Though he always seemed virile and active enough to outlast us all, acting, directing and producing legend Kirk Douglas has died at the age of 103.
Douglas was a man who could play stone-jawed heroes and scheming villains, who preferred to take on characters who weren't always likeable and who established an acting dynasty that includes Michael Douglas.
Born Issur Danielovitch (later changed to Demsky) in New York in 1916, the man who would go on to choose the name Kirk Douglas grew up poor, the son of a ragman (a fact that lent its name to his autobiography). With assistance from loans and scholarships, he attended St. Lawrence University, joining the wrestling team but also showing interest in dramatics. After graduating college, he worked odd jobs (including deploying his wrestling skills professionally) and paid his way through the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Here, he met his first wife, Diana Dill, with whom he had sons Michael and Joel (a producer).
Summer Stock theatre acting followed, and Douglas hit Broadway in 1941, playing a singing messenger in Spring Again. World War II briefly interrupted his ambitions, but once he was honorably discharged, he returned to the stage, appearing in small roles, dropping out of the original production of On The Town because of illness.
Acting classmate Lauren Bacall recommended him to a producer Hal Willis, and he signed on to a contract for $500 a week. He made his film debut in 1946's The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers, moving on to other movies such as Mourning Becomes Electra and Out Of The Past. He began to clash with Willis on payment and contract issues, and rather than signing another long agreement, went freelance, working for Fox and other studios.
His first taste of stardom was 1949's Champion, which also saw him earn his first Oscar nomination, and despite his earlier wish to be free, a seven-year deal with Warner Bros. His career blossomed again, and he appeared in The Big Sky and Billy Wilder's The Big Carnival (AKA Ace In The Hole).
At MGM, he earned another Academy Award nomination from 1952's The Bad And The Beautiful. More success followed, and he met and married publicist Anne Buydens, who survives him, and had two more sons, Peter and Eric. Douglas also set up his own production company, Bryna, named for his mother.
In 1957, he gave one of the performances for which he has become legendary, in Stanley Kubrick's Paths Of Glory. And then came Spartacus, for which he hired Kubrick to replace director Anthony Mann. Kubrick wasn't a fan of the finished product, but it's seen as a classic. Spartacus also represented Douglas pushing back against the blacklist, becoming one of those to insist that writer Dalton Trumbo be credited for the movie's script.
Back on stage, Douglas starred in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, adapted from the Ken Kesey novel. He tried for a decade to turn it into a film, but while son Michael succeeded, he'd aged out of the main role, McMurphy, with Jack Nicholson taking the lead, and winning an Oscar. "I made more money from that film than any I acted in," Douglas has said. "And I would gladly give back every cent, if I could have played that role." In addition to producing, Douglas directed two films, Scalawag in 1973 and Posse in 1975.
He faced numerous health challenges through his career, including injuries from a helicopter accident and stroke in 1995 which forced him to learn to speak again, resulting in his withdrawal from the public spotlight for a time. He returned for 1999's Diamonds and then It Runs In The Family, which co-starred Michael, and Kirk's grandson, Cameron Douglas. TV movies and the odd series appearance dotted his career, and his final two releases were indie movie Illusion and TV movie Empire State Building Murders.
A keen supporter of charities, he worked on behalf of stroke sufferers, those with Alzheimer's, and building playgrounds for children. Douglas was given an honorary Oscar in 1996 and picked up the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. And what a life, indeed. Michael Douglas has paid tribute to his father with a statement: "It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103. To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to. But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband," he writes.
"Kirk’s life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet. Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad – I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son."