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.
He’s Big Ben: Michael Douglas delivers as ‘Franklin’ in new series about trip that changed US history
nypost.com“Franklin,” an eight-part series premiering April 12 on Apple TV+.“Franklin” tells the story of 70-year-old Ben Franklin’s secret diplomatic mission to France in 1776 to gain French support (money, arms) for America’s fight against the British in the Revolutionary War.
There are a lot of moving parts here, so viewers would be apprised to pay attention as Franklin navigates French high society — and politics — in an effort to achieve his goal.The series is based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Stacy Schiff.As the series opens, Franklin — commissioned by Congress to undertake his clandestine journey across the Atlantic — has no diplomatic experience.
He’s joined on his journey by his grandson, Temple Franklin (Noah Jupe) as the US sits in a precarious position; it’s losing the war as the British gain ground with several routs, including Fort Washington, taking over New York and other territories.
Even George Washington concedes that “I think the game is pretty near up.”It’s Franklin’s job to talk France, led by King Louis, into siding with America against France’s hated rivals the British (who conquered a lot of territory in the US originally taken over by France).
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