Michael Douglas Admitted 4 Steamy On-Set Affairs in His Memoir

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Michael Douglas is revisiting some of the most complicated chapters of his romantic past in his memoir, “One Helluva Ride,” detailing alleged on-set romances with several of his leading ladies — including one revelation that may surprise fans. Douglas has been married to Catherine Zeta-Jones since November 2000, but before that relationship, the actor was known for his high-profile love life. Now, he is opening up about those years, beginning with Lee Purcell, his co-star in “Adam at 6 A.M.”

Douglas writes that he and Purcell became involved while shooting “Adam at 6 A.M.,” in which they portrayed romantic leads Adam and Jerri. He was single at the time and said his attraction to Purcell grew as production continued. “As filming progressed, my relationship with Lee changed and we became lovers,” he recalled (via Entertainment Weekly). The relationship was complicated by the fact that Purcell was married. “We had to keep it a secret from the cast, crew, the people in the town we were filming in, and of course her husband,” Douglas wrote.

In the memoir, Douglas describes Purcell as both magnetic and fearless. He remembered her as “beautiful, a dancer, and she did her own stunts,” while also calling her “smart, funny and, in many ways, a rebel like me.” Their affair eventually ended. Douglas later met Diandra Luker and married her in 1977, but his romantic entanglements did not stop there.

Douglas also acknowledges a brief relationship with screenwriter Diane Thomas during a difficult period in his marriage to Luker. The pair worked together on the 1984 adventure movie “Romancing the Stone.” “Things at home were in a bad place,” Douglas said (via People). “Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs, including my recent romance with Diane Thomas.”

According to Douglas, the marriage was already in serious trouble when his relationship with Thomas turned romantic. “The truth was my marriage was in trouble and neither one of us was happy,” he wrote, referring to Luker (via Entertainment Weekly). “Did I step outside my marriage? Yes, I did.” He added that Luker was also seeing other people, saying, “This wasn’t a case of her sitting at home in her nightgown waiting by the telephone for me to call and check in. She was out with her friends and having romantic interludes with people, too.”

Thomas died in a car crash in Topanga, California, only weeks before the 1985 release of “The Jewel of the Nile,” the follow-up to “Romancing the Stone.” Reports stated that Thomas and two other people were traveling in a Porsche Carrera Douglas had given her for her uncredited script work on the sequel. She was 39.

One of the memoir’s most notable disclosures concerns Kathleen Turner, Douglas’ co-star in “Romancing the Stone.” For years, the pair denied having dated despite their unmistakable chemistry. Douglas now says that account was not entirely accurate. “Yes, we confessed, we had amazing chemistry. Yes, we were both, as Kathleen said, ‘terrible flirts,’ and yes, we were both tempted, but nothing ever happened between us,” he wrote (via People). “That was a lie.”

After long days filming in Mexico, Douglas and Turner would join the cast for dinner before quietly retreating to her hotel room once everyone else had gone to sleep. Their secret was known to no one on the production, including Douglas’ roommate and close friend Danny DeVito. But Douglas was still married to Luker, and the situation became more tense when she arrived on set with their son, Cameron.

Douglas recalled being delighted to see his son but said the visit also raised Luker’s suspicions. “While Bob [Zemeckis, the director] and Danny had no clue about my affair with Kathleen, Diandra grew suspicious. A woman’s intuition, I suppose,” he wrote. Luker confronted Turner, who did not want to become entangled in the couple’s marriage. Douglas ultimately stayed with his wife, a decision he later regretted. “We shouldn’t have gotten back together,” he said. “After that first split it was never the same between us ever again.”

Just when everyone thought Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone had a thing for each other while filming “Basic Instinct,” the actor revealed in his memoir that it was actually their other co-star, Jeanne Tripplehorn — who played his therapist and other love interest, Dr. Beth Garner — that he developed feelings for. “Everyone [assumed] something was going on between Sharon and me. They were so focused on a possible relationship between Sharon and me, they missed the real relationship happening between me and Jeanne,” Douglas said (per Entertainment Weekly). He was completely smitten. “The truth is, I fell very hard for Jeanne despite our nearly 20-year age difference,” he added (via Page Six). “In fact, I was ready to officially leave my wife for Jeanne. I was crazy about her.”

Douglas also writes about the connection he developed with Jeanne Tripplehorn while making “Basic Instinct.” The two spent many evenings “talking” and “really getting to know each other […] away from the set and everything else in the world,” according to the memoir (via People). Tripplehorn, however, was reluctant to become involved with a married man, even though Douglas and Luker had been living separately and “were both seeing other people on the side.” He explained the circumstances to her, but she remained uncomfortable crossing that boundary. Douglas and Luker divorced in 1995, while he and Tripplehorn went their separate ways after filming ended. Still, he remembers her warmly, calling her “an amazing actress and a truly terrific woman that I was very fortunate to spend time with.”