Eric Douglas
Douglas in 1995
Born	Eric Anthony Douglas (1958-06-21)June 21, 1958 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 6, 2004(2004-07-06) (aged 46) New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, stand-up comedian
Years active	1971–2004
Parent(s)	Kirk Douglas Anne Buydens
Relatives	Peter Douglas (brother) Michael Douglas (half-brother) Joel Douglas (half-brother) Cameron Douglas (half-nephew)

Eric Anthony Douglas (June 21, 1958 – July 6, 2004) was an American actor and stand-up comedian.^[1][2] He was the youngest son of actorKirk Douglas and his second wifeAnne Buydens. His half-brother was actor and producerMichael Douglas. Douglas pursued a career in show business but did not attain the same level of success as his father and siblings. His career was overshadowed by his numerous run-ins with the law and problems with alcohol and drugs.^[3]

Douglas was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of actorKirk Douglas (1916–2020) andGerman American motherAnne Buydens (1919–2021).^[4] His father was Jewish and his mother later converted to Judaism. He was the younger brother ofPeter Douglas, and his older half-brothers areMichael andJoel Douglas.

Douglas studied atPitzer College inClaremont, California, andRADA andLAMDA, both inLondon.

Douglas made his screen debut in 1971 inA Gunfight, starring his father andJohnny Cash. In 1982, Douglas appeared in theNBC television filmRemembrance of Love, also starring his father. Douglas portrayed a younger version of his father's character in flashback scenes.^[5] He appeared in several films in the 1980s includingThe Flamingo Kid (1985),Tomboy (1985),The Golden Child (1986), andHonor Bound (1988). In the late 1980s, Douglas performedoff-Broadway at theVillage Gate Theater with the critically acclaimedimprovisational comedy troupeNoo Yawk Tawk .^[6] He also appeared in a production ofDale Wasserman'sShakespeare and The Indians at the Music Theatre Conference for the Eugene O' Neill Theatre Center in 1981. Also in the production was folk performerBobby Bridger, but the production never made it to Broadway.

In 1991, Douglas appeared with his father (in the senior Douglas'sEmmy-nominated performance) in "Yellow", the Season 3 finale of the television seriesTales from the Crypt. The father and son acting duo portrayed father and son characters with Eric a young officer inWorld War I brought up on charges of cowardice by his commanding general who is also his cold-hearted father.

In the early 1990s, Douglas attempted a career as a stand-up comedian. He performed in New York City comedy clubs with much of his self-deprecating material coming from his status as theblack sheep of the Douglas dynasty.

Douglas entered British comedy folklore when, during a stand-up performance atThe Comedy Store, London, he was angered by the audience's reaction to his stand-up routine. In a moment that would lead to club co-founderDon Ward saying he had"died on his arse", Douglas shouted "You can't do this to me, I'm Kirk Douglas's son!" A member of the audience then stood up and shouted, "No, I'm Kirk Douglas' son," referring to the iconic "I'm Spartacus" scene of the 1960 film starring Kirk Douglas. This ended up with the majority of the audience standing up and repeating the line.^[7]

Douglas was arrested multiple times throughout the 1990s. One of his first arrests came in 1991 for kicking aBeverly Hills police officer.^[8] On October 30, 1994, Douglas was arrested in Los Angeles forcocaine possession. Less than a month later, he was arrested forDUI and for leaving the scene of an accident when he crashed into a parked car while trying to leaveThe Comedy Store inWest Hollywood after a fight.^[9] In May 1996, Douglas was arrested for possession of a controlled substance when police found eleven vials ofcrack cocaine and 1,085Xanax pills in hisHell's Kitchen, Manhattan apartment.^[10] He pleaded guilty to the charges and was placed on probation and was ordered to complete a drug rehab program.^[11]

In August 1996, he was arrested inLong Beach, California, for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Two days later, Douglas was arrested inNew Canaan, Connecticut, for disorderly conduct after he attempted to kiss a young girl who was a fellow patient atSilver Hill Hospital, a rehab facility he was in at the time.^[12] He was cleared of the charges in February 1998.^[13] In February 1997, Douglas was arrested for DUI after crashing his rental car into two parked cars.^[14]

In 2000, Douglas revealed in an interview that he went into an eight-day coma in 1999 after accidentally overdosing onXanax. Douglas recalled, "I was in L.A. sitting around my breakfast table with my dad and I choked on a piece of sausage. But because the pills had taken effect, I was not able to dislodge the sausage from my throat." After the Douglases' maid attempted theHeimlich maneuver, Douglas was taken toCedars-Sinai Medical Center where he fell into a coma. Due to ananoxic brain injury, his speech became slurred and hisgait was altered.^[15]

In May 2001, Douglas sued his former psychiatrist, Dr. William Leader, claiming that Leader prescribed him a combination of prescription drugs that are lethal when combined with alcohol. Douglas asserted that Leader, who had been treating Douglas for his drug addictions for ten years, failed to consider his alcohol problem when he prescribedVicodin,Klonopin, and Xanax. Douglas claimed the drugs caused him to feel suicidal and also caused an episode ofcardiac arrest which led him to require constant care and hospitalization. Douglas sought $50,000 in damages from Leader.^[16]

Weeks before his death, Douglas was back in a rehab center inUpstate New York. His parents reportedly visited him and gave him atough love ultimatum regarding his drug use.^[17]

In 2009, during an appearance onThe Early Show, Kirk Douglas told interviewerJulie Chen that he and his wife had taken Eric to "20 rehab centers" over the years and that "nothing helped".^[18]

On July 6, 2004, a maid found Douglas's body in hisManhattan apartment.^[4] An autopsy and toxicology report later determined that his death was caused by "acute intoxication" from the combined effects of alcohol,tranquilizers, andpainkillers. Douglas's death was ruledaccidental.^[19][20] He wasinterred inPierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in theWestwood section of Los Angeles, California. His father was later interred with him in 2020 and his mother was interred with them in 2021.^[21]

• Eric Douglas atIMDb
• Eric Douglas at theInternet Off-Broadway Database

• 1958 births
• 2004 deaths
• 20th-century American male actors
• Accidental deaths in New York (state)
• Alcohol-related deaths in New York City
• Bryna Productions people
• Male actors from California
• American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
• American people of German descent
• American male film actors
• American male stage actors
• American stand-up comedians
• American male television actors
• Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
• Douglas family
• American Ashkenazi Jews
• Drug-related deaths in New York City
• Pitzer College alumni
• Jewish American male actors
• Comedians from Los Angeles
• 20th-century American comedians
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews
• Jewish film people

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from February 2025
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• Internet Off-Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata