Michael Douglas talks affair with Kathleen Turner, growing up in his dad’s shadow

Actor Michael Douglas is sharing new details about his decades-long career in Hollywood, and the shadow he lived under as he climbed his way to the top.

Douglas, now 82, was born into Hollywood royalty as the son of actors Diana Douglas and Kirk Douglas.

It was his dad, a three-time Oscar nominee whom Michael Douglas describes as “larger than life,” whose shadow loomed large over his son, both as a father and in Hollywood.

“I think he meant well, but he was out of that generation where you smacked around a fair amount,” Michael Douglas told News’ Diane Sawyer, describing his father’s temper that he said left him shy throughout his childhood.

In his 20s, Michael Douglas followed his dad into the world of acting, and said he soon had to turn down his own dad for a role.

While producing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Michael Douglas said that though his dad desperately wanted the role of Randle Patrick McMurphy, the studio head and director felt that Kirk Douglas was too old for the part. Michael instead cast Jack Nicholson, who would go on to win an Oscar.

Over 50 years later, Michael Douglas told Sawyer that telling Kirk Douglas — who died in 2020 at age 103 — that he didn’t get the role remains the “hardest thing I ever had to do.”

In his new memoir, “One Helluva Ride,” Michael Douglas describes not only the familial relationships he had to navigate throughout his career, but also the personal ones.

The “Fatal Attraction” actor reveals for the first time in the book that he had an affair with his “Romancing the Stone” co-star Kathleen Turner, an affair they kept secret for 40 years.

Michael Douglas told Sawyer that he asked Turner and the other women mentioned in his memoir for their permission before writing about them.

“These are people I had relationships with over my 82 years and many of them long before Catherine was born,” Michael Douglas said, referring to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, his wife of over 25 years, with whom he shares two children.

“I mean, people date, Diane, they do,” he added when asked by Sawyer about the many women named in his memoir.

Tune into “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET, on for more of Diane Sawyer’s interview with Michael Douglas.

Editor’s note: This report was updated to reflect that Kirk Douglas died in the year 2020 at age 103.