Michael Douglas Opens Up About Kathleen Turner Affair, His Wife Not Reading His Book, and Doing

Our first guest tonight is a two-time Oscar-winning actor and producer whose extraordinary life, career, and adventures could fill a 496 page book. And it has. One hell of a ride is available now. Please welcome Michael Douglas. Thank you very much. Welcome. How are you? Wow. Thank you. What a what an Well, people are excited to see you. This is uh this is really This is all for Kimmel and 28. Uh in 28. Come on, man. That's going to be uh yeah, maybe my brother, but not me. You uh it's very good to see you and uh be even just based on weight alone, what a life you've had. I mean, really, it's just some this book is uh

jam-packed with great stories and I was thinking about your dad because your dad was here 19 years ago with his book, right? And he signed it for me and I will not forget I do not forget what he wrote in it because he wrote um it was nice to meet you. You have far too many M's in your name. He was clever. He also the last of the letter writers. It was really great. Was he wrote letters regularly, huh? Thank you. Thank you notes and all that. That's nice. Well, you talk about your dad a lot. In fact, we I think we have a great picture um from the book here of your dad and you and your brother.

Yeah. That's me on the right, the skinny guy. You're the little skinny guy, the older one. And your brother on the other side. You know, your dad has got some that's that sort of personifies the early chapters in the book about, you know, he was Spartacus. I mean, you know, what do you know? Your father's, you know, he's holding you all up there. We could My dad didn't do that. Mine was more of a fartus than But, you know, we all have our gifts. You and that body on your father. Oh my goodness. He was amazing. He's a wrestler. Started out as a wrestler. It's just crazy. He did something that I think is really interesting. I've never heard of anybody, especially like a famous person

doing at one point in your life. He said, he wrote you a check and he said, "Here you go. Good luck." Right. He did. Turned 21. Uh was 21 years old. He said, "Son," and he wrote me a check, $10,000. He said, "Okay, 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." and his son, "Dad, I'm happy. I really appreciate it, but you know, this there's tuitions and things like that." He said, "So anyway, years go by and I was the oldest of four kids and he would always say to all my younger brothers, he'd say, you know, your brother, he never asked for anything. You know, I

gave him that money, $10, that was it. Never asked for anything at all." And finally, I mean, maybe 30 years later, he said, "Dad, I got to tell you something. Do you remember one Christmas you brought me two beautiful soft leather Italian suitcases? You know, they're really lovely. He says, "Yeah." Well, I found out when I was in school that each suitcase could fit 22 kilos of marijuana. And I used to go back folks were separated and I would take back for the holidays to go back east only to close my back with you know this is before dogs.

Well that is a long time ago. I thought they'd been around for years. And so I always felt bad about I could have got a loan I guess but that was how I got through uh you brought them back to New York. Yeah. Sold them at a markup I'm guessing I would say so. Yes. Well, and did you your brothers ever find out about that? Well, they did they finally because I mean I had told that you know it was they were getting killed just say making me the example and I said well here's here's the real truth. That's crazy. Um there's a also a story um that I understand um is a story that your friend Yan Wer reminded you of. Yeah. About OJ Simpson.

Yeah. And um another drug related story in fact about Yeah. doing blow in New York City. With OJ. Yeah. Um Yeah. Thanks. Y more you know Shane Seno who worked with me on this book called up some different friends and that was when he brought the story back and I said I can't remember that exactly. I kind of remember this. Is that a Saturday Night Live afterparty? I think so. Uhhuh. He told you too. Uh no. Well, I Yeah. Is this uh No, this was uh before OJ, right? Before the incident, I Yes. Okay. Yeah. All right. Because I was hanging around.

No, I remember that. I remember that night though. Um I was going up I was living in Santa Barbara driving up um and the Lakers game was on. You love the Lakers, right? Yeah. Rob, big buddy of Pat Riley's. Yeah. And going up there and I arrived at the house and rushing into see the game and my kids said, "Dad, dad." And that's when the Bronco, the white Bronco was I the Lakers game was happening. Yeah. That was Matt must you would have said, "Oh, kids, I did coke with that guy." Yeah. Exactly.

You've had um a great long friendship with Danny Dvito. I think we talked about that the last time you were here. You guys met at like a theater camp or something? Yeah, you was. I just saw photo you have photographs in the hallway different times. I got the same suit. Oh, you were you really wearing the same suit? 10 years ago. I Yeah. Well, we'll have to get you a new suit. Yeah. Um but it still looks good. It looks sharp. It does. Yeah. Uh is a Pat Riley suit.

Danny, uh you guys met when you were kids. You lived together for how long? Um probably a year. I mean, it were right after I got out of college. We were roommates in New York. Um, so we were there about a year, a year and a half, and then I got out contract, went out to California. Danny was always happy because I continue to pay my half of the rent. Nice. You know, doing that. And then we've been buddies, you know, ever since. And you guys did the old like sock on the doororknob thing and all that stuff, right?

It wasn't so old then. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It was a new development. New Exactly. New development. Yeah, but he was with Ria already, so he wasn't spending a lot of time there, but I knew him before when I was still in college and he came up to visit me in college and I was kind of a hippie. Had a kind of a commune situation there and we had a little swimming pool, but we never knew about chlorine and all that. So, you know, you go in the swimming pool, you come out with a slime line, you know, we came up with day and nobody wore, we were all naked, nobody wore swimsuits. So, Danny, I remember the first time Danny came up the steps to the pool, you know, and there were all these people Danny. Yeah.

This is not Jersey, you know. Boy, you've had so much more fun than I have. This is um the book uh is called One Hell of Right. Michael Douglas is here. We'll be right back. When the bone gets stuck, when the get Michael Douglas is with us and in case you're wondering what the 80s was like, that's what the 80s was like, right? And then Danny, they have their big sack. solo in that and Danny's so smart. So Danny got a tener saxophone that was as tall as he was playing. It was so things like that just don't happen anymore. It's interesting. People take themselves so seriously now, right?

I mean, yeah. And I saw an interview with your wife today who said they were asking her about your book and um she said that um I have not read it and I'm not planning to read it and I wondered if you felt that was for the best. Uh oh yeah I Well look I mean we got a 25 year age difference. So, um, I opened up and mentioned the book to expose the fact that Kathleen Turner and I had an affair when we were making romance. Were you wearing those suits when you had the affair? Exactly. I'm doing that. But then I also, you know, looked back and said, "All right." But, but Katherine was seven years old at the time, right?

Yeah. And wouldn't know her husband for, you know, 25 years ahead. So I think she's had to accept the fact that with having this kind of age difference, you may have had a life before you ever seen her for the first time as Zoro before this book. She thought you were a virgin when you married. You knew she told you that you did. That's pretty crazy. And did you call all these women and Kathleen Turner and say like, "Hey, I'm going to write about this. Is that all right?" I did. Did any of them say, "Uh, that's not all right. Please don't write about it." I'll never say that. Uh but no there were two you know actresses I mean look I'm selling books man you know we get talked about movies so much in history

about your life these are parts of your exactly as a part of my life and these were important people you know they were especially Kathleen we did three pictures together I mean romancing the stone it was extraordinary success so I had a contract with ca Kathleen then for an option for a second film and what happened romance is such a big hit. She was getting all these demands and stuff. So as I was developing the studio immediately wanted to demand another sequel uh Jewel the Nile. So I'm working on I contact Kathleen said so we got one should be good. We're going to shoot it next October which is I can't what I'm doing. I think it was going to be the money pit with Stephen Spielberg. I said well we got a contract. She said I know but you

have to be ready. So I'll be ready you know. Well, so anyway, she said, "You're not." And you know, people were coming at her. So I said, "I had to legally formally get her to do the second one." And she hired Roy Cohen, the lawyer. Right. And we had we fought and everything else. Trump's guy, his mentor. Exactly. Right. Yeah. Exactly. And so we went in, this is why do great a great chapter on the Jewel of the Nile about the chaos of being a producer. So, we go in and do the second movie with this lawsuit pending with my leading lady, you know, carrying over us. It turned out great. Again, she's such a pro. It was wonderful.

Did it slow down your love making the um lawsuit? Oh, yeah. She got you put a dent in that. Yeah. She got married by then. You know, one of the delightful facts in the book I didn't know we mentioned Pat Riley a second ago is that you modeled Gordon Gecko's hair after Pat Riley's hair. I did. I was with known Pat actually was on that picture of the Lakers one. I didn't know Pat and I invited him over to France. I said just look man I don't know but if you're in France come over love you for a weekend. Come by. And that's when I met him and uh we're friends ever since. And since he was down in Miami before I started Wall Street, um I was with him and he likes hot rods. We both share the fact we like hot rods. He's got some

beautiful 48 Mercury all decked out. Top is down and we're in Miami. It's fantastic. I'm sitting in the back seat. Pat's driving as cool as can be. And I'm looking at him and said, "His hair isn't moving. His hair is not moving. It's hop is down. It's the wind just came in the face. That hair is not moving." And I kept thinking, Gordon, Gecko, Gecko. Yeah. That's the ticket. And so that's, you know, that's crazy. Yeah. You're still friends with Pat? I am. I'm looking forward to this uh this season.

Will you tell us Will you tell a story about um Simon Agaruncle because this is a this one's incredible. I'm up in I'm I think it was during the game shooting the game in and I'm it's in the book and I'm in San Francisco and um I'm having a dinner with Arty Garuncle and Jimmy Webb and we're talking and Paul Simon they've split up and Paul Simon is performing over in Berkeley and um and I've had probably had a couple of pops and this is that you know man it's just crazy you two splitting up. Come on, let's let's go over and see Paul, you know, and Arty said, "Yeah, that's a good idea." So, we go on over to the there and we arrive just before the end of the concert. And the concert ends in applause and Arty

walks out on the stage, the Paul Simon concert. Crowd goes nuts, right? Paul's not too happy. Paul is not too happy. And I remember we brought him back to this restaurant Vanessie's and he Paul's very quiet and then find him say finally Paul says don't ever do that again art. So the it was a very brief reunion. Could you work on hauling oats? Would that be a possible? They're not getting along. Maybe get back together. Yeah. Bring Daryl over to John. Well, it's really great to see you. The book is we barely scratched the surface. It's called One Hell of a Ride.

The great Michael Douglas. Everybody, thanks for being here. We'll be back with Daisy Echo Jones.