Celebrity Mound

A slew of stars including Hugh Hefner, Matthew McConaughey, Annette Bening, Warren Beatty and Melanie Griffith strutted into the Sony Studios in Los Angeles last week to honor Michael Douglas as he received AFI’s 37th Annual Lifetime Achievement Award. However, the entire evening Michael barely took his eyes off his stunning wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, and it seems he made his intentions very clear the very first time they met.

“My very first impression was that he was very funny and very charming,” Catherine Zeta-Jones told Tarts. “And straight away he was very direct that he wanted to be the father of my children. So that was it …”

The two have since had two children, Dylan, 8, and Carys, 6.

Although Douglas is still clearly mesmerized by his leading lady, he was less-than-impressed when a reporter asked Zeta-Jones first of all what she was wearing.

“I’m being honored for a Lifetime Achievement Award and you ask my wife what she is wearing. Not even the second question, you ask it straight up,” he said while walking away, before reluctantly being enticed back.

But according to Michael Douglas’s 92-year-old father Kirk, he didn’t want his son to even enter show business.

“For years I tried to get him out! I thought he was going to be a lawyer and I would encourage that but my son never listened to me,” Kirk exclaimed. “He’s too young or I’m too young for my son to have a life time achievement award. I don’t know how I feel. I have mixed emotions.”

(source)

Michael Douglas had to field questions Wednesday about the financial turmoil shaking world markets from reporters recalling his role in the 1987 film “Wall Street.”

The actor sought to focus on the subject of Wednesday’s news conference – urging the United States and eight other holdout nations to ratify a nuclear test ban treaty.

Douglas won an Academy Award for portraying the rapacious banker Gordon Gekko, who popularized the phrase “greed is good” in the movie.

After world leaders here condemned the “boundless greed” of world markets, Douglas was asked to compare nuclear Armageddon with the “financial Armageddon on Wall Street.”

But the likening to Gekko did not end there, with a reporter asking: “Are you saying Gordon that greed is not good?”

“I’m not saying that,” Douglas replied. “And my name is not Gordon. He’s a character I played 20 years ago.”

Douglas, who married actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2000, has won two Oscars – as a producer for 1975’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and as best actor for his role in “Wall Street.”

An afternoon of good food, good wine, blazing sunshine and a stunning wife on his arm proved too much for Michael Douglas yesterday.

After a long, wine-filled lunch with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and a few close friends, the Wall Street actor appeared to struggle to keep upright at the table.

Dressed down in a T-shirt and shorts, it appeared the combination of alcohol and humidity had left the Oscar-winning actor a tad weary.

As his glamorous wife Catherine, 38, laughed and talked with their male companions, Michael looked increasingly worse for wear as the meal wore on.

By the time everyone had finished eating, the 63-year-old had fallen asleep on the Chicago actress’ shoulder.

The millionaire pair have been cruising the Mediterranean this week on a yacht and after starting their trip off in St Tropez, the pair moved on to Portofino, Italy.

After their lengthy lunch, the couple retreated to their luxury yacht where Michael soon crashed out on one of the comfy sofas.

Rather sensibly given his slightly sunburnt face, Michael threw a towel over his face to protect his sun from the 82 degree heat.

The Mediterranean cruise is proving the perfect chance for the couple to enjoy some alone time, after they presumably have left their two children Dylan, seven; and Carys, five, at home with relatives.

Michael and Catherine, who have been married for over seven years, are enjoying a well-earned break after both filmed a string of movies over the past year.

The actor has a completed a succession of films due out for next year, including The Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past and Beyond A Reasonable Doubt.

Meanwhile, Catherine recently wrapped romantic comedy The Rebound and has another three projects lined up, including a biopic of late Hollywood bombshell Lana Turner.

(source)

Michael Douglas and Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones

Casey Affleck

Ben Affleck

Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas

George Clooney and Sarah Larson

Designer Nicole Miller

Lauren Bacall

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas

Jennifer Hudson

Kirk Douglas and wife Anne Douglas

Michael Douglas has a phobia of women’s hairy armpits.

The Oscar-winning star, who is married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, claims his fears surfaced when he taught water-skiing during a summer break from school.

Michael is quoted by Britain’s The Sun newspaper as saying: “This is kind of silly, but I was just 16 and I just never thought women had hair under their arms.

“One summer I had this eastern European woman. It was a shock. It sticks in my mind.”

The 63-year-old star isn’t the only celebrity to struggle with an unusual phobia.

Hollywood director Woody Allen is said to have a morbid fear of sunshine, crowds and children.

Pamela Anderson previously confessed she is terrified of her own reflection, admitting: “I don’t like mirrors.”

Orlando Bloom allegedly has a fear of pigs, while ‘Angel’ star David Boreanaz is scared of waterfalls and fish.

David explained: “You just want to jump into a waterfall, they are really scary. I hate fish too because they are scaly. If they come too close I have to swim away.”

(source)