By Michael Avila
Special to DNAinfo
MANHATTAN — Hollywood hit Manhattan's Upper West Side Monday night to celebrate a true homegrown star — Michael Douglas.
Douglas was honored at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 37th annual Chaplin Award Gala.
The Academy Award-winning actor and producer, who won for producing 1975’s “One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest” and took home the Best Actor Oscar in 1987 for “Wall Street,” attended the event with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, his father, legendary star Kirk Douglas, and his mother Anne Douglas.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Douglas as he walked the red carpet into Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. The actor made a point to acknowledge the fans that were lined up against barricades across the street.
“We’re on a nice roll [lately],” he said, referring to his wife’s win Sunday night at the Drama Desk Awards. Zeta-Jones, currently starring on Broadway in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” shared the Best Actress in a Musical Award with “Memphis” star Montego Glover.
There was quite a diverse turnout for the Chaplin Awards evening, which was taking place at the same time as the “Sex and the City 2” premiere across town at Radio City Music Hall. Many of Douglas’ co-stars, including Tobey Maguire, Frank Langella, Erika Christensen and longtime friend Danny DeVito, made appearances. Also in attendance: Brooke Shields, “Hangover” co-star Justin Bartha and Jimmy Buffett, who has an apartment near Lincoln Center.
Asked what his favorite Michael Douglas movie was, Buffett cited the 1985 swashbuckling action comedy “Romancing the Stone,” a somewhat appropriate choice for the Mayor of Margaritaville.
“For me, that has to be [my favorite],” the singer said.
DeVito and Douglas have been friends since their days as roommates on the Upper West Side in the 1960s. They worked together for the fifth time in the just-released movie “Solitary Man,” where they play old friends who have drifted apart.
“We don’t see each other as much [anymore] as we’d like, so that helped with the characters,” DeVito said. “It was good, it’s always great working with Michael.”
Aside from his acting work, Douglas has also been a successful producer, having spearheaded more than a dozen feature films. Director Curtis Hanson, who worked with Douglas on the 2000 movie “Wonder Boys,” related a story that spoke to Douglas’ old-school work ethic and professionalism.
“He didn’t have anything to do with the producing of 'Wonder Boys,'” but it was as though he did,” said Hanson, who won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for “L.A. Confidential.”
“First of all, the movie wouldn’t have gotten made if Michael hadn’t taken a big salary cut,” Hanson said. “He was my partner in it from day one, during a very difficult shoot in Pittsburgh during the winter. [Michael was] always there, always prepared, as responsible as you could possibly be.”
Douglas, who grew up in Manhattan and recently moved back here with his family, has been all over the city in recent months. “Solitary Man,” which is now playing in theaters, was filmed on location across the city. So was his next picture, the highly anticipated “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which debuts in the fall.
“New York has been very, very nice to us. We’re very happy,” said Douglas, who plays the greedy, and unforgettable Wall Street executive Gordon Gecko in the "Wall Street" movies.
The Chaplin Award Gala began in 1972, and is named after its first honoree, Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin returned from exile overseas to accept the award. Other recipients including such film industry icons as Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep and last year’s honoree, Tom Hanks.
