He sat proudly on the celebrity dais as his father Kirk Douglas was honored as entertainer of the year by the New York Friars Club on April 23, 1977, at the Americana Hotel. Michael earned an Academy Award the previous year as producer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, one of America’s most critically acclaimed movies which tallied a total of five Oscars. Kirk made reference to nepotism in Hollywood: “I want to set the record straight. I got to where I am without any help from Michael.”