Michael Douglas Reveals He Had Tongue Cancer; Not Throat Cancer

In an interview on the UK chat show THIS MORNING, Michael Douglas revealed that he's been lying for years about having had, and survived throat cancer. It turns out that the truth wasn't so far off though. The star had tongue cancer.

TV Guide reports "This was right before I had a big tour for [the sequel to] Wall Street, so we kind of said, 'There's no way we can cancel the tour and say we don't feel well,'" Douglas said. "I said, 'You've just got to come out and just tell them I've got cancer and that's it.'"

Douglas, 69, explained that his doctor advised that he might not want to publicly disclose that he had a disease with such a negative prognosis. Many who are diagnosed suffer from facial disfigurement. "The surgeon said, 'Let's just say it's throat cancer,'" Douglas said, adding that that the doctor told him that if they had to do surgery for tongue cancer "it's not going to be pretty." His doctor also said that Douglas faced losing part of his jaw and tongue.

Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won four Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, two Academy Awards-as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and asBest Actor in 1987 for his role as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, and anEmmy Award in 2013 for his portrayal of Liberace in the HBO film Behind the Candelabra. Other performances include The Game, Wonder Boys,Traffic and Falling Down. Douglas received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2009. He is the eldest of actor Kirk Douglas's four sons.