Kirk Douglas
Actor
- Born
- December 9, 1916 · Amsterdam, New York, USA
- Died
- February 5, 2020 (age 103)
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II.
During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), and Detective Story (1951), a film for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination.
Read moreShow less
In 1955, Douglas established Bryna Productions, which produced films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). He took the lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit. In 1963 Douglas starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film.
As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema.
Kirk Douglas died at age 103.
Known for
Acting138
- 2026My Life As Roger Moore as Self (Archivfilmmaterial)
- 2024From Roger Moore with Love as Self (archive footage)
- 2021Morceaux de Cannes as Self (archive footage)
- 2020Kubrick by Kubrick as Self (archive footage)
- 2020Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty as Self (archive footage)
- 2019Vincent van Gogh Superstar as Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
- 2019Mike Wallace Is Here as (archive footage)
- 2018One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: The Shocking Truth as Self
- 2017The Untameable Kirk Douglas as Self - Actor
