Was Michael Douglas cursed? Actor recounts series of deaths and accidents on his movie sets, multiple threats against his life and incurring his father's wrath in explosive memoir

With his memoir entitled One Helluva Ride, it was expected there'd be some bumpy moments in Michael Douglas' life. 

Yet now the actor has revealed the full extent of the hardships and scandals he's faced, revealing his work on movies was blighted by tragic deaths and horrific accidents, while there were two credible threats against his life. 

Michael, 82, has always considered his family name to be a curse, having spent years struggling to live up to his legendary father Kirk, who died in 2020 at the age of 103.

Yet despite his 'ongoing internal conflict' about living in Kirk's shadow, Michael decided to pursue acting, landing his first significant TV role in the Seventies series, The Streets of San Francisco.

However disaster struck on his very first day when he 'almost killed' the show's lead, Karl Malden.

Michael had been tasked with a driving scene, and with light getting low and a police escort ensuring the roads around them were clear, he hit the gas without bothering to map out the route. 

Sisaster struck on his very first day of his Seventies show The Streets of San Francisco when he 'almost killed' the lead actor Karl Malden (right) in a car accident

He recalled: 'I tore down to the Fairmont and up the hill... and then we went airborne. All four tires off the ground. I hadn't anticipated the hill dropping out from under us. 

'While in the air, I had time to look over at Karl and he back at me. We touched down and I slammed on the brakes, wheels squealing. I thought, "Oh, my God! I'm gonna get fired the very first day".

'Karl took a beat to catch his breath, then got out of the car. "Well, this is going to be an interesting series", he said. "I'm going back to my trailer to change my underwear".'

As Michael's profile began to rise, he found he had been targeted by the Death Angels, a violent local gang that have been found guilty of murdering 15 people but some believe the figure could be as high as 88. 

Michael recalled: 'One day production asked me to go speak with our police adviser, who told me that my name had been mentioned as someone the Death Angels wanted to kill. 

'We began having undercover officers on our crew, and I would sometimes wear a bulletproof vest under my ward-robe, especially if we were filming out in the city, surrounded by dozens of tall buildings.'

He revealed the threat left him and girlfriend Brenda Vaccaro 'terrified', but thankfully they remained unharmed. 

While working on The Streets of San Francisco, Michael was also juggling another project, having acquired the rights to the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest through his father's company, Bryna Productions. 

He went on to serve as producer on the project but was forced to tell his father that he could no longer have the lead role because the project had taken 13 years to start filming. 

The crew believed that at 57, Kirk was now too old for the role, and outvoted on keeping him, it fell on Michael to break the news. 

'One of the hardest moments of my life was firing my own dad,' Michael shared. 'I called my father and said I needed to see him. This wasn't something I was going to do over the phone, but honestly, I was scared as hell of doing it in person...

'I saw a flash of my father's rage, then he was silent. Just as I'd feared, Dad blamed me. He said I had betrayed him. I was crushed.

'I had embarked on this project for two reasons: because it was a great book and because I wanted my father to have his dream. Now I had the movie, but I had broken my father's heart.'

Michael was also juggling another project, having acquired the rights to the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest through his father Kirk's company, Bryna Productions. However, disaster struck when he was forced to fire Kirk (pictured in 2012) 

The lead role went to Jack Nicholson. The set became plagued by incidents after they used real life mental health patients as extras

The lead role went to Jack Nicholson, and Kirk had no part in the project. 

Yet he may have been grateful to stay away from the set, which became plagued by incidents after they used real life mental health patients as extras. 

While filming in a medium-security ward, a crewmember ran electric cables through an open window on the second floor, when he joked to the nearby patients: 'If I were nuts, I'd go straight out that window.'

However, that put the idea in one of the patient's heads, who promptly did as so, jumping out and breaking his collarbone. 

The intensive filming schedule also took its toll on actor Danny DeVito, who felt anxious being away from his future wife, Rhea Perlman 

To deal with the separation anxiety he was experiencing, Danny created an imaginary friend and began to fear he was losing his mind.

Meanwhile, during the emotional confrontation scene with Chief, Sydney Lassick, who played Cheswick, had his own mental health attack had to be forcibly removed from set by the crew. 

Despite the setbacks the film was a commercial and critical success. 

Michael went on to film Romancing The Stone when disaster again struck on set. 

An alligator used during the filming of the 1984 adventure movie slipped through its jaw-wiring mishap and bit its trainer, whose hand was saved from worse injury because the animal clamped down on his Rolex watch. 

During the drama, the crocodile whacked Michael in the face two with his tail, knocking him to the ground.  

The trainer suffered from blood loss but was able to be saved, yet was left furious at his watch going missing in the lake. 

With the 'scary' moment out of the way, Michael penned: 'So, the next day we went back to the scene and sent divers down. They found his watch and gave it back to him. And the damn watch was still working.'

