Two years ago he bowed out of acting work after being diagnosed with throat cancer, but now Michael Douglas is back. With the cancer in remission, he plans to star in Last Vegas, a comedy whose producers wanted him for the role before he got ill. As it's an ensemble piece, also starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Dustin Hoffman, it won't be as intense as taking on a leading role. But once he has that under his belt, he plans to star as the flamboyant pianist Liberace in Steven Soderbergh's Behind The Candelabra.
Douglas' tumour has now gone but his prognosis remains troubling, with a significant possibility that it will return in the next few years. A quarter of throat cancer sufferers develop secondary tumours within 20 years but they can often be treated effectively if caught in the early stages.
