Evidence of the Jewish heritage of actor Michael Douglas, a 1987 Academy Award contender for Best Actor for his role in the film “Wall Street,” was presented on April 2 as part of a new PBS series called “Finding Your Roots.”.
Kirk Douglas, a well-known actor, is his father. Kirk Douglas received an honorary medal in 1996 for “50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community.” Douglas has applied for an Oscar three times. Michael Douglas Sr. passed away on February 5, 2020, at the age of 103.
As per Gates, who revealed the study results from the episode, the family may be traced back to Chausy, which is located in Belarus, in the 1700s. Researchers were able to locate the Jewish cemetery and the Jewish area where Douglas’s family, who had previously gone by the surname Danilovich, was most likely residing when they found the family’s headstone.
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Throughout the course, Michael Douglas reported having several epiphanies and feeling “more of a spiritual, religious connection to Judaism than I ever had before.”
The broadcast also revealed a few horrifying family secrets. Douglas’s grandpa, Isidore Demsky, had always said to the family that he left Russia to avoid enlisting in the military, but Gates revealed that there was a suspicion that Demsky, whose true name was Girsh Danilovich, may have attempted to flee after being detained for robbery.
Michael Douglas expressed his belief that his father would feel “very, very moved” and appreciative upon discovering his family’s Jewish history.
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