Disaster struck when Michael and Kathleen Turner filmed The Jewel of the Nile in Morocco. Members of the crew died in a place crash and the cast were bribed by officials 

Disaster struck again when they filmed the sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, in Morocco. 

Before shooting began, a pre-production scouting flight in Morocco crashed, killing several crew members, including the production designer and production manager.

Michael shared: 'I was devastated. We were all devastated. These weren't just colleagues. I had hired each of them and brought them to work on this movie. 

'I had never lost anyone making a film. We held a memorial service for them, but it still didn't seem real.

'The insurance company paid the families for their loss, and I did what I could beyond that, but every gesture felt empty. Money in return for something that was invaluable, irreplaceable. It was the saddest and most horrible moment of my career. How could we continue?'

Yet the film continued to be made, only to be besieged by more issues. 

Michael revealed that authorities were determined to squeeze as much money out of them as possible, holding postal items hostage unless bribes were paid. 

They also demanded $2million be paid to avoid a six-week quarantine after the health department came down and declared there was a hepatitis outbreak on set. 

'I had experienced shakedowns before. I'd done favors, I'd paid outright bribes, whatever it took to get my movies made. But this was extortion,' Michael penned.

'I mean, people had been sick, and we were struggling, limping every day because it was so damn hot. But nobody had hepatitis.'

The cast and crew ended up fleeing Morocco on a cargo plane after a member of production stole the stamp pad from the customs inspector and stamped the passports of everyone.

Michael's next big project also had issues, with the actor accidentally giving his Fatal Attraction co-star Glenn Close concussion. 

He recalled: 'In the scene where I slam Glenn against a wall, I did it a little harder than I meant to, and she got a concussion. 

'It was an immersive role. I was completely in the moment. I felt terrible and apologised immediately. There was a brief pause, and then we got back to work.'

Michael's addiction struggles tragically mirrored themselves in her eldest son, Cameron, whom he shares with Diandra (pictured in 2003)

In 1992, Michael received a second credible threat to his life. 

He was attending the Oscars to present an award when he was greeted by an FBI agent and a sergeant from the LAPD, who told him they had information that someone would try to stab him with an HIV-infected needle.

Michael explained: 'This was during the height of the AIDS crisis, and getting stabbed with an infected needle would essentially be a death sentence. 

'He went on to explain that they had undercover agents spread throughout the crowd, and he tried to assure me that the agents would do everything they could to prevent anyone from actually reaching me on the stage.

'I let the Academy know I was there, then went outside for a smoke. The sergeant came with me. Was he watching over me? This whole evening felt surreal.' 

Thankfully no one attempted an attack. 

That same year, Michael tackled struggles in his personal life, when he entered rehab for alcohol and substance abuse in 1992 after first wife Diandra Luker caught him with another woman in an LA hotel room and issued the ultimatum: 'Rehab or divorce'.

Until he entered the facility Michael didn't believe he had a problem but noted that drugs were so normalised in Hollywood at the time.

Michael chose rehab for alcohol and substance abuse but she filed for divorce three years later anyway, after which he dated many women.

He revealed he would leave $100 in his car before a meeting at a talent agency, and its valet service would tuck a gram of cocaine into the central console.

Michael also claimed he would take drugs with OJ Simpson even during his football career and recalled falling asleep one night with a straw still hanging from his nose.

He also revealed that he once got so drunk at a Golden Globes party he told Julia Roberts to shove her award 'where the sun don’t shine'.

Michael's addiction struggles tragically mirrored themselves in his eldest son, Cameron, whom he shares with Diandra.

By the end of his teenage years Cameron was abusing drugs, and battled a heroin addiction in his twenties before in 2010, aged 31, he was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to federal drug trafficking and distribution charges.

Whilst Michael funded his son's trial defence team, he had by then been distant from his eldest child for many years, and during his years in prison refused to write to him.

He revealed that he confided in the late Rob Reiner, whose son Nick was also substance abuse issues.

Michael wrote: 'We both had sons with serious drug issues and we both, at times, had been at the end of our rope. It was a heartbreaking confessional for us, but I know we gave each other some measure of comfort during the hard times.'

Tragically, actor and director Rob, 78, and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found dead at their Brentwood, Los Angeles home last December and Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder over their deaths. 

Cameron had a far better fate, himself now a father of two young children, and having rebuilt his relationship with Michael. 

In a heartbreaking moment, however, Cameron couldn't be there for his father when he received his tongue cancer diagnosis because he was incarcerated at the time. 

Michael Douglas’ wild life: Abuse, affairs and drug deals are out in the open – but he still won’t admit he’s a nepo baby – in his explosive memoir One Helluva Ride

Having been raised by two movie stars and with a career spanning six decades, it's hardly surprising that Michael Douglas has some interesting stories to tell. 

