Michael Douglas Joins His Legendary Father on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Tuesday honoring Oscar-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas in connection with his 50th year in show business.

Douglas was joined in speaking at the ceremony near the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street by his 101-year-old father, legendary Hollywood star Kirk Douglas, Jane Fonda, who starred with the younger Douglas in the 1979 nuclear power plant drama "The China Syndrome," which Douglas also produced, and NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer, Douglas' former agent.

"This is a great honor and I'm not getting any younger, I want to enjoy it with (my family)," Douglas said.

The 74-year-old star said he's been lucky enough to be a part of "classic Hollywood and new Hollywood," and praised the Walk of Fame as a link between the stars of the past and the present.

The star is the 2,648th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 and is "a few feet from" the star of Douglas' father Kirk, according to Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The elder Douglas was among the first 1,558 stars when the Walk of Fame was completed in 1961.

The ceremony comes 10 days before Douglas' new comedy series "The Kominsky Method" begins streaming on Netflix. Also attending the ceremony was Douglas' wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. 

Douglas had been selected to receive a star in 2003. Recipients have five years to schedule the ceremony. Following the expiration of the five-year period, Martinez said she asked the Walk of Fame Selection Committee to reinstate the star, a request that was accepted.

Douglas won a best actor Oscar in 1988 for his portrayal of financier Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street." He also won an Oscar in 1976 as a producer of the best picture winner, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Douglas' other best-remembered films include "Fatal Attraction," "Basic Instinct," "Romancing the Stone," its sequel "The Jewel of the Nile" and "The American President." He has become known to young filmgoers for his portrayal of entomologist and physicist Hank Pym in "Ant-Man" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

Douglas graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1968, then moved to New York City to continue his dramatic training. His breakthrough television role came in the 1969 "CBS Playhouse" production "The Experiment," as a young scientist who puts aside his liberal principles to work for a cutting-edge chemical company.

Douglas's best-known television role was Assistant Inspector Steve Keller in the 1972-77 ABC crime drama "The Streets of San Francisco," which brought him three Emmy nominations for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series.

Douglas received an outstanding guest actor in a comedy series Emmy nomination in 2002 for his portrayal of gay police detective on "Will & Grace." He won an outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or a movie in 2013 for playing pianist Liberace in "Behind the Candelabra." CNS-11-06-2018 07:19