douglas hosted the Michael Douglas and Friends Celebrity Golf Tournament, raising over $10 million for the Motion Picture & Television Fund. At UC Santa Barbara, he supports the Center for Film, Television, and New Media. He also founded and funds the Michael Douglas Foundation Visiting Artists Program for the Department of Theater and Dance. He serves on the Board of Trustees of The Douglas Foundation which has granted more than $118 million to organizations committed to providing more equitable access to education, healthcare, and the arts. The foundation was founded by his father and stepmother, Kirk and Anne Douglas, in 1964.
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| Husband | Diandra Luker (m. 1977-1995) Catherine Zeta-Jones (m. November 18, 2000) |
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Net Worth and Salary
Michael Douglas’s net worth in 2025 is estimated at $350 million. This fortune comes from his extensive career as an actor, producer, and occasional director. His film salaries have varied, with his highest paydays reaching between $10 million and $20 million for major roles, particularly during the 1990s. For television roles, it’s estimated he earns in the high hundreds of thousands per episode. His annual earnings can exceed $30 million, combining acting and producing work.
Career, Business, and Investments
Michael Douglas’s career began in television with The Streets of San Francisco, for which he received three consecutive Emmy nominations. He rose to prominence in films such as The China Syndrome, Romancing the Stone, Fatal Attraction, and Basic Instinct. He won Academy Awards for producing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and for acting in Wall Street.
Douglas has also produced and acted in numerous blockbusters and critically acclaimed films. He joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dr. Hank Pym in the Ant-Man series, further expanding his reach to younger audiences.
On television, he started his career earning three consecutive Emmy Award nominations for playing a homicide inspector in the ABC police procedural series The Streets of San Francisco (1972–1976). He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for portraying Liberace in the HBO film Behind the Candelabra (2013), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for playing an aging acting coach in the Netflix comedy series The Kominsky Method (2018–2021). He played Benjamin Franklin in the Apple TV+ miniseries Franklin (2024). He portrayed Hank Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Ant-Man (2015).
His first TV breakthrough role came with a 1969 CBS Playhouse special, The Experiment—and it was the only time he was billed as "M.K. Douglas". On November 24, 1969, Douglas formed his first independent film production company, Bigstick Productions, Limited. Michael Douglas started his film career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing in little known films such as Hail, Hero!, Adam at 6 A.M., and Summertree. His performance in Hail, Hero! earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Male Newcomer.
Douglas' acting career was propelled to fame when he produced and starred in the 1984 romantic adventure comedy Romancing the Stone. It also reintroduced Douglas as a capable leading man, giving director Robert Zemeckis his first box-office success. The film also starred Danny DeVito, a friend of Douglas' with who he had shared an apartment in the 1960s. It was followed a year later by a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, which he also produced. Bigstick Productions was then partnered with Mercury Entertainment, a company backed by producer Michael Phillips in 1986 to produce independently financed features. In the 1980s, Douglas formed a new film production company, The Stone Group (later renamed Stonebridge Entertainment) with partner Rick Bieber.
In 1992, Douglas founded the short-lived Atlantic Records distributed label Third Stone Records. He founded the label with record producer Richard Rudolph, who became the company's president and CEO. Among the acts signed to Third Stone were Saigon Kick and Nona Gaye.
That same year, Douglas had another successful starring role when he appeared alongside Sharon Stone in the film Basic Instinct. The movie was a box office hit and sparked controversy over its depictions of bisexuality and lesbianism. In March 1994, Douglas announced that he had formed a new film production company, Douglas/Reuther Productions, in partnership with Steven Reuther. In 1994 Douglas and Demi Moore starred in the hit movie Disclosure focusing on the topic of sexual harassment with Douglas playing a man harassed by his new female boss. Other popular films he starred in during the decade were Falling Down, The American President, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Game (directed by David Fincher), and a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic – Dial M for Murder – titled A Perfect Murder. In 1998 Douglas received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. On November 19, 1997, Douglas formed his fourth film production company, Furthur Films.
Douglas was approached for Basic Instinct 2, but declined to participate in the project. In 2006, Douglas was Mr. Thompson in You, Me, and Dupree. The following year, Douglas played Charlie in King of California. In December 2007, Douglas began announcing the introduction to NBC Nightly News. Howard Reig, the previous announcer, had retired two years earlier. That same year, Douglas received the Career Achievement Award from the National Board of Review.
He played Hank Pym, the Marvel Comics superhero, in the films Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). In 2016, Douglas received his second Cesar d'Honneur for Career Achievement from the French Cesar Awards; the first was in 1998. In 2017, Douglas starred in the action thriller Unlocked.