Yet fans have been flabbergasted by the revelations in his explosive memoir, One Helluva Ride, in which he recounts being physically abused by his father, finally admits to an illicit affair, and clears up the rumours he's a sex addict. 

The actor, 82, is incredibly candid in the book, having finally decided 'it's time to tell my story on my own terms'.

Explaining why now was the time to set the record straight, he vowed to share 'not the highlight reel, not the version shaped by headlines or box office numbers, but the real one'. 

Douglas continued: 'I've lived a life that unfolded in public while being deeply private at the same time, and there's a difference. This is about where I came from, what I fought against, and what I chose for myself. 

'Fame can blur the truth; this is my attempt to bring it back into focus.'

So what does Douglas reveal in One Helluva Ride? 

The wild world of Michael Douglas: From abuse to affairs to drug use - the actor's explosive revelations in One Helluva Ride - but he still refuses to accept he's a nepo baby!

Abuse claims 

Douglas has explained that part of the reason he took so long to publish his memoir is that he couldn't have written it while his father Kirk was still alive. 

The honorary Oscar winner died in 2020 at the age of 103, with Douglas explaining that he spent much of his life trying to live up to his father's shadow and mend their fractured relationship. 

He explained in his book that he and younger brother, Joel, were afraid of Kirk growing up, penning: 'If we screwed up, he’d hit us… Dad was from the hitting generation, and when he raged, I learned early on to stay away and be quiet. 

'I worked hard to stay off Dad’s radar and not anger him further when he was in a mood.'

He added that even when he made it as a successful actor he struggled to mend the relationship, saying he was besieged by an 'ongoing internal conflict… I wanted to distinguish myself from my father; I wanted to be close to him. His existence hurt my confidence; his support made me feel closer to him.' 

Douglas told AP that he wouldn't have published his book if Kirk was still alive, explaining: 'I was very uncomfortable talking about the early years and his physical abuse. He was of a generation that hit; my mother used the hairbrush. He was tough. 

'That was also one of the reasons why it took a little time to warm up as we got older, and to forgive him.'

Douglas explained in his book that he and younger brother, Joel, were afraid of their father Kirk growing up, penning: 'If we screwed up, he’d hit us…' (pictured together in 1953) 

Drug dealing past

After briefly considering a law career, Douglas pivoted to acting and studied drama at the University of California.

At that point, he was given a $10,000 trust fund by his father but it was not enough to cover his tuition and living expenses. 

So Douglas turned to dealing marijuana, filling two suitcases with 44kg of marijuana that he would buy for $75 a kilo in California and sell for $500 in New York when he visited his parents. 

He recalled: 'I could feel guilty, but it was the late Sixties to early Seventies. No one needed my help finding their way to drugs. 

'And that was how I paid for my last two years of college and graduated with no debt. 

'I’m not recommending this approach. It clearly would have been more responsible (and legal) to apply for a student loan, but that never occurred to me.'

Kathleen Turner affair 

After decades of denying rumours, Douglas finally admitted to having an affair with co-star Kathleen Turner while married to Diandra Luker, with whom he shares son Cameron. 

The pair met while filming their 1984 action-comedy, Romancing The Stone, with Douglas recalling: '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.'

He added: 'It wasn't a fly-by-night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other.

'Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen.'

He then claimed that his marriage to Luker 'was in a bad place' and that he had been having an affair with Romancing The Stone screenwriter Diane Thomas prior to meeting Kathleen.

Both Douglas and Turner, who was single but dating real estate mogul Jay Weiss – the man she would later marry – steadfastly denied the affair, too, even when Hollywood gossip reached fever pitch when Douglas's then wife Diandra became so worried that she flew to the Mexican set and confronted her.

The pair kept their affair hidden from everyone including their co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis and  Douglas' marriage to Luker limped on until 2000 when the couple divorced – with Douglas marrying Catherine Zeta-Jones that same year.

He and Turner had a 'gentleman's agreement' never to discuss their relationship and for four decades both stuck to that pact.

After decades of denying rumours, Douglas finally admitted to having an affair with Romancing The Stone co-star Kathleen Turner (pictured) while married to Diandra Luker

Stage fright woes 

While Douglas commands both the stage and screen, he revealed he suffered with crippling stage fright when he was starting out in small theatres. 

Terrified of living up to his father, Douglas confessed he would often be physically sick before stepping on stage. 

He explained: 'Meeting me, you wouldn’t have suspected confidence was a problem. It wasn’t… until I stepped into the spotlight my father had dominated. 

'Right before I went onstage, I still needed to vomit into a bucket.'

Even as he became an established actor, Douglas still struggled with his nerves, revealing that when he filmed Fatal Attraction with Glenn Close in 1987 he needed some liquid courage before shooting any intimate scenes. 

