Kirk Douglas

Born:

December 9, 1916

Born as:

Issur Danielovitch

I've made a career of playing sons of bitches

Biography:

Issur was born in Amsterdam, New York (USA) to Belarusian-Jewish parents. He worked as a waiter to put him through university where he dabbled in school dramatics.

Kirk made his Broadway debut in 1941 but only after two small roles left for WW II service in the navy. In June 1944 he returned to the stage and in 1945 Douglas moved to Hollywood to star in The strange love of Martha Ives (1946) and became established as an intense tough-guy.

In the low key drama I Walk Alone (1948), Douglas worked the first time alongside fellow screen legend Burt Lancaster. Such was the strong chemistry between Douglas & Lancaster that they appeared in seven films together. He scored a hit as the venal boxer Midge Kelly in Champion (1949) a classic prizefighting drama that cemented his stardom.

In 1955 Kirk formed his own company Bryna Productions through which he turned out his own films like Paths of glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). Douglas remained busy throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a decided emphasis on Westerns and war films. In the 80s he allotted more of his time for a variety of voluntary civic duties. Kirk wrote his autobiography in 1988, The Ragman's Son.

Academy awards

1996 Honorary Award
1957 Nominated Actor for: Lust for Life (1956)
1953 Nominated Actor for: The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
1950 Nominated Actor for: Champion (1949)

Selected Movies:

Paths of Glory (1957)
Spartacus (1960)
Out of the Past (1947)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Seven Days in May (1964)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
Lust for Life (1956)

Bibliography » Books:

Bibliography » Web:

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Awards daily - Kirk Douglas to present award
CBS - Kirk Douglas Pens Spartacus E-book
Entertainment tonight -
High-def digest - Kirk's first film
Los Angeles Times - Kirk will be honored
Seeing-stars.com -
Shoah Foundation Institute -
Variety - Douglas talks

News

This week 46 years ago The war wagon premiered in the USA (May 27, 1967)

This week 56 years ago Gunfight at the O.K. Corral premiered in the USA (May 30, 1957)
The legendary battle between Wyatt Earp and the Clanton Gang.

More news!

Trivia

Douglas on director Stanley Kubrick: “A talented shit” (They made Paths of Glory and Spartacus together).
--Source: The Ragman’s Son, Page 305

Kirk has his handprints set in cement on Hollywood Boulevard (Hollywood, USA, in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater).
Source / More (Web)

The blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo had made the script for Spartacus (1960). Producer Douglas tried to figure out how to credit him with the finished film. The director Stanley Kubrick said: “Put my name on the screen as writer.”; Douglas was shocked: “Stanley, I asked, wouldn`t you feel funny taking credit for a script you had nothing to do with?” Kubrick: “Not at all, I`m only trying to help you out.”;
--Source: Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning, Page 79

Kirk has a Palm Springs (California, USA) street named after him called Kirk Douglas Way.

He survived a helicopter crash in 1991 in which two people were killed.

Kirk suffered a stroke in 1995.

The Danielovitch family changed their last name to Demsky, to be more Americanized. Kirk’s first name went from Issur to Isadore which he hated. In 1939 he changed his name to Kirk Douglas

The Douglas family: Son Peter produced Final Countdown and Inherit The Wind Kirk co-starred with his son, Eric in Yellow (segment in the Tales from the Crypt series. Son Joel was the production manager on the movie Posse. Michael, Rory, Cameron, Diana and of course, Kirk Douglas starred in 2003 in It Runs in the Family

In 2002 Kirk was presented by President George W. Bush the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal.

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Kirk Douglas

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Kirk Douglas

Born:

Born as:

Biography:

Academy awards

Selected Movies:

Bibliography » Books:

Bibliography » Web:

News

Trivia