One Helluva Ride charts the life and career of Hollywood legend Michael Douglas with plenty of new revelations for film fans.
Michael Douglas has lived quite the life and has now written an entertaining book about his time on the big screen and his adventures off it as well. Now 82, he is twice married and has beaten cancer as well as of course starring in hit movies like Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Falling Down and Behind the Candelabra.
On the book’s sleeve he writes: “I spent a significant portion of my career playing some version of the modern, flawed, American male. You’ll see from these pages that it wasn’t exactly a stretch for me.” Here are some of the best and most shocking moments from One Helluva Ride which was published this week…
Booze fuelled first meeting with Catherine Zeta-Jones
After spotting her beauty on screen, Michael arranged to meet Catherine at Deauville American Film Festival in August 1998, in the hope of dating her.
But after the initial drinks and dinner with friends went well he left her to attend The Mask Of Zorro premiere and by his own admission hit the bar hard.
Catherine then returned to the bar much later and as they parted, fuelled by dutch courage Michael famously told her: “I’m going to be the father of your children.”
But rather than being impressed or charmed, Catherine replied: “You know, I’ve seen a lot about you, read a lot about you, and heard a lot about you. And I guess it’s all true. I think it’s time I say good night.”
Michael insists in the book it wasn’t a “cheap pick up line” but instead was what he felt in his heart after time in her company, describing her as “magic”.
Looking back he adds: “If I had had a little less to drink that night, I would have said it a little more eloquently.”
To make up for his comment he sent her a huge bouquet the next day and thankfully she gave him another chance.
Secret affair with ‘sexy’ co-star
They had always denied anything romantic despite the chemistry in 1984 film Romancing the Stone being off the charts.
But in the book Michael Douglas has revealed he DID have an affair with actress Kathleen Turner.
Michael says he and his co-star Kathleen, now 72, fell for each other while making the blockbuster in Mexico. At the time, he was separated from his then-wife Diandra Douglas, with whom he shares son, Cameron.
He writes: “Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.
“The chemistry I had with Kathleen Turner was so strong, audiences have been certain for years that we were in a relationship together while making the film.
“We both denied it through Romancing The Stone, Jewel of the Nile, War of the Roses, and even while doing press a few years ago for The Kominsky Method.”
But he adds: “The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship. It wasn’t a fly-by night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together.”
The affair ended when wife Diandra came to set with his son Cameron and Kathleen backed off. However the pair are now friends again.
Affairs with FIVE women Catherine made him dump
Michael wooed Catherine Zeta Jones for nine months before she agreed to be his girlfriend. Even then she had some strong requests before she’d even consider going out with him. One of them was to stop sleeping with the five other women he was seeing at the time. Or as Catherine put it: “You can either continue with them or end it and be with me.”
Michael’s response was perhaps not the one she was expecting: “Wait here, I have to make five quick calls.”
Michael left his new girlfriend shocked but called off a number of other affairs dotted around the US. He writes: “Just after my marriage, I had been seeing five other women. They knew I was recently separated and in the process of getting a divorce. I made sure they all lived in different cities, which felt like a respectful way to be nonmonogamous. None of them asked for commitment.”
‘Seven circles of hell’ and cancer battle
Michael underwent seven weeks of radiation and chemo, which he compares to “the seven circles of hell,” after being diagnosed with throat cancer in August 2010.
He needed seven weeks of radiation and says his children with Catherine were ‘traumatised’ by his change in apperance.
“At first, the pain was bad but manageable, but by the third week I was in real trouble,” he recalls, adding that he was “sallow and gaunt” after four weeks of treatment.
Douglas also remembers how his late father, actor Kirk Douglas, was “stoic” during his treatment, and supported him by dressing up as a clown one day at the hospital on Halloween.
“In that moment it was the best gift he could have given me,” Michael said.
When he was finally told he was in remission in January 2011 he “broke down crying” and says it changed him as a person.
He said for five months he had been left wondering if “I was about to lose everything that mattered to me”. Facing his fear of death undoubtedly changed him.
He writes: “To say cancer humbled me would be an understatement. It made me more thankful for everything in my life. I started to heal. Catherine said it was like watching a wilted flower come back to life. The only lingering effect is my voice, which has become a little more gravelly.”
‘One lucky b*****d’
After a brief split from wife Catherine the pair are back together and bond over rounds of golf. At 82, Michael is changing his priorities and says in the epilogue of the book he has learned to put as much time into his family and friends as he does his work, something he perhaps didn’t do earlier in life.
He says he is not officially retired and is taking on small roles, but adds: “But it takes something special to pull me away from my wonderful life now.”
He is enjoying travelling more with Catherine arranging trips around the world. Summing things up, he says: “When I wake up in the morning, I look in the mirror and say: ‘Michael, you are one lucky b*****d’.
* One Helluva Ride by Michael Douglas is out now, published by Headline.
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