Met his German wife-to-be, Anne Douglas, when she applied for a job as his assistant on the French location shoot for the movie Act of Love (1953).
President Class Of 1939, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York. Graduated with a degree in English.
President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980.
Ranked #53 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list, October 1997.
Received a UCLA Medal of honor 14 June 2002 from the University of California, Los Angeles, during school's graduation ceremony for theater, film and television students. Previous recipients include former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and actors Laurence Olivier and Carol Burnett.
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy Carter on 17th January 1981. This is the highest US honor a civilian can receive.
Recipient of American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement award, with screening of 16 his films, Decemer 1999.
Speaks German (fluently, but not accent-free) and also French.
Suffered a stroke in 1995 that made it very difficult for him to talk. Speech therapy over the years alleviated the problem greatly.
Survived a helicopter crash on 23 February 1991 in which two people were killed. He was left with a debilitating back injury.
Turned down two Oscar-winning roles: Lee Marvin's in Cat Ballou (1965) and William Holden's in Stalag 17 (1953).
Was named #17 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute.
Was originally cast to play Col. Sam Trautman in First Blood (1982), but walked out on the project. Douglas wanted substantial changes made to the script, specifically that John Rambo die at the hands of Trautman, like the character did in the novel. The writers held their ground and refused. Richard Crenna was eventually cast in the role.
While filming The War Wagon (1967) in September 1966, Douglas enraged his co-star John Wayne by recording a television advertisement for Edmund G. Brown, the Democratic Governor of California, after Wayne had recorded an advertisement for Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.