Michael Douglas was born on September 25, 1944 in New Brunswick, New Jersey and is the son of actor Kirk Douglas. His parents broke up when he was six and he started living with his mother. He attended Eaglebrook school in Deerfield, Massachusetts and decided he wanted to be an actor when he was in his teens. Although his father didn’t want him to go into acting, but Michael persisted and had to prove that he was a different actor compared to his father.
He started his career in the sixties, appearing in movies and TV shows. He starred in The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1976) as Inspector Steve Keller. His big breakthrough came when he appeared in Romancing the Stone after which he starred in movies like Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Falling Down and Basic Instinct.
Although he has acted in some amazing movies there is one movie for me which really stands out for me and which I consider one of my favorites. It’s Falling Down. Douglas is amazing in it as an guy who completely loses it and stands up against all the “injustice” which we all see each and every day.
What’s your favorite Michael Douglas role?
I still need to see Falling Down, but I am a big fan of his performance as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. He was also quite good in the lesser-seen Solitary Man.
Do yourself a favour and try to check it out as soon as you can. He’s amazing in that movie and the movie itself is good too. Have seen Solitary Man and although he was good in it, I didn’t like the movie.
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Thanks for commenting Nafees.
welcome Nostra 🙂
Ahhh, Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile – I loved those flicks!
You know, I’ve never seen these movies, only small parts of them. Since you are so enthusiastic about them, I guess I will need to check them out 🙂
Hi, Nostra and company:
Overall, Michael Douglas has never done much for me as an actor or leading man. His best work was done very early on in television, opposite Karl Malden in ‘The Streets of San Francisco’. Though his comedic flair did come to the fore in ‘Romancing the Stone’ and ‘The Jewel of the Nile’. And he did play a believable bastard in ‘Wall Street’. His work has been scatter shot. With stand out roles he can call his own, few and far between.
Not everyone can be a fan of everyone 😉 Have never seen his work in The Streets of San Francisco. I quite like the guy although I haven’t seen him in something truly amazing in a while.
Good post Nostra. I don’t love Douglas all that much, even though I will say his work as an actor can be very good, when he decides to actually break away from that mold we always see him play. Then again, that’s just me.
Thanks! I think he has shown some range if you look at the type of roles he’s done. He’s completely someone else if you compare Wall Street to Falling Down for example…
I was beginning to read this, and started to think about my favorite Michael Douglas roles. I was pleased to see that we share the same favorite. “Falling Down” is so good, and when I think of Douglas, that role sticks out. I really also love him in “The Game”. He is such an intense actor. And one that you can’t take your eye off of, no matter how hard you might try.
Nice! I’ve seen the movie so many times and it has so many great moments. One of the funniest moment to me is on the golf course. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen The Game, must rewatch that!
Nice post. My favorite Michael Douglas performances are Wall Street and Wonder Boys.
Thanks for commenting Fernando. Have not seen Wonder Boys, but looking at IMDB it seems worth checking out!
It’s very good. And that cast!
Admittedly I’ve not always been overly keen on Douglas but he has impressed me in quite a few roles: Wall Street of course but I also really enjoyed his performance in The Game and his humorous turn in One Night At McCools.
I’m surprised as there are quite some comments from people who are not a big fan of his work. The roles you mention though are all good (have not seen One Night At McCools though)
I quite like Michael Douglas. Actually my favorite role of his is in Shining Through. It’s a WWII drama he co-starred with Melanie Griffith.
Have not seen that, but it sounds interesting.
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Great part in Falling Down. He played a lot of good parts. My personal favorite is his part als the arrogant Nicholas van Orton in The Game.
Great choices…really have to get around to rewatching The Game!
Great movie. Also the part played by Sean Penn is excellent!
Yeah, I remember his performance as well. Although not everyone seems to like him as an actor I do.
I don’t understand is… In my opinion it’s one of the greatest actors on this moment…
He’s been a lifetime favorite of mine. He is very versatile and has improved his craft through the years.
The first time I saw him was in the early 70’s where he appeared in an educational film on the Revolutionary War (a couple of clips of this are on You Tube). My favorite movie roles were “Star Chamber”, “The American President” and “Fatal Attraction”. For his more current work, “Solitary Man” is amazing. And of course, his TV breakthrough role will probably be my utlimate favorite.
Yeah, he’s a great actor. Haven’t seen all those movies. I wasn’t a big fan of Solitary Man even though his performance was good.