HispanicBusiness

Acting icon Michael Douglas is returning to the Santa Barbara stamping grounds that spawned his career to pick up a film award named after his famous dad.

The younger Douglas will receive the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at a black-tie gala dinner on Thursday night at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara.

The sixth annual event is a major fundraiser for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Previous award recipients include John Travolta, Ed Harris, Quentin Tarantino, Harrison Ford and the elder Douglas.

Michael Douglas is expected to be joined for the evening's festivities by his father, his wife and acting colleague Catherine Zeta-Jones, other family members, and friends such as Hollywood luminaries Annette Bening and Danny DeVito.

Michael Douglas is a two-time Oscar winner; his first came for producing (with Saul Zaentz) the classic 1975 film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," based on the Ken Kesey novel. The second was a lead actor Oscar for his portrayal of the chilling investment villain Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film "Wall Street," a role he reprised in last year's sequel.

He's also familiar to moviegoers for roles in films such as "Traffic," "The Game," "The Ghost and the Darkness," "The American President," "Falling Down," "Basic Instinct," "Fatal Attraction," "The War of the Roses," "The Jewel of the Nile," "Romancing the Stone," "The Star Chamber" and "The China Syndrome."

His big break came in the early 1970s TV show "The Streets of San Francisco," which paired Douglas with Karl Malden.

Douglas, 67, attended film school at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1968.

The 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival is slated to run from Jan. 26 to Feb. 5, 2012. The 11-day event typically features 200 or more films, more than a half-dozen celebrity red-carpet tributes, discussion panels, filmmaking awards and competitions, and other events, attracting around 70,000 visitors annually.