Editing Michael Douglas (section)

===1969–1979: Early years===
[[File:Tisha Sterling Michael Douglas 1969.JPG|thumb|Douglas with [[Tisha Sterling]] in the ''[[CBS Playhouse]]'' production ''[[The Experiment (CBS Playhouse)|The Experiment]]'' in 1969, Douglas's first television role<ref>TV.com: [http://www.tv.com/shows/cbs-playhouse/the-experiment-237730/ ''CBS Playhouse'': ''The Experiment''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330090129/http://www.tv.com/shows/cbs-playhouse/the-experiment-237730/ |date=March 30, 2016 }}</ref>]]
His first TV breakthrough role came with a 1969 ''[[CBS Playhouse]]'' special, ''[[The Experiment (CBS Playhouse)|The Experiment]]''—and it was the only time he was billed as "M.K. Douglas".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrpopculture.com/thereport/movie-pop-culture-trivia-michael-douglas-mrpopculture/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929200257/http://www.mrpopculture.com/thereport/movie-pop-culture-trivia-michael-douglas-mrpopculture/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 29, 2013|title=Movie Pop Culture Trivia – When Actor Michael Douglas Could Not Use His First Name|work=The Pop Culture Report|access-date=December 6, 2014}}</ref> On November 24, 1969, Douglas formed his first independent film production company, Bigstick Productions, Limited.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BIGSTICK PRODUCTIONS, LTD. :: New York (US) :: OpenCorporates|url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ny/285211|access-date=2021-06-20|website=opencorporates.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas on December 19, 1969 · Page 5|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/44031318/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Newspapers.com|date=December 19, 1969 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|date=December 17, 1969|title=Look, Pa, I'm A Corp: Actor-Son's Bigstick|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=6}}</ref> Michael Douglas started his film career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing in little known films such as ''[[Hail, Hero!]]'', ''[[Adam at 6 A.M.]]'', and ''[[Summertree]]''. His performance in ''[[Hail, Hero!]]'' earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Male Newcomer.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mulkerrins|first1=Jane|title=Golden Globes 2014: Over-60s steal the show when it comes to TV|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/golden-globes/10567622/Golden-Globes-2014-Over-60s-steal-the-show-when-it-comes-to-TV.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/golden-globes/10567622/Golden-Globes-2014-Over-60s-steal-the-show-when-it-comes-to-TV.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=August 17, 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=January 13, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

His first significant role came in the [[television series|TV series]] ''[[The Streets of San Francisco]]'' from 1972 to 1976, in which he starred alongside [[Karl Malden]]. Douglas later said that Malden became a "mentor" and someone he "admired and loved deeply".<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-02-me-karl-malden2-story.html|title=Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dies at 97|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 2, 2009|access-date=September 15, 2010|first=Dennis|last=McLellan}}</ref> After Douglas left the show, he had a long association with his mentor until Malden's death on July 1, 2009. In 2004, Douglas presented Malden with the Monte Cristo Award of the [[Eugene O'Neill Theater Center]] in [[Waterford, Connecticut]] for the [[Lifetime Achievement Award]].

In late 1971, Douglas received from his father, [[Kirk Douglas]], the rights to the novel ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'', which had been purchased by Bryna Productions in February 1962.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=The Eugene Guard from Eugene, Oregon on February 11, 1962 · Page 6|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/154106073/|access-date=2021-05-29|website=Newspapers.com|date=February 11, 1962 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Charlotte News from Charlotte, North Carolina on February 2, 1972 · 5|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/621995314/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Newspapers.com|date=February 2, 1972 |language=en}}</ref> Michael went on to produce the [[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)|film of the same name]] with [[Saul Zaentz]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.filmsite.org/onef.html|title=One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest|publisher=Filmsite.org|access-date=September 15, 2010}}</ref> Kirk Douglas hoped to portray McMurphy himself, having starred in an earlier stage version, but the director, Milos Forman, went with [[Jack Nicholson]], who won the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. Douglas won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Award for Best Picture]] for producing the film.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 48th Academy Awards&nbsp;– 1976|date=October 4, 2014 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1976|publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]|access-date=August 17, 2015}}</ref> In December 1976, Michael and his brother Peter became head of their father's film production company, [[The Bryna Company]], though Michael would depart by 1978 to focus exclusively on producing through his own Bigstick Productions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Raleigh Register from Beckley, West Virginia on December 6, 1976 · Page 8|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/48056382/|access-date=2021-06-19|website=Newspapers.com|date=December 6, 1976 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Republican and Herald from Pottsville, Pennsylvania on April 14, 1978 · 12|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/448552193/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Newspapers.com|date=April 14, 1978 |language=en}}</ref>

After leaving ''The Streets of San Francisco'' in 1976, Douglas played a hospital doctor in the medical thriller ''[[Coma (1978 film)|Coma]]'' (1978), and in 1979 he played the role of a troubled marathon runner in ''[[Running (film)|Running]]''. In 1979, he both produced and starred in ''[[The China Syndrome]]'', a dramatic film co-starring [[Jane Fonda]] and [[Jack Lemmon]] about a nuclear power plant accident (the [[Three Mile Island accident]] took place 12 days after the film's release). The film was considered "one of the most intelligent Hollywood films of the 1970s".<ref name=Edelman/> In June 1979, Michael appointed Jack Brodsky Executive Vice-president of Bigstick Productions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Boxoffice-June.04.1979|url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/31956683/boxoffice-june041979|access-date=2021-06-20|website=yumpu.com|language=en}}</ref>