Danny DeVito has been a movie star for more than four decades, but he also saved the life of one of his best friends, Michael Douglas.
While promoting his new animated movie SmallFoot on The Talk, DeVito, 73, opened up about the time he saved Douglas, 73, while on the set of their 1984 classic Romancing The Stone.
During the production in Mexico, Douglas was bitten by a snake, and it was DeVito’s quick thinking that saved Douglas’ life.
A real life saver: Danny DeVito sheds light on the time he saved Michael Douglas’ life, after Douglas was bitten by a snake on the Romancing the Stone set.
On location: DeVito mentioned that he himself is afraid of snakes, and he didn’t want to go near it, but Douglas, ‘being the hot shot Mikey D,’ went up to the guy, who had a snake on his arm, and grabbed the snake
‘We were in Mexico in this really rugged kind of place,” DeVito said on The Talk. ‘There was this guy who had a truck with a cage on it and inside the pickup truck, in the bed of the truck, were snakes.’
DeVito mentioned that he himself is afraid of snakes, and he didn’t want to go near it, but Douglas, ‘being the hot shot Mikey D,’ went up to the guy, who had a snake on his arm, and grabbed the snake.
While DeVito told his friend, ‘Don’t touch the snake, it could bite you,’ Douglas said ‘It’s no big deal,’ before the snake proved him wrong.
Longtime pals: The actors at the Golden Globe awards over a decade ago
On and off screen lovers: Kathleen Turner recently admitted how ‘naughty’ she and Michael Douglas were on the Romancing the Stone set
‘Then the snake bites him on the hand,’ the SmallFoot star said. ‘And I always heard the best thing to do is suck the poison out, right away, so I did.’
‘I grabbed his hand and I’m spitting all over the place, and I say, Boy, it’s a good thing this didn’t bit you on the balls man — you would be a dead man,’ DeVito concluded.
Just a few months earlier, DeVito’s Romancing the Stone co-star (and Douglas’ former lover) Kathleen Turner, 73, admitted that she and Douglas were ‘very naughty together’ on the set of Romancing the Stone.
Tales from the set: ‘Then the snake bites him on the hand, and I always heard the best thing to do is suck the poison out, right away, so I did,’ said the SmallFoot star
Brush with death: Douglas was nearly killed on the set after being bitten by a poisonous snake
It’s fitting that DeVito would be the one to save Douglas’ life on the set, since they’ve been friends for over 50 years.
DeVito and Douglas met at the National Playwrights Conference in the 1960s, and they would go on to become great friends and collaborate on several projects together.
DeVito had a small role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which Douglas produced, three years before DeVito became a star on the hit TV series Taxi.
Longtime friends: It’s fitting that DeVito would be the one to save Douglas’ life on the set, since they’ve been friends for over 50 years
Douglas and DeVito would star in Romancing the Stone, its sequel Jewel of the Nile, The War of the Roses and Solitary Man together.
DeVito will next be seen in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Dumbo, portraying Max Medici, and he has been rumored to join Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy in Triples, a sequel to the 1988 classic Twins.
Douglas recently reprised his role as Hank Pym in the Marvel sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, and he next stars in the Netflix series The Kominsky Method.
Quick change: On Friday the star was seen at the Maria Cristina Hotel during the 66th San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain
Man of the woods: Douglas and DeVito would star in Romancing the Stone, its sequel Jewel of the Nile, The War of the Roses and Solitary Man together