Michael Douglas ‘Worries’ About Kathleen Turner After Her ‘Illness Has Taken a Turn for the Worse’

Michael Douglas came back from the brink after a bout with cancer, and now he wants to help his friend Kathleen Turner, who he can see has mobility issues due to her rheumatoid arthritis.

“Michael looks on and worries about Kathleen,” an insider exclusively tells Closer.

Last month, the 70-year-old actress was pictured using a cane in New York City as she walked into a building in downtown Manhattan and was later seen leaning on a wheelchair.

“Even though she’s still feisty as ever mentally, it appears her illness has taken a turn for the worse and that her body is buckling from under her,” the source says. “Her rheumatoid arthritis has kicked up a bigger stink in her life. She’s leaning on a cane and needs a wheelchair for those long stretches.”

Anything that the Wall Street actor, 80, can do for her “in the way of support, emotionally or practically, he’ll do,” says the insider. “Whether it’s a talk, finding her work, or the loan of his car and chauffeur.”

Michael and Kathleen have a long history. The two became incredibly close when costarring in 1984’s Romancing the Stone and then reunited for the 1985 sequel The Jewel of the Nile. However, things turned extremely tense between them when Kathleen refused to commit to the project due to issues with the script. (Michael was producing the film in addition to starring in it.)

These days, the source says, Michael “spends quite a lot of time in New York and always had a soft spot for her, starting when they worked together on Romancing the Stone [and] even when they were at each other’s throats.”

Adds the insider, “Kathleen relies on Michael’s friendship now more than ever and how he gets a chuckle out of her blustery candor and appreciates that he never makes her feel like a total invalid.”

Earlier this month, a separate source told Closer that Michael is equally worried about his own health.

“People tend to forget he had cancer, but Michael remembers his horrendous ordeal — the chemo, the nausea and pain — and lives in constant worry of getting sick again,” a source said of the Academy Award-winning actor, who celebrated his birthday last month.

Michael was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer in 2010. Although he was diagnosed with tongue cancer, he initially told the public he had throat cancer on the advice of his doctor. If they had to do surgery at the time for tongue cancer, it could have led to facial disfiguration and pose a threat to his prolific career.

After aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatment, he was declared tumor-free in January 2011 and has credited the medical team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York for “saving” his life.

“That’s why he’s changed his life around — to keep that fear from becoming a reality,” the source said. “He sticks to a gluten-free diet and avoids booze, cigarettes and caffeine. He won’t even have dessert for the most part because he’s cut way back on sugar. Plus, he gets regular check-ups and takes vitamin supplements to boost his immune system and exercises every day to keep his stamina levels up and maintain muscle mass.”