Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award.
The elder son of Kirk Douglas and Diana Dill, Douglas received his Bachelor of Arts in Drama from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His early acting roles included film, stage, and television productions. Douglas first achieved prominence for his performance in the ABC police procedural television series The Streets of San Francisco, for which he received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations.
‘Franklin’ Director, Writers on How Benjamin Franklin Saved America, Why Michael Douglas Was Perfect for the Role: ‘He Has an Absolute Lust for Life’
variety.comLeo Barraclough International Features Editor “Franklin” director Tim Van Patten, who won Emmys for “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Pacific,” says that although he loves history and is a history buff “this was a slice of history I was not aware of.” Van Patten, who was also Emmy nominated for “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Game of Thrones,” adds: “For me, at this point in my career, I like to take myself to a world I don’t know, and also to do the same with the audience.” “Franklin,” which stars Michael Douglas, has its world premiere at series festival Canneseries on April 10 in Cannes, France, in the presence of cast and crew.
The show, which is a co-production between ITV Studios America and Apple Studios, makes its global streaming debut April 12 on Apple TV+. “Franklin” tells the story of how Benjamin Franklin, best known at the time as an inventor, travels to France in December 1776 on a secret mission.
In the American colonies, the British appear to be winning the War of Independence. “The stakes are so high surrounding this endeavor,” Van Patten explains.
The revolutionaries are in “dire straits,” Van Patten adds, and so Franklin has been dispatched by Congress to persuade France, an absolute monarchy, to send guns and money to this democratic rebel alliance, and, ultimately, to bring France into the war on their side.
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