Over his career he has received two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received several honors such as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2009, two Honorary Césars in 1998 and 2016, a Film Society at Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 2010, a Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2004, and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018.
In 1980, Douglas was involved in a serious skiing accident which sidelined his acting career for three years. On September 17, 1992, the same year Basic Instinct came out, he began a 30-day treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction at Sierra Tucson Center.
Michael Douglas has been involved in various charitable activities, focusing on healthcare, nuclear disarmament, and human rights. Since 1998, he has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, primarily concentrating on disarmament issues. Douglas has supported the Motion Picture & Television Fund, which aids those in the entertainment industry, and has participated in fundraising efforts for the Jewish General Hospital and the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, where he was diagnosed with cancer. Additionally, he has been involved with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Michael Douglas has also raised awareness about the link between human papillomavirus (HPV) and oropharyngeal cancer, citing medical evidence and his diagnosis to promote public health education and preventive measures. He was featured in the "100 Influential Celebrities in Oncology: The 2023 Edition" by OncoDaily for his contributions to public awareness.
In 2003, Douglas hosted a "powerful film" on child soldiers and the impact of combat on children in countries such as Sierra Leone. During the documentary film, entitled ''What's Going On? Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone,'' Douglas interviewed children, and estimated that they were among 300,000 other children worldwide who have been conscripted or kidnapped and forced to fight. Of one such child he interviewed, Douglas stated, "After being kidnapped by a rebel group, he was tortured, drugged, and forced to commit atrocities." Douglas discussed his role as a Messenger Peace for the UN: "I'm in an enviable position ... When I talk about movies I can talk about messages of peace, and infuse them into the entertainment pages."
Social Network
Michael Douglas is active on social media, sharing insights into his professional life, philanthropic efforts, and personal moments. His social channels, including Instagram and Facebook, are managed to highlight his work in Hollywood and his advocacy for various causes.
Conversely, Douglas also played powerful characters with dominating personalities, including Gordon Gekko, in the Wall Street franchise, who was described as the "greedy yuppie personification of the Me generation," and says "greed is good" in the movie; in Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, he played an idealistic soldier of fortune; in The Star Chamber (1983), he was a court judge fed up with an inadequate legal system, leading him to become involved with a vigilante group; and in Black Rain (1989), he proved he could also play a Stallone-like action hero as a New York City cop.
"I love the fact that on one side, with acting, you can be a child—acting is wonderful for its innocence and the fun ... On the other side, producing is fun for all the adult kinds of things you do. You deal in business, you deal with the creative forces. As an adult who continues to get older, you like the adult risks. It's flying without a net, taking chances and learning. I was never good in economics or business—had no business background, you know, and I like it.
Douglas attributed the cancer to stress, his previous alcohol abuse, and years of heavy smoking. In July 2011, Star magazine published photographs which appeared to show him smoking a cigarette while on holiday that month. A representative declined to comment on the photographs.
Douglas has been a major supporter of gun control since John Lennon was murdered in 1980. Since then Douglas has supported gun safety organizations like Everytown for Gun Safety and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Education
Michael Douglas attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut for high school. He then studied humanities at the University of California, Santa Barbara before earning a degree in drama from the American Place Theatre in New York City. His education laid the groundwork for his successful transition into acting and producing.
Douglas attended The Allen-Stevenson School in New York City, Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and The Choate Preparatory School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut. He received his B.A. in dramatic art from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1968, where he was also the honorary president of the UCSB Alumni Association. He studied acting with Wynn Handman at The American Place Theatre in New York City.
According to film historian and critic David Thomson, Douglas was capable of playing characters who were "weak, culpable, morally indolent, compromised, and greedy for illicit sensation without losing that basic probity or potential for ethical character that we require of a hero". Critic and author Rob Edelman points out similarities in many of Douglas' roles, writing that in some of his leading films, he personified the "contemporary, Caucasian middle-to-upper-class American male who finds himself the brunt of female anger because of real or imagined sexual slights".
Douglas credits the discovery of his cancer to the public Canadian health system when a doctor in Montreal, Quebec diagnosed the actor's medical condition after numerous American specialists failed to do so. Douglas has since participated in fundraisers for Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, where he was diagnosed, and the McGill University Health Centre with which the hospital is affiliated.
In June 2024, Douglas visited Israel and toured the sites of Be'eri and Nova music festival massacres during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. After his tour of the sites, he met with President of Israel Isaac Herzog and during his meeting, Douglas described the participants of the pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses as undergone "brainwashing… because when you try to talk to many of them, there is no education, there's no knowledge."
