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.

Filmography

• 2025Looking Through Water — William
• 2024America's Burning — Self - Narrator (voice), Executive Producer
• Franklin — Benjamin Franklin, Executive Producer
• 2023Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — Dr. Hank Pym
• 2023Downwind
• 2021Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy — Gordon Gekko (archive footage)
• Marvel Studios Legends — Dr. Hank Pym (archive footage) (uncredited)
• What If...? — Hank Pym / Yellow Jacket (voice), Dr. Hank Pym / Ant-Man (voice)
• Ratched — Executive Producer
• 2019Avengers: Endgame — Hank Pym
• 2019Earthquake Bird — Thanks
• Green Eggs and Ham — Guy-Am-I (voice)
• 2019We Have Always Lived in the Castle — Executive Producer
• 2018Animal World — Anderson
• 2018Ant-Man and the Wasp — Dr. Hank Pym
• GRAND PRIX Driver — Narrator
• 2018Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
• 2018Michael Douglas: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival — Guest
• 2018The Green Fog
• The Kominsky Method — Sandy Kominsky, Executive Producer
• 2017Flatliners — Producer
• 2017The Untameable Kirk Douglas — Self - Actor, Thanks
• 2017Unlocked — Eric Lasch
• Ocean Vet — Narrator (voice)
• 2015Ant-Man — Dr. Hank Pym
• 2014And So It Goes — Oren Little
• 2014Beyond the Reach — Madec, Producer
• 2013Behind the Candelabra — Liberace
• 2013Last Vegas — Billy Gerson
• 2013The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers — Yitzhak Rabin (voice)
• 2012Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen — (archive footage)
• Finding Your Roots
• 2011Haywire — Alex Coblenz
• 2011The Streets of the Invisibles — Steve Keller (voice) (archival)
• 2010Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps — Gordon Gekko
• 2009Beyond a Reasonable Doubt — Mark Hunter
• 2009Ghosts of Girlfriends Past — Uncle Wayne
• 2009Solitary Man — Ben Kalmen
• 2007Dinosaurs Alive — Narrator
• 2007King of California — Charlie
• 2006The Sentinel — Pete Garrison, Producer
• 2006You, Me and Dupree — Mr. Thompson
• 2003Direct Order — Narrator
• 2003It Runs in the Family — Alex Gromberg, Producer
• 2003The In-Laws — Steve Tobias
• 2001Don't Say a Word — Dr. Nathan Conrad
• 2001In Search of Peace — Narrator (voice)
• 2001One Night at McCool's — Mr. Burmeister, Producer
• 2000Traffic — Robert Wakefield
• 2000Wonder Boys — Grady Tripp
• 1998A Perfect Murder — Steven Taylor
• Will & Grace — Detective Gavin Hatch
• 1997Face/Off — Executive Producer
• 1997The Game — Nicholas Van Orton
• 1997The Rainmaker — Producer
• 1996The Ghost and the Darkness — Charles Remington, Executive Producer
• 1995The American President — Andrew Shepherd
• 1994Disclosure — Tom Sanders
• Time Team — Director
• 1993Falling Down — D-Fens
• 1993Made in America — Producer
• 1992Basic Instinct — Detective Nick Curran
• 1992Radio Flyer — Executive Producer
• 1992Shining Through — Ed Leland
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• 1991Double Impact — Co-Producer
• 1991Eyes of an Angel — Executive Producer
• 1991Stone Cold — Co-Producer
• 1990Flatliners — Producer
• 1990If Dolphins Could Talk — Host
• 1990Lennon: A Tribute — Host
• 1989Black Rain — Nick Conklin
• 1989The War of the Roses — Oliver Rose
• 1988Electric Blue 29 — (archive footage)
• 1987Fatal Attraction — Dan Gallagher
• 1987Wall Street — Gordon Gekko
• Starman — Executive Producer
• 1985A Chorus Line — Zach
• 1985The Jewel of the Nile — Jack T. Colton, Producer
• 1984Romancing the Stone — Jack T. Colton, Producer
• 1984Starman — Executive Producer
• 1983The Star Chamber — Steven Hardin
• 1980It's My Turn — Ben Lewin
• 1979Running — Michael Andropolis, Executive Producer
• 1979The China Syndrome — Richard Adams, Producer
• 1978Coma — Dr. Mark Bellows
• The South Bank Show
• The Hollywood Greats
• 1975One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Producer
• 1973Hassles and Hangups — Narrator
• 1972Napoleon and Samantha — Danny Arlington Williams III
• 1972The Streets of San Francisco — Steven Keller
• The Streets of San Francisco — Steve Keller, Director
• 1972When Michael Calls — Craig
• 1971Summertree — Jerry
• 1970Adam at Six A.M. — Adam Gaines
• 1969Hail, Hero! — Carl Dixon
• CBS Playhouse — Wilson Evans
• 1966Cast a Giant Shadow — Jeep Driver (uncredited)
• The F.B.I. — Jerry Williams
• 1962Lonely are the Brave — Assistant Editor
• White Lies

