Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is a retired American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award.
The elder son of Kirk Douglas and Diana Dill, Douglas earned his Bachelor of Arts in drama from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His early acting roles included film, stage, and television productions. Douglas first achieved prominence for his performance in the ABC police procedural television series The Streets of San Francisco, for which he received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations. In 1975, Douglas produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, having acquired the rights to the Ken Kesey novel from his father. The film received critical and popular acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, earning Douglas his first Oscar as one of the film's producers.
Douglas went on to produce films including The China Syndrome (1979) and Romancing the Stone (1984), for which he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy, and The Jewel of the Nile (1985). Douglas received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor (a role he reprised in the sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps in 2010). Other notable roles include in Fatal Attraction (1987), The War of the Roses (1989), Basic Instinct (1992), Falling Down (1993), The American President (1995), The Game (1997), Traffic (2000), and Wonder Boys (2000).
In 2013, for his portrayal of Liberace in the HBO film Behind the Candelabra, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. Douglas starred as an ageing acting coach in the Netflix comedy series The Kominsky Method (2018–2021), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best ctor—television series musical or omedy. He has portrayed Hank Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Ant-Man (2015).
Douglas has received notice for his humanitarian and political activism. He sits on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, is an honorary board member of the anti-war grant-making foundation Ploughshares Fund, and he was appointed as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 1998. He has been married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones since 2000.
In July 2025, Douglas said that he was largely retired from acting, saying "I realized I had to stop [...] I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set". He added that while he was attached to one additional project and did not fully rule out future projects "if something special came up", he had no plans to work regularly again.
Known For
America's Burning
Self - Narrator (voice)
2024
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Self - Dr. Hank Pym
2023
Michael Douglas: The Prodigal Son
Self - Actor
2023
Downwind
2023
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
Gordon Gekko (archive footage)
2021
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
Self - Actor (archive footage)
2019
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Dr. Hank Pym
2018
Animal World
Anderson
2018
Once upon a time on Wall Street
Self
2017
Unlocked
Eric Lasch
2017
Ken San
Self
2016
Ant-Man
Dr. Hank Pym
2015
Hollywood Banker
Self (archive footage)
2014
Beyond the Reach
Madec
2014
Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film
Self
2014
And So It Goes
Oren Little
2014
Last Vegas
Billy Gerson
2013
The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers
Yitzhak Rabin (voice)
2013
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
Self
2013
Behind the Candelabra
Liberace
2013
Close Up
Self (archive footage)
2012
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
2012
Haywire
Alex Coblenz
2011
The Streets of the Invisibles
Steve Keller (voice)
2011
Once Upon a Time… One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2011
Asylum: An Empty Nest For The Mentally Ill?
Self
2010
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Gordon Gekko
2010
Solitary Man
Ben Kalmen
2009
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Uncle Wayne
2009
The Day After Peace
Self
2009
A Call to Arms
Self (voice)
2009
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Mark Hunter
2009
Trumbo
Self
2007
Dinosaurs Alive
Narrator
2007
King of California
Charlie
2007
Black Rain: Making The Film
Self
2006
You, Me and Dupree
Mr. Thompson
2006
The Sentinel
Pete Garrison
2006
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Self
2005
A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Self
2005
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Self
2005
Declaration of Independence
Self
2003
The In-Laws
Steve Tobias
2003
It Runs in the Family
Alex Gromberg
2003
Direct Order
Narrator
2003
Don't Say a Word
Dr. Nathan Conrad
2001
One Night at McCool's
Mr. Burmeister
2001
Traffic
Robert Wakefield
2000
Inside Traffic: The Making of 'Traffic'
Self
2000
Wonder Boys
Grady Tripp
2000
One Day in September
Self - Narrator (voice)
1999
Get Bruce!
Self
1999
A Perfect Murder
Steven Taylor
1998
Completely Cuckoo
Self
1997
The Game
Nicholas Van Orton
1997
The Ghost and the Darkness
Charles Remington
1996
The American President
Andrew Shepherd
1995
Disclosure
Tom Sanders
1994
Falling Down
D-Fens
1993
Basic Instinct
Detective Nick Curran
1992
Shining Through
Ed Leland
1992
The Earth Day Special
Self
1990
If Dolphins Could Talk
Host
1990
The War of the Roses
Oliver Rose
1989
Black Rain
Nick Conklin
1989
The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen
Self
1988
Wall Street
Gordon Gekko
1987
Fatal Attraction
Dan Gallagher
1987
A Chorus Line
Zach
1985
The Jewel of the Nile
Jack T. Colton
1985
Romancing the Stone
Jack T. Colton
1984
The Star Chamber
Steven Hardin
1983
It's My Turn
Ben Lewin
1980
Running
Michael Andropolis
1979
The China Syndrome
Richard Adams
1979
Coma
Dr. Mark Bellows
1978
TVTV Looks at the Oscars
Self
1976
Hassles and Hangups
Narrator
1973
The Streets of San Francisco
Steven Keller
1972
Napoleon and Samantha
Danny Arlington Williams III
1972
When Michael Calls
Craig
1972
Summertree
Jerry
1971
Adam at Six A.M.
Adam Gaines
1970
Looking Through Water
Franklin
Benjamin Franklin · (8 episodes)
2024
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Dr. Hank Pym
2023
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2022
What If...?
Hank Pym / Yellow Jacket (voice) · (1 episode)
2021
What If...?
Dr. Hank Pym / Ant-Man (voice) · (1 episode)
2021
Marvel Studios Legends
Dr. Hank Pym (archive footage) (uncredited) · (3 episodes)
2021
Basic Instinct: Sex, Death & Stone
Self
2020
Total Excess: How Carolco Changed Hollywood
Self
2020
Deauville et le rêve américain
Self
2020
Visible: Out on Television
Self · (5 episodes)
2020
Green Eggs and Ham
Guy-Am-I (voice) · (23 episodes)
2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self · (1 episode)
2019
Forman vs. Forman
Self - Forman's Producer (archive footage)
2019
Still Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate
Self
2019
It Takes a Lunatic
Self
2019
Avengers: Endgame
Hank Pym
2019
The Kominsky Method
Sandy Kominsky · (22 episodes)
2018
Michael Douglas: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival
Guest
2018
GRAND PRIX Driver
Narrator · (4 episodes)
2018
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
Self - Actor
2017
Ocean Vet
Narrator (voice) · (11 episodes)
2016
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (1 episode)
2015
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Self · (1 episode)
2015
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self · (1 episode)
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (2 episodes)
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (1 episode)
2014
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
2014
Finding Your Roots
(1 episode)
2012
Honest Trailers
Hank Pym (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2012
The Jonathan Ross Show
Self · (1 episode)
2011
14 Actors Acting
Self
2010
America: The Story of Us
Self · (7 episodes)
2010
Miloš Forman: What Doesn't Kill You…
Self
2009
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Self
2009
Fog City Mavericks
Self
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (2 episodes)
2007
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Self · (1 episode)
2005
The China Syndrome: Creating a Controversy
Self
2004
The China Syndrome: A Fusion of Talent
Self
2004
Tell Them Who You Are
Self
2004
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self · (1 episode)
2003
Celebrities Uncensored
Self · (1 episode)
2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self · (1 episode)
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
(1 episode)
2003
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Self · (1 episode)
2002
In Search of Peace
Narrator (voice)
2001
The Directors: Milos Forman
Self
2000
Beckmann
Self · (1 episode)
1999
Forever Hollywood
Self
1999
Will & Grace
Detective Gavin Hatch · (1 episode)
1998
The Magic Hour
Self · (1 episode)
1998
The View
Self · (6 episodes)
1997
Leute heute
Self · (1 episode)
1997
Inside the Actors Studio
Self · (1 episode)
1994
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
(4 episodes)
1992
Pebble Mill
Self · (1 episode)
1991
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
(1 episode)
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
1988
cascadeurs de stars
Self
1988
Electric Blue 29
(archive footage)
1988
Goldene Kamera Verleihung
Self · (1 episode)
1984
Goldene Kamera Verleihung
Self - Laudatio · (1 episode)
1984
Champs-Elysées
Self · (3 episodes)
1982
Entertainment Tonight
Self · (1 episode)
1981
Wetten, dass..?
Self · (1 episode)
1981
The Hollywood Greats
(1 episode)
1977
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (1 episode)
1975
People's Choice Awards
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
1975
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self · (1 episode)
1975
The Streets of San Francisco
Steve Keller · (119 episodes)
1972
Hail, Hero!
Carl Dixon
1969
CBS Playhouse
(1 episode)
1966
Cast a Giant Shadow
Jeep Driver (uncredited)
1966
The F.B.I.
Jerry Williams · (1 episode)
1965
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (3 episodes)
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · (1 episode)
1961
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · (2 episodes)
1956
The Oscars
Self · (5 episodes)
1953
This Is Your Life
Self · (1 episode)
1952
Bambi-Verleihung
Self · (1 episode)
1948
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · (3 episodes)
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · (2 episodes)
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Audience Member · (1 episode)
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Winner · (2 episodes)
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award · (1 episode)
1944