Having a famous father opened many doors to Michael that would have been closed to other young Hollywood hopefuls. Douglas starred in the long-running
TV series The Streets of San Francisco from
1972 to
1976. He received an
Academy Award as producer for
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in
1975. Although Douglas was a capable actor on
Streets, his career was somewhat stagnant after the series, and he only appeared in occasional movies which were usually less than popular (e.g.,
1979's
Running).
His fortunes changed when he starred in the 1984 romantic adventure comedy
Romancing the Stone. The film was followed a year later in
1985 by a sequel,
The Jewel of the Nile. In
1987, Douglas starred playing in
Fatal Attraction with
Glenn Close and the film became a world-wide hit. In
1988, Douglas received an Academy Award for acting in the leading role of
Wall Street which would lead to many roles playing characters much like Gordon Gekko. Douglas later starred as Mister Rose a successful lawyer similar to this character's personality in
The War of the Roses, which featured previous co-stars Kathleen Turner and
Danny DeVito. In
1989 he starred in the hit international police crime drama
Black Rain opposite
Andy Garcia and
Kate Capshaw and was directed by acclaimed filmmaker
Ridley Scott.
In 1992, Douglas revived his slick, worldly character when he appeared alongside
Sharon Stone in the film
Basic Instinct. The movie was a huge hit, and sparked controversy over its depictions of
bisexuality and
lesbianism. Then in 1994 Douglas and
Demi Moore starred in the hit movie
Disclosure focusing on the hot topic of sexual harassment but from the man's perspective. This gave a more rounded discussion on the controversial topic in the workplace and has help smooth out the female bias that mostly men do the harassment in the workplace. In 1998, Douglas received the
Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Douglas's skill at character acting continued to make him one of the most sought-after actors in
Hollywood and commands a hefty sum for his roles. After the commercial failure of
It Runs in the Family (2003), Douglas did not star in a movie for three years, until
The Sentinel in 2006. A year prior to the release of
It Runs in the Family, he guest-appeared on an episode of the popular
television sitcom Will and 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. His
Fatal Attraction co-star,
Glenn Close, appeared in the following episode of the series and also earned an Emmy nomination for her performance.
Douglas on being asked to do
Basic Instinct 2: "Yes, they asked me to do it a while ago, I thought we had done it very effectively; (Paul) Verhoeven is a pretty good director. I haven't seen the sequel. I've only done one sequel in my life,
The Jewel of the Nile, from
Romancing The Stone. Besides, there were age issues, you know? Sharon still looks fabulous. The script was pretty good. Good for her, she's in her mid-40s and there are not a lot of parts around. The first one was probably the best picture of her career—it certainly made her career and she was great in it."
Douglas will soon star in Tragic Indifference, a courtroom thriller based on a landmark liability case against Ford, according to Variety. Douglas will play the attorney who took Ford to court on behalf of a single mother from Texas who was paralyzed and nearly died after an accident. The trial exposed the automaker's indifference to flaws in its SUVs. The movie will be based on Adam Penenberg's 2003 book of the same name. Douglas will play Attorney Tab Turner, who represented Donna Bailey after the Ford Explorer she was riding in rolled over following a Firestone tire failure.
On December 17, 2007 it was announced that the new Voice of
NBC Nightly News was Michael Douglas.
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