A colourful love life 

Douglas does not shy away from his sexual conquests in the book, revealing in the introduction: 'There will be some intimate relationships revealed here for the first time. I called each woman involved and received their permission to share our story.'

He claims his 'sexual awakening' came on a summer job in the editing room at Universal, where he would eat his lunch in the room that Psycho was being put together. 

'That was my editing bay of choice because we got to watch the out-takes of Janet Leigh in the shower scene. She was topless in some of them,' Douglas recalled. 

'Now, Janet Leigh and her husband Tony Curtis were regular visitors to my dad’s house. I wish I could say the fact that Janet Leigh was a family friend made it awkward to spend so many lunch hours scrupulously reviewing that footage, frame by frame.'

While trying to make it as an actor he lived with Danny DeVito in a one-bedroom flat in New York, with the pair letting the other know when a woman was home by hanging a sock on the doorknob. 

'There were some periods where Danny found himself living more outside the apartment than in it!' Douglas recalled. 

Yet despite boasting of many sexual conquests – from a 'beautiful, olive-skinned' Israeli soldier to a 'Mrs Robinson' character in his youth, he stresses 'I was never a ***ing sex addict,' responding to reports in the Nineties that he entered rehab for sex addiction. 

With the book detailing his many flings over the years, and an anecdote that he needed to make 'five quick calls' when Zeta-Jones told him that she would only date him if he was monogamous, Douglas was asked by a British reporter if he ever wondered why he slept with so many women.

Douglas responded: 'I don't know if I slept with so many women, I don't see it that way. No, not me, no. I was a healthy product of the Sixties.'

He then added in an alleged 'accusatory' tone: 'My curiosity is why, of all countries, of all the press that I do, why are the Brits so consumed with the issues of sex?'

When it was noted that his memoir is 'full of sex,' he responded: 'I didn't feel like it was. I mention a couple [of women] in the book.'

Asked to clarify his anecdote about needing to finish with five women before committing to Zeta-Jones, 57, he told The Sunday Times Magazine: 'No, no, it's not what it was.

'What Catherine said is, if we're going to continue this then I want it to be monogamous. And so I therefore, that evening, you know, made some calls to some people I was seeing, and that was that.'

When asked if Catherine was nervous about his book coming out, he responded: 'She hasn't read it,' yet insisted their marriage was 'in good shape'.

Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones wed in 2000 but in 2013 Zeta-Jones confirmed that the couple were 'taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage (pictured in 2012)

Catherine Zeta-Jones split 

Douglas put an end to his womanising ways after he 'fell in love' with Zeta-Jones the second he saw her in 1998's The Mask of Zorro. 

He mused: 'I didn’t have any intention of doing anything else – hell, I was 25 years older than she was. 

'It might never have gone further than that, until I read an interview where Catherine said she liked older men. I said to myself, "Hey, I’ve got a shot".' 

The pair met that year at the Deauville film festival and after a night spent talking, he recalled: 'In a moment of temporary insanity, I blurted out: "I’m going to be the father of your children".' 

After nine months of speaking to each other long-distance they embarked on a relationship but Zeta-Jones warned him that she would only date him if he was monogamous – prompting Douglas to make 'five quick calls'. 

The pair wed in 2000 and welcomed son Dylan and daughter Carys. Yet in August 2013, Zeta-Jones confirmed that the couple were 'taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage'. 

The separation came two months after Douglas blamed developing throat cancer on oral sex. His publicist later retracted the remarks and Douglas said he 'regretted the embarrassment' they reportedly caused his wife. 

Detailing their separation in his memoir, Douglas penned: 'From the second we separated, I never gave up hope that we would reconcile. I love Catherine in a way that I have never loved any other woman. 

'She’s my wife, my best friend, and my life partner. I could never lose her.'

The couple were back together within a year.

Yet when questioned how 'he won her back,' Douglas snapped back to The Sunday Times: 'What, I won her back? It was a mutual… You know, we had our problems but I love her dearly and, 25 years, you know. 

'Marriage is a lot of work, you know. And so, you know, we’re good. We’re in good shape. It’s all I can say.'

Nepotism pushback

While he may have opened up about his mistakes, regrets and indiscretions in his memoir, there is one thing he will not admit to – being a nepo baby.

He has condemned the term as 'snotty', insisting that in no other industry are parents criticised for 'helping their kids'.

Douglas stated: 'In every other business, every mother and father helps their kids. We all know the companies, the names are 'so and so and son, or daughter.'

His criticism of the term, an abbreviation of the word nepotism and usually used to describe offspring of famous actors and musicians, came just weeks after his wife Zeta-Jones called the term 'horrific'.

'This horrific phrase 'nepo baby' is horrible because these kids didn't ask to be born into this, they're finding their own way in life,' she said.

'But they love it, and they're good. Otherwise, Michael and I would be the first to go, "You know what? Maybe law school looks really good".'