Michael Douglas
Born: 25th September 1944
Where: New Brunswick, New Jersey
The two-time Academy Award-winning producer and actor is probably best known nowadays for being the high-profile husband of British actress Catherine Zeta Jones.
However, his own big screen successes include One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and the China Syndrome ans he is also adept at picking rewarding roles such as Wonderboys.
He has also appeared in big releases, including Fatal Attraction, Falling Down and Basic Instinct.
The son of movie icon Kirk Douglas and British actress Diana Dill, he was raised by his mother and stepfather but spent time with his father during holidays from military school.
In 1962, he worked as an assistant director on Lonely Are The Brave, and was so taken with the cinema that he passed up the opportunity to study at Yale for a drama course in California.
At one point he and Danny DeVito shared a flat together, and have remained friends ever since.
Early work included the internationally successful TV programme The Streets of San Francisco with Karl Malden.
In 1975, Douglas became one of the hottest producers when he produced Milos Forman's adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which earned five Oscars, including Best Picture.
Douglas teamed with Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito in 1984 to appear in Romancing the Stone, a huge box-office success, which resulted in a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile.
It was for his role in Oliver Stone's Wall Street that Michael earned his first Oscar as an actor.
Michael founded his own production company, Stonebridge Entertainment Inc, in 1988, and with it produced a number of major features, including Flatliners and Made in America.
Michael had two behind-the-scenes roles, as executive producer, for the thriller Face/Off, and John Grisham's The Rainmaker.
Returning to acting, Michael starred with Gwyneth Paltrow in A Perfect Murder, and started up a new production company, Further Films.
He became engaged to Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1999, their son Dylan was born in August 2000, and the couple were married in December of that year.
Michael produced and had a cameo role in the comedy One Night at McCool's - the first film by his company Further Films.
Recent work has included the thriller Don't Say A Word and the comedy remake of The In-Laws.
