Michael Douglas famously revealed his diagnosis of throat cancer in a 2010 appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”
What viewers may not have realized, however, was that prior to that appearance, it had been 18 years since he’d last appeared on David Letterman‘s late-night show.
An 18-Year Grudge
In his new memoir, “One Helluva Ride,” Douglas writes about the an earlier appearance on the show that left such a bad taste in his mouth that he refused to appear on the show for nearly two decades.
“I had been a regular guest on Letterman’s show earlier in my career, but the last time I was on, I felt David went too far,” he wrote, in an excerpt published by People.
According to Douglas, he felt blindsided when “without warning,” Letterman played a TV commercial featuring his late mother, actress Diana Dill, and then “started grilling me about it. It felt like he was making fun of my mother.”
That stunt, Douglas added, “left me feeling like he had a real nasty sense of humor. After that, whenever the producers of the show requested to have me back on, I always refused. I said no for 18 straight years. Dave wrote me personal letters to apologize, but my feelings didn’t change. He had crossed a line.”
Burying the Hatchet
When Douglas was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010, however, he was hit with the epiphany that he’d hung onto that grudge for far too long. When he received an invitation to promote his “Wall Street” sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” on the show, he finally agreed to accept.
“With this new diagnosis, it was time to bury the hatchet with Dave,” Douglas wrote.
This time, his experience on the show was far different than his last. He found Letterman to be “respectful,” and felt that he was “asking sincere and sympathetic questions” about his diagnosis.
“For years, my father and I had held on to grudges, used them to fuel our achievements, and looked to show people it was a mistake to cross a Douglas,” he recalled. “But it felt so nice to clear the air with Dave, and for the first time I felt like life is too short to hold on to feuds. Letting go felt like it was more of a favor to myself than to Dave. Those grudges were a weight I carried, and I was done with revenge.”
‘One Helluva Ride’
In writing his memoir, Douglas recounts a life he admits has been far from ordinary.
“I called the book ‘One Helluva Ride‘ because it was a roller coaster starting from childhood,” Douglas told People.
That includes all the wild times he experienced in Hollywood during the 1960s and ’70s.
“The drug culture — pot and everything — was just part of the culture. But then it did get darker,” Douglas told the magazine. “And then, be careful what you wish for, because when my career got really busy, both as an actor and having a production company . . . between that and my first marriage with Diandra, which was having difficulties, and my son Cameron, who was having drug issues himself, I was overwhelmed, [under] a lot of pressure and began to get more involved with cocaine. I think it was a large part of the failure of my first marriage and going for rehab. But then I thought, it’s important to talk about it.”
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Michael Douglas Refused To Appear On One Talk Show for 18 Years Because Host ‘Went Too Far’