Michael Douglas Memoir Reveals LSD Smuggling, Danny DeVito & More

Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas is pulling back the curtain on his eventful life in a candid new autobiography titled One Helluva Ride. The 82-year-old star delivers plenty of surprising revelations throughout the pages, touching on his college drug smuggling days, wild living arrangements with an early roommate, and the strict ultimatum that ultimately led to his marriage with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Long before achieving global fame, Douglas shared an Upper West Side apartment with a fellow struggling actor named Danny DeVito. The two devised a system for when either man was entertaining guests by hanging a sock on the doorknob. Douglas admits he was so busy during this period that DeVito often found himself locked out and living elsewhere more than inside the apartment.

During his college years at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Douglas navigated tight finances after receiving a modest $10,000 trust fund from his father, the late movie star Kirk Douglas, with instructions that he was on his own. To pay for his tuition without taking on student debt, the future star engaged in a risky enterprise, smuggling marijuana from California to sell elsewhere. He also recalls taking LSD more than a hundred times over a three-year period, though he notes he never partook more than once a week.

When Douglas later became serious with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the late 1990s, she made it clear she would only date him under a strict monogamous arrangement. Douglas writes that he paused to make five quick phone calls to women he was currently involved with in different cities, believing it was a respectful way to handle nonmonogamy before committing to Zeta-Jones.

His early exposure to unconventional relationships included an affair at age 18 with a friend of his mother's, an experience he says taught him a lot about women. Later in Hollywood, Douglas' access to substances was easily facilitated by film crews, where prop masters or stunt coordinators could reportedly hook anyone up. He also recounts an evening doing cocaine with O.J. Simpson and Rolling Stone figures at an apartment.

Douglas opens up about his complex childhood with Kirk Douglas, describing a father from the hitting generation who possessed a volcanic temper that kept the young Michael quiet and fearful. However, he notes that their relationship transformed significantly during the final third of his father's life, evolving into a deeply close bond before Kirk passed away at age 103 in 2020.

The book also details a tense night while producing the movie Flatliners, when a heavily intoxicated Douglas confronted star Julia Roberts for having her arm around his then-13-year-old son, Cameron. Douglas admits he crossed a line and later sent her roses alongside apologies to Roberts and her then-fiancé Kiefer Sutherland. The memoir further touches on his son Cameron's past struggles with addiction and imprisonment, as well as conversations with longtime friend Rob Reiner while writing the book.

One Helluva Ride offers readers an unfiltered look at decades of Hollywood history, personal turbulence, and family evolution through the eyes of one of cinema's most recognizable veterans. The memoir captures both the high-flying exploits of his youth and the reflective wisdom of his later years.