Michael Douglas Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2009

ladies and gentlemen the recipient of the 37th AFI Life Achievement Award my friend dear friend Mikey D Michael Douglas come on you okay thank you oh thank you all thank you so much thank you for your your graciousness extraordinary gestures tonight Jack thank you very much and thank the NBA for an away game huh tonight uh appreciate that very very much I really do you know I mean what can I say this is right up there with my wedding day the days of the births of my children I want to thank the American Film Institute for this extraordinary effort and gestures for putting this this evening together it it's it's really overwhelming and certainly was entertaining for me and I and I hope for you and it's so what's so incredibly fulfilling to hear these things and not be dead so I mean at one point you know Katherine turned to me and she said she looked at me this loving look she said God honey you are so old you know this sweet oh hey I didn't even know you could dance I was fantastic thank you Honda the gestures of the efforts that you made so for the past about 11 years I do work with the United Nations and one thing that strikes me wherever I go is that American films export our culture in a way that reflects incredibly well on our nation in on our values and well just a great of mine and it reminded although we call it the the entertainment industry it does so much more than just entertain I mean this industry serves as the best American ambassador we can hand off for the world it truly does and that you know raises the question to me is what am i doing up here right right and getting this Lifetime Achievement Award I know you know what it is no it's great jeans great jeans both her both my mother and my father had been working actors their entire lives and I think it was maybe was the great philosopher Yogi Berra Yogi Bear was a great philosopher and he once said you can observe you can observe a lot by watching and growing up and being able to watch my father acting and producing movies and getting to see my mother acting on stage was the biggest advantage anyone in the second generation could ever have and I want to thank you both that I love you both so so I got this you know I've got this gift for my parents of this this acting DNA and their love of our profession but it was someone else you know who really became my true mentor and that was Karl Malden and I saw Karl this morning I stopped by he's he's 95 he wanted to be here tonight and I just want him always to know that I'll be his adopted son anytime and a special thanks to all of those who who came here tonight like like Oliver Stone who we are getting ready to do a picture again after 20 years I think it probably takes that long to recover Kathleen my darlin thank you so much three pictures together we the romance with each other or fought in the pictures Sharon Stone actress and Basic Instinct showed me a side of herself I never thought I'd see Annette Bening who classed me up in the American president something which she hopefully helped her in her 18-year futile attempt to class Warren up Toby thank you my friend thank you so much for taking a night off from baby duty I do appreciate that and Kiefer Sutherland I feel so much safer you know as a former American president with I got Jack Bauer around me and Matthew McConaughey who showed me tonight just how important it was by going out and renting a shirt so an to Sir Howard Stringer and the AFI Board who nominated me for this award who was so generous and giving me the experience of being here back on a real studio lot after so many years nothing better than coming to your own testimonial and being asked for photo ID at the gate know these twice and to all the extraordinary directors Paul Verhoeven thank you Curtis Hanson thank you so much both you for being here tonight and the amazing writers made this sound like I knew what I was talking about and all the hard working casts and the wonderful actors that are here the talented crew that I've worked with for tens of thousands of hours and to movie fans everywhere thank you for watching and of course saving saving the best for last - my wife Katherine I'm so proud of you darling and my oldest son Cameron who's here with us tonight a fine actor in his own right into my kids home back in Bermuda Dylan and Karis I love you so much tonight it's a celebration of movies in my small part in them you know and although on the weekend box office it may take four great reading on Monday mornings but what really lasts what matters the most is the history and the heritage of American films and the legacies of those who've been a part of it and that's why we have the American Film Institute and to remember and preserve and cherish the stories that echo across time so I'm a standing alone on the stage right now but my entire career has been the most amazing collaboration and I thank you all for being here tonight's and having your patience good night

Channel: American Film Institute

Views: 624,430

Rating: 4.8154259 out of 5

Keywords: afi, american, film, institute, michael, douglas, life, lifetime, achievement, award, laa, laa2009, 2009, sharon, stone, basic, instinct, wall, street, oliver, kirk, hollywood, movie, movies, los, angeles, oscar, one, flew, over, cuckoo, nest, cuckoos, danny, devito, kathleen, turner, game, sean, penn, charlie, sheen, black, rain, falling, down, wonder, boys, tobey, maguire, glenn, close, fatal, attraction, catherine, zeta-jones, zeta, television series, speech

Id: xlhgj4RJdDo

Length: 8min 22sec (502 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 20 2009