Appearances as themselves (88)

• 2025I Am Curious Johnny — Self
• 2025Rob Reiner – Scenes from a Life — Self
• 2023Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — Self - Dr. Hank Pym
• 2023Michael Douglas: The Prodigal Son — Self - Actor
• Il était une fois Champs-Élysées — Self (archive footage)
• 2020Basic Instinct: Sex, Death & Stone — Self
• 2020Deauville et le rêve américain — Self
• 2020Total Excess: How Carolco Changed Hollywood — Self
• Visible: Out on Television — Self
• 2019Forman vs. Forman — Self - Forman's Producer (archive footage)
• 2019It Takes a Lunatic — Self
• 2019Still Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate — Self
• 2019Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic — Self - Actor (archive footage)
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• 2018One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: The Shocking Truth — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Once upon a time on Wall Street — Self
• 2016Ken San — Self
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self, Self - Guest
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• 2014Hollywood Banker — Self (archive footage)
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• 2014Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self - Guest
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
• 2013Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon — Self
• 2012Close Up — Self (archive footage)
• 2011Once Upon a Time… One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Self
• The Jonathan Ross Show — Self
• America: The Story of Us — Self
• 2010Asylum: An Empty Nest For The Mentally Ill? — Self
• 2009A Call to Arms — Self (voice)
• 2009Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Self
• 2009Miloš Forman: What Doesn't Kill You… — Self
• 2009The Day After Peace — Self
• 2007Fog City Mavericks — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• 2007Trumbo — Self
• 2006Black Rain: Making The Film — Self
• 2005A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — Self
• 2005Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema — Self
• 2005Nos Bastidores de Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson — Self
• 2004Tell Them Who You Are — Self
• 2004The China Syndrome: A Fusion of Talent — Self
• 2004The China Syndrome: Creating a Controversy — Self
• Celebrities Uncensored — Self
• 2003Declaration of Independence — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self, Self - Guest
• Real Time with Bill Maher — Self
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway — Self
• 2001Blonde Poison: The Making of 'Basic Instinct' — Self (archive footage)
• 2000Inside Traffic: The Making of 'Traffic' — Self
• 2000The Directors: Milos Forman — Self
• Beckmann — Self
• 1999Forever Hollywood — Self
• 1999Get Bruce! — Self
• 1999One Day in September — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 1999Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special — Self
• The Magic Hour — Self
• 1997Completely Cuckoo — Self
• Leute heute — Self
• The View — Self
• Inside the Actors Studio — Self
• Pebble Mill — Self
• 1990The Earth Day Special — Self
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark — Self, Self - Guest
• 1988The World's Greatest Stunts: A Tribute to Hollywood Stuntmen — Self
• 1988cascadeurs de stars — Self
• Goldene Kamera — Self, Self - Laudatio
• Jeopardy! — Self - Clue Presenter
• Champs-Elysées — Self
• Entertainment Tonight — Self
• Wetten, dass..? — Self
• Ciné regards — Self
• 1976TVTV Looks at the Oscars — Self
• Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
• People's Choice Awards — Self - Presenter, Self - Winner
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host
• Film '72 — Self
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self, Self - Co-Host
• Tony Awards — Self - Presenter
• The Oscars — Self
• This Is Your Life — Self
• Bambi — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee, Self - Audience Member, Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award