Michael Douglas' career highlight was meeting his wife

Forget the accolades, the biggest moment of Michael Douglas' stellar acting career was meeting his wife, Catherine Zeta Jones.

The 71-year-old is a double Academy Award winner with a string of iconic roles in classic movies including Wall Street and Fatal Attraction under his belt, but nothing can top the moment he met his spouse.

"Right now, it would probably be the Deauville Film Festival in 1999 when I met Catherine," he replied when asked by Entertainment Tonight for his career highlight. "That was the best memory I got."

The star married the Welsh actress a year later in November, 2000 and they quickly became parents to son Dylan, 15, and Carys, 12.

While many kids would be thrilled to have Hollywood royalty for parents, Catherine, 46, told the news show her children are far from impressed by their folks' achievements.

"They're teenagers, so they think we're very dumb right now," she quipped.

The couple attended the AARP's Movie for GrownUps Awards in Beverly Hills, California on Monday (08Feb16), where Michael was honoured with a career achievement award, and the actor shared his secrets to a happy marriage.

"I think it's just moment to moment," he told People.com. "Catherine reminds me... we all make more efforts to strangers than we do to the people closest to us."

The couple split in 2013 but reconciled after several months, and the Douglases are now happier than ever, with Michael crediting his wife for his good health following his throat cancer diagnosis in 2010.

Michael was placed in remission from cancer in January 2011 and has made his health a priority ever since.

"I'm cancer-free and five years out," he explained, "and that normally means that everything's over. Health becomes a priority. Working out well, you're watching your diet. Watching how much you drink, that kind of stuff."