Healthy again, Michael Douglas back to saving the world

Ploughshares board member Michael Douglas will emcee an event focused on diplomatic resolution of Iran's nuclear threat. Ploughshares board member Michael Douglas will emcee an event focused on diplomatic resolution of Iran's nuclear threat. Photo: Courtesy Of Ploughshares, Courtesty Of Ploughshares Photo: Courtesy Of Ploughshares, Courtesty Of Ploughshares Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Healthy again, Michael Douglas back to saving the world 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Here's the good news about Michael Douglas: There is no bad news.

After a period of feeling like a modern-day Job, Douglas is rejoicing in things going his way. Most important, there is no sign of the stage-four tongue cancer that sidelined him for a year and a half.

"I am feeling great. I'm clean as a whistle. I get checked up annually now, but that's it," he said, his raspy voice instantly recognizable on the phone from his home in Westchester County outside New York City. Put on a doctor-prescribed diet, he gained back the 32 pounds lost during chemotherapy and radiation. "It took a lot of milkshakes," he said with a laugh.

Throughout his ordeal, his mind-set was just to persevere. "I inherited from my father a lot of tenacity and a lot of stamina," he said, talking about Kirk Douglas, a life force who at 97 has just completed his 11th book, this one of poetry. "He knew I was overwhelmed on all sides, so he came back East a couple of times to check on me and be sure of the treatments.

"No question, when the big C sneaks up on you, it is the last thing you anticipate or expect," Douglas said. "You don't really have a choice, do you? It just comes at you, and you try not to feel sorry for yourself and carry on. I didn't have any mortality questions. That would have come if the treatment hadn't worked. But I'm not too philosophical anyway. I am more of a meat-and-potatoes guy."

Ploughshares work

At 69, Douglas says he has his old energy back. As if to prove it, he is traveling again on behalf of Ploughshares, one of the largest foundations dedicated to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. A longtime board member and fundraiser, he'll be in San Francisco (where Ploughshares began) on Tuesday to host a discussion about ending global threats related to nuclear arms.

Douglas became devoted to the organization after trying to track down the hometown of his father's family in Belarus. "I couldn't find the village. It was downwind from Chernobyl and was eliminated," he said.

It takes a special cause to get him away from home since his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, moved back in after a trial separation. They've been spotted at charitable events around New York holding hands like teenagers, her rings solidly affixed to her finger, and they plan to travel in Europe over the summer with their 13-year-old son, Dylan, and 11-year-old daughter, Carys.

"We did get some marriage counseling," Douglas said. "I think if both parties want to work it out, it makes it a lot easier than if one party is out the door. Things are going great with Catherine and me. The children are doing well both in school and as human beings. I don't know many people my age who have an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old - that certainly keeps you going." Douglas is also in the midst of planning an elaborate 60th wedding anniversary party for his father and stepmother, Anne.

Still, a dark cloud remains in his life. His 36-year-old son, Cameron Douglas, has been incarcerated since 2010, after a conviction on drug-related charges. His five-year sentence was extended when he was found to possess drugs in prison. Michael Douglas' publicist requested that he not be asked about Cameron for legal reasons.

But Douglas brings him up himself, first to praise his own father for "being very supportive with all things having to do with my oldest son." He goes on to talk about a weird coincidence related to his new movie "And So It Goes," in which he plays a crusty real estate agent in an upscale Connecticut town.

Career 'resurgence'

Reading the script, "I was struck by the close personal connection," Douglas said. "My character has a son who is drug addled and going away to prison. I must say I was shaking my head over that, but it was in the script so I decided to do it. People are going to make comparisons, but what can you do?"

"And So it Goes" - a sweet family drama opening July 11, starring Diane Keaton as Douglas' romantic interest and directed by Rob Reiner - is one of several of Douglas' recent movies. There was "Behind the Candelabra," for which he won an Emmy for playing Liberace, and "Last Vegas," a story of a reunion among four old friends that took in more than $134 million.

"I have been kind of on a roll," said Douglas, who in the fall starts making "Ant-Man," based on a Marvel comic book character from the 1960s. He plays an inventor of a serum to turn humans into ants. "I've always wanted to play a Marvel character," he said.

In the bleakest days of his cancer treatment, Douglas thought he might never act again. "Ironically, I have never had such a resurgence in my career. I feel very blessed and fortunate to be enjoying something I love to do so much."