Michael Douglas inspired by John Lennon's death

Hollywood actor Michael Douglas revealed that he became a campaigner to end gun violence after getting caught in the "fracas" surrounding John Lennon's murder when he was walking home past the Beatles legend's apartment building.

The 71-year-old actor was walking home with Rolling Stone magazine publisher Jann Wenner in December 1980 when they came across a commotion, and the subsequent killing of the Beatles legend outside The Dakota, the building where he lived, made the pair vow to try and change things, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"We were walking home one night along Central Park West on December 8 and we passed the Dakota.

"There was all this fracas and it was the night that John Lennon got shot. Right after that, Jann and I were involved with starting an organisation called CeaseFire," Douglas was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News newspaper's Confidential column.

Meanwhile, the "Basic Instinct" star -- who has 35-year-old son Cameron with ex-wife Diandra and teenagers Dylan, 15, and Carys, 13, with spouse Catherine Zeta-Jones -- isn't worried about getting older because technology and society have changed so much, it's an "exciting" time.

"There's not much I can do about it, can I? Realistically, this is about as great a time for getting older. I was looking at a few articles last week about the technology that exists, education, stuff to help your memory. It's as good as time as there is," Douglas said.

"You no longer think about retirement, you think about what new career you're going into, what new things you're going to do so it's an exciting time," he added.