Michael Douglas memoir revisits family and past relationships

Michael Douglas’s newly released memoir, One Helluva Ride, recounts his family life, career and personal struggles, including his account of an affair with Kathleen Turner and his difficult relationship with his late father, actor Kirk Douglas. In interviews about the book, the 82-year-old actor has described the memories behind its stories, many of which he says he had avoided discussing for years. Douglas said he had an affair with Turner, his Romancing the Stone co-star, and that the relationship remained secret for 40 years. He also said he sought permission from women named in the memoir before writing about them. Another account of the book says Douglas and Turner denied the relationship for years. The material available does not include a response from Turner to the memoir’s disclosure. Much of the memoir examines Douglas’s effort to establish his own identity while growing up as Kirk Douglas’s son. Michael Douglas said his father had a temper and physically disciplined him, leaving him shy as a child. He said he was uncomfortable speaking about those early years while his father was alive; Kirk Douglas died in 2020 at age 103.