AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Michael Douglas (2009) DVD-R

Starring Anne Archer, Warren Beatty, Annette Benning, Kirk Douglas, Karl Malden
Directed by Louis J. Horvitz
Print: Color
Runtime: 60 min
Genre: Documentary

Michael Douglas may have been born into Hollywood royalty, but he has built a singular career as a producer and actor one step at a time.

A self-proclaimed late bloomer, Douglas soaked up lessons in moviemaking and acting early, watching his legendary father Kirk and actress mother Diana, visiting his father’s sets during school breaks and studying drama in college. In his thirties, he caught the public’s attention as the second lead to veteran Karl Malden in the hit television series THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO. With Malden as mentor, Douglas absorbed lessons in work ethic, story structure, editing and collaborating with producers and directors to best serve the material.

When the opportunity came to develop a story he felt passionately about, he took a chance at producing. The property was Ken Kesey’s ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, the bestselling novel that his father had been trying to make into a movie for nearly a decade. With it he launched a producing career that has been remarkable for its timely choices and extraordinary rate of success.