I was a little surprised to find myself interested in reading (okay, listening) to a memoir from Michael Douglas. Sure, he’s a really famous actor who’s been in some movies I’ve liked, but he’s not a name I would’ve thought up right away when discussing the best actors or my favorite movie stars. (He was a particular favorite of my Nana’s, who watched The American President many times.) But after listening to Douglas on Conan O’Brien’s podcast, I decided to check if my library had a copy of his book.
One story that came up in the Conan interview which I wanted to read in full was about the making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. For those unfamiliar, Michael Douglas’s father, Kirk Douglas, had bought the rights for the novel and played the lead role of Randle Patrick McMurphy on stage. When the film adaptation stalled out, Kirk Douglas gave the rights to his son so he could become a producer. This was before Michael’s acting career had taken off. Eventually, the film got off the ground, but Kirk Douglas was far too old to play the part, and Michael Douglas had to essentially fire his dad from his dream project. Listening to Douglas tell the story fifty years later, you could still hear how hard this was for him.
There are some interesting nuggets sprinkled throughout the memoir, from his time rooming with his college pal Danny DeVito, to his sneaking into the Gold Medal basketball game at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Jack Nicholson. I was surprised to learn how close Douglas is with NBA Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley, and that he once sold his home to the husband of infamous Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
Douglas goes into the making of his best-known movies in great detail, including Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Romancing the Stone, Basic Instinct, and more. Your enjoyment of these accounts will largely depend on your tolerance of Hollywood-speak. I found Douglas describing working with Glenn Close as she tried to advocate for her Fatal Attraction character compelling, as was his recounting of the gay community’s protests against Basic Instinct. Douglas’s status as an accomplished actor and producer gives him a little more of an overview of the entire filmmaking process.
Douglas is fairly open about his personal struggles, candidly admitting to his infidelities, addictions and shortcomings as a father. He address them head-on without wallowing in them or offering excuses. He rightly keeps the focus on his body of work, while still giving the reader a fuller picture of how he is.
