Kirk Douglas wanted a small affair to mark his 100th birthday next month (Dec16) but it's becoming a "major function", according to Michael Douglas.
The Wall Street actor has been put in charge of planning a celebration for his father's landmark birthday on 9 December and the Spartacus star requested a small get-together over tea but it is slowly turning into a much bigger event.
"He is 100 on December 9th and I'm in charge of planning the party," he told U.K. chat show host Jonathan Ross on Saturday night's (05Nov16) episode. "I said "let's maybe have an afternoon lunch' but then he doesn't like to watch people eat so we said, "let's do a tea' so we're down to a tea and we're just trying to get the details worked out but it's turning out to be a major function."
Michael told the host his father is "doing absolutely great" and "tends to fly" around on his walker with wheels bent at a 45 degree angle. He is confident his father could easily go on to 101 because he's "rocking" and working on a book with Michael's stepmother Anne.
"I've noticed they're working on a book together so he's quite content, quite satisfied, he's just an extraordinary guy," he adds. "I'm super, super proud of him."
During the interview, he also recalled his first meeting with his now-wife Catherine Zeta-Jones at a film festival, where after asking her for a drink, he thought he had blown his chance when she didn't seem taken with his chat-up line.
"We sat there (at the bar) for a little while and I said to her after about half an hour, "You know, I'm going to be the father of your children,'" he said. "It sounded good and she said, "I've heard a lot about you and I've seen a lot about you and I think it's time that I said goodnight.'… And so I thought "I've totally blew it.'"
He sent her flowers and apologized and the tactic must have worked – they have been married since 2000 and have two children together.