Michael Douglas had a harrowing wake-up call to what it meant to be the son of a famous 1950s actor, recalling a time he narrowly escaped kidnappers as a child.
The Basic Instinct star learned from an early age that his father, Kirk Douglas, fame “came with real danger.” In his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, the actor looked back at an incident that took place when he was eight years old that had his heart racing and mad-dashing to the safety of their apartment.
Douglas, 82, grew up in New York City and recalls having been outside playing on the awning of their apartment building. He soon noticed a man “pressing himself” up against the wall of the building and staring right at him. In that moment, Douglas heard the screech of a car and another man “striding directly toward me.”
“I reached the end of our building and dashed down a ramp to the basement. As I opened the basement door, I turned back and saw they were chasing me,” he explained.
“I ducked into the boiler room. My pulse was roaring in my ears with such force I thought the would-be kidnappers might hear it. I cracked open the door just wide enough to see their feet walking around in the next room, looking for their prey.”
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After waiting for some time, Douglas ran toward the elevator that was thankfully already on the basement level. He managed to enter the elevator and press the button for the floor of his apartment when he heard a thump.
“Just as the elevator started to climb, there was a thump against the door and the whole elevator shook. A man’s face pushed up against the porthole window,” said Douglas.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Douglas admitted he was “definitely scared” over what happened, but it didn’t necessarily leave a lasting impression. Instead, it was a lesson he had to take hard, and wondered, “Why did this happen, and understanding a little bit about celebrity and all of that.”
Being the son of a famous actor and Diana Dill created a roller coaster ride from the start. It wasn’t until some time later that Douglas realized the attempted kidnapping wasn’t his fault and was “part of the baggage that comes from having a famous father.”
His father was a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for drama, Westerns, and war films. He was one of the greatest male actors of classic Hollywood cinema, starring in Spartacus, Paths of Glory, Lust for Life, and many more.
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