Catherine Zeta-Jones played a crucial role in Michael Douglas’s recovery from a challenging skiing accident. Douglas, the 79-year-old Hollywood luminary, had been grappling with a lingering limp resulting from the ski mishap, which had taken a toll on one of his knees.
During the filming of his movie “Solitary Man,” Douglas was prompted to address the issue. With the support of his wife, Catherine, 54, he underwent a significant knee operation to rectify the problem.
In a resurfaced interview from his appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Douglas shared details of the aftermath of his surgery.
He revealed that he had to undergo the fitting of an “artificial knee” due to the wear and tear from the skiing accident years ago.
“I had a skiing accident years and years ago, and it just wore down,”
Douglas explained during his conversation with host Jay Leno.
“It finally got to a point where I had a limp and I had to [get an op].”
The recovery period after the operation was approximately three months before Douglas could walk normally again.
He publicly praised his wife for her unwavering support during this time, describing her as “fantastic” as he underwent the procedure, which involved the fitting of “PVC [and] plastic pipes with titanium rods.”
Despite his playful attempts, Douglas jokingly admitted that he couldn’t persuade Catherine to don a nurse’s uniform during his recovery. However, he humorously mentioned that he made an effort to convince her.
Thanks to the success of his operation, Douglas experienced no further issues with limping while filming his latest project, the historical mini-series “Franklin” for Apple TV
In this series, he portrays Benjamin Franklin, known for his electrical experiments in the 18th century.
Reflecting on his decision to take on the role, Douglas mentioned his eagerness to explore new ventures at this stage in his life.
Additionally, he admitted that spending eight months in Paris for the shoot was an appealing prospect.
Douglas even contributed his own creative ideas to the series, including a scene where Benjamin Franklin’s health issues result in flatulence.
Despite the potentially awkward nature of the scene, Douglas felt it was appropriate given the context of Franklin’s health struggles.
“Franklin” is currently available for streaming on AppleTV+.
