Does life imitate art? Or is it the other way around? It's a question that's likely often been on Michael Douglas' mind throughout his iconic career and harrowing personal struggles as evidenced in the new biography, "Michael Douglas," by Marc Eliot. (Excerpt below)
Eliot is an experienced celebrity biographer. He's written about Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Clint Eastwood, Walt Disney, Paul Simon, and Steve McQueen. For "Michael Douglas," he analyzes the actor's film roles, troubles with drugs and alcohol, romances, and his life-defining psychological issues with his family. Eliot shows Douglas overcoming his father Kirk's oppresive shadow, as a larger-than-life star, and scattershot parent, to make his own way in Hollywood. Douglas' relationship with his father has always been troubled and competitive, an ever-present spur in the star's side.
Douglas wasn't just a tremendous presence on screen. He won two Oscars: One for his leading role as 80s-defining villain Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street" and another as producer on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," starring his friend Jack Nicholson.
According to Eliot, in the decades that followed winning for "Cuckoo's Nest," Douglas established a reputation for taking chances on new talent and projects by producing and starring in the hugely successful "Romancing the Stone" and "Jewel of the Nile" movies, while cultivating a multifaceted acting persona as edgy, rebellious, and a little dark in films like the previously mentioned "Wall Street," as well as "Fatal Attraction," "Basic Instinct," and "Disclosure."
Yet as his career thrived, Eliot says Douglas' personal life floundered. The actor had an unhappy and tumultuous first marriage, plagued by rumors of infidelity (especially with leading ladies such as Kathleen Turner), and a headline-grabbing stint in rehab. Rocked by a series of tragedies, including Kirk's strokes, his son Cameron's incarceration, and his own fight against throat cancer, Eliot paints Douglas as overall triumphant, healthy, and happy in his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones, energized by his new family.
The reviews have been mixed so far.
Goodreads:
"A hard look at the life of Michael-son of a father who ignored him, husband to a wife who hated his lifestyle ... Wish more focus on the past 10 years...seemed rushed."
Amazon:
"Mr. Eliot's biography seems to have found the happy balance in telling the story of one of Hollywood's most beloved actors and producers. Eliot also points out that it wasn't always that way and that Douglas' struggle was a bumpy one. The narrative is respectful and informative and I found myself turning the pages one after the next. All in all a great read!"
Clebritycafe.com:
"I had hoped Marc Eliot's biography would give more insight to who Michael Douglas really is. What we get instead is an elaborate, but direct, resume of an actor fighting a lifelong struggle out of his father's immense shadow. Sure he picks apart some of Douglas's past movie roles and film choices, but the actor was also famous for his drug use and off-screen romances that rivaled those his father's. Eliot brings them up but he doesn't dawdle on them for very long.
Read an excerpt below
After completing "Falling Down," perhaps to repair his relationship with Diandra, Michael took her and Cameron to Spain to spend the summer of 1992 at their hillside retreat in Majorca. They were joined for part of the trip by Jack Nicholson and his girlfriend at the time, Rebecca Broussard. It was not a good mix.
Upon their return to the States, rumors began to spread that Michael's marriage was once again on the rocks, especially after it was reported that one night just before the trip, Diandra had found Michael in bed with another woman -- a charge that was never acknowledged or denied. It was supposed to have taken place at Michael's office at the Beverly Wilshire, and the woman in question was supposed to have been one of Diandra's best friends. Whether or not it actually happened, what was undeniable was that Michael was drinking too much and taking too many drugs, and was filled with a kind of exhaustion and despair that no vacation in Spain could repair. Upon their return, with no warming between them, Diandra insisted that Michael either get professional help or get out of her life.
Whatever the actual tipping point, on September 17, 1992, while his on-screen lover Sharon Stone continued to bask in her belated but enormous fame, a grim-looking Michael, using the alias Mike Morrel, wearing a blue shirt, jeans, and sandals, checked into the Sierra Tucson Clinic, located in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains of Arizona for a 30-day program to treat alcohol abuse and, as it was reported by some at the time, sexual addiction.
According to [biographer] John Parker: "Encouraged by his counselor, Michael [reportedly] began his program of self-discovery when he stood up, head bowed, and gave a lengthy commentary about his inner demons and the problems that had turned him into something of a Jekyll and Hyde character. He confessed to the group of eight fellow sufferers: 'Sex is just a wave that sweeps over me, an impulse that is overpowering. I'm helpless. Every time.' He also admitted to a problem with alcohol and drugs... He also said his wife had 'kicked him out' of the bedroom, having been repulsed by his apparently uncontrollable actions."
Later on, Michael had this to say about his addictions: "Despire all the information one accumulates, and despite the damage you know smoking wreaks on people, they still do it. It's the same with alcohol. Drinking has nothing to do with highs, thrills, whatever. It has to do with many other causes. I'm not self-destructive... where did that sex-addiction stuff come from? ... Some smart British editor decided to make the story about sex addiction... That hung around since 1992, and that little lie that got a lot of press, affected how people looked at me."
When Kirk heard about it, he laughed and said, "What's wrong with sex addiction? I've been addicted to sex my whole life!"
"Michael Douglas" by Marc Eliot is out Sept. 18.