Michael Douglas says his father, the late Hollywood star Kirk Douglas, handed him a $10,000 check at age 21 and told him that was it — he was on his own financially from then on.
The actor shared the story Thursday during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to promote his new memoir, “One Helluva Ride.” Kimmel pointed out that Kirk had appeared on the same show 19 years earlier to promote one of his own memoirs.
“I was 21 years old. He said, ‘Son,’ and he wrote me a check, $10,000. He said, ‘OK, you’re on your own.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s great, Dad, but I mean, I got you — I got two years of college left. Dad, I’m happy. I really appreciate it, but you know, there’s tuitions and things like that,'” Michael Douglas recalled.
According to Michael, Kirk later used that story as a lesson for his younger sons, holding Michael up as the example of someone who never asked for more.
“Your brother, he never asked for anything. You know, I gave him that money, $10,000. That was it. Never asked for anything,” Kirk would tell them, Michael said.
But Michael also told Kimmel about another Christmas gift that complicated that image — two Italian leather suitcases from his father. While in college, he said he figured out each one could hold “22 kilos of marijuana.”
“I always felt bad about that. I could have got a loan, I guess, but that was how I brought them back to New York,” Michael said.
After years of being cited as the responsible son who never asked his father for help, Michael said he eventually told his brothers the truth about how he actually used those suitcases.
About Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, known for films including “Spartacus,” “Lust for Life” and “Paths of Glory.” He died Feb. 5, 2020, at age 103. He had four sons: Michael and Joel with his first wife, Diana Dill, and Peter and Eric with his second wife, Anne Buydens. Eric died in 2004.
Michael Douglas went on to build his own major Hollywood career, winning an Academy Award for playing Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” and producing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which won the Oscar for best picture. His other credits include “Fatal Attraction,” “Basic Instinct” and “Romancing the Stone.”
