From mirror.co.uk
Michael Douglas on his biggest regret: "I wish I'd divorced my first wife sooner"
By Melissa Thompson
8 Aug 2013 00:01
The actor, who is now married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, has opened up about his regrets
From Oscars to booze addiction, Michael Douglas has had one of the most colourful lives in Hollywood.
In his 45-year career, the millionaire, married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, has battled throat cancer and has even seen his son jailed for drug offences.
But now, at 68, he is taking a long look back over his life.
Surprisingly, there is only one regret – he wishes he had divorced first wife, Diandra, sooner.
He says: “I know I’m going to get into trouble here. I have nothing against her and in fact I’m very fond of my first wife. But we should have ended that marriage eight or 10 years earlier.
“It took me too long to realise that if you go to a marriage counsellor to resolve problems, it’s in his interest to keep the marriage going.
“Because if I end the marriage he’s got no business. I think Diandra would probably say the same thing. That’s the only clear regret that I have.”
The couple married in March 1977, separated in 1995 and finally divorced in 2000.
After they separated, Michael’s adventures with women and alcohol became the talk of Hollywood.
He went to rehab in the 1990s for what he said was an alcohol problem, but was widely reported to be sex addiction.
It seemed years of partying may have taken their toll when he was told he had stage-four throat cancer in August 2010, a diagnosis that is usually terminal.
Asked if he regretted the drinking and smoking that could have caused it, he said no – because it was from years of performing oral sex on women instead.
But against the odds, determined Michael defied doctors to pull through and has been clear for two years.
He made a spectacular return to the screen, including playing Liberace in Behind the Candelabra, a performance widely tipped to win him awards.
Michael still has check-ups every six months to ensure the cancer has not returned and wife Catherine, 43, has been by his side throughout his illness.
They got hitched in November 2000, signing a prenup after Michael’s divorce from Diandra cost him a rumoured £30million.
Catherine, who starred in Chicago and Ocean’s Twelve, also has her own battle – she recently had treatment in rehab for bipolar disorder.
And after all they have been through, Michael admits that true love takes work.
Speaking at a hotel in New York, he says: “Love is an extraordinary feeling that comes from the bottom of your soul, but has to be nurtured, you know.
“The thing I’ve learned about getting older is you can’t take love for granted. You protect it, nurture it and it grows and after one’s initial, physical emotional aspects, it becomes deeper.”
Michael, who has children Dylan, 12, and Carys, 10, with Catherine, as well as jailed son Cameron with Diandra, continues: “Happiness is moments.
"I don’t think anyone walks around happy all the time unless they’re completely *medicated. Happiness is cherishing good moments and trying to link together more good moments than bad.”
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But it is Cameron’s drug problems that have dogged Michael. The 34-year-old is serving a nine-and-a-half year term for drug offences.
In a letter to the court in 2010, Michael blamed “genes, family and peer *pressure” for contributing to his son’s problems and painted his substance abuse as the product, in part, of a privileged but difficult childhood and the long shadow cast by a family of screen icons.
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Despite being worth millions, and having a wife who loves shopping, Michael also reveals he is still thrifty when it comes to choosing his outfits – taking them from his film sets.
He says: “People tease me because my wardrobe is usually my wardrobe from movies.
"What I do is, when I go in for a costume fitting and I see a couple of things they’re not going to use, I say, ‘I’ll take that’, ‘I’ll take that’.
“So I don’t go shopping. I’ve got clothes from all my movies. Catherine isn’t happy about it and tries to get things for me from time to time but I’m not a person who wants objects.”
Laughing, he adds: “I guess I love land. Some people would pay a fortune for a painting but I love beautiful environments and views.
"I love to travel, it’s my luxury – travelling as first class as I can to interesting, exotic places.
Full article and more pictures on mirror.co.uk:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrit...-luker-2138722
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