MICHAEL DOUGLAS (Robert Wakefield) is a two-time Academy Award-winning producer and actor who has a gift for choosing projects that reflect current trends and public concerns.
Among his earliest successes was his role in the television series "The Streets of San Francisco," co-starring with Karl Malden, which earned him three successive Emmy Award nominations. He also directed two of the episodes.
Long interested in making a film of Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Douglas purchased the movie rights from his father, Kirk Douglas, and formed a partnership with Saul Zaentz to produce the film. The 1975 film version (directed by Milos Forman) won Academy Awards for Best Picture (shared by Douglas and Zaentz), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress; and went on to gross more than $180 million.
Douglas' next producing project, in which he starred with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon, was the controversial thriller "The China Syndrome" (1979). The film, directed by James Bridges, was nominated for three Academy Awards and found success with both critics and audiences.
Douglas served as actor and producer with the 1984 hit "Romancing the Stone" (directed by Robert Zemeckis), and was named Producer of the Year in 1984 by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO). The following year, he reteamed with his "Romancing the Stone" costars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito for "The Jewel of the Nile" (directed by Lewis Teague).
"Starman," executive-produced by Douglas and directed by John Carpenter, was the sleeper hit of the 1984 Christmas season and earned an Academy Award nomination for lead actor Jeff Bridges. Douglas would later create a television series based on the film.
In 1987, he was seen on-screen in two memorable starring roles: opposite Glenn Close in Adrian Lyne' s blockbuster hit "Fatal Attraction," and as corporate raider Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street." The latter performance earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Douglas next produced the hit "Flatliners," directed by Joel Schumacher, and starred in Ridley Scott's "Black Rain." He then teamed up again with Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito in the DeVito-directed black comedy "The War of the Roses."
"Basic Instinct," in which Douglas starred opposite Sharon Stone for director Paul Verhoeven, was one of the top-grossing films of 1992. The following year, he gave one of his most powerful performances in the controversial drama "Falling Down" (directed by Joel Schumacher). That year, he also produced the hit comedy "Made in America" (directed by Richard Benjamin). His next starring roles were in Barry Levinson's "Disclosure" and Rob Reiner's "The American President."
In 1994, Douglas formed Douglas/Reuther Productions with Steven Reuther. The company produced John Woo's hit thriller "Face/Off' and Francis Ford Coppola's "John Grisham's The Rainmaker." As an actor, Douglas subsequently starred in David Fincher's "The Game," Andrew Davis' "A Perfect Murder," and this year's critically acclaimed "Wonder Boys," directed by Curtis Hanson.
In 1998, Douglas formed Furthur Films. The company's first production, "One Night at McCool's," directed by Harald Zwart and starring Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser, and Douglas, will be released by USA Films in March.
Douglas recently narrated Kevin Macdonald's "One Day in September," which received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He next stars in Gary Fleder's "Don't Say a Word."
In 1998, Michael Douglas was named a Messenger of Peace for the United Nations by Secretary General Kofi Annan. His two areas of concentration are nuclear abolition and small arms proliferation.
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