Screen Legend Kirk Douglas Dead at 103
Screen legend Kirk Douglas has died at the age of 103, his family announced Wednesday. Douglas, who had been one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, is the father of Oscar-winning actor/producer Michael Douglas and father-in-law of actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. "It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103," Michael Douglas said in a statement to People magazine. “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." [caption id="attachment_2298477" align="alignnone" width="720"]
Kirk Douglas in the 1960 epic Spartacus.[/caption] Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916, Douglas was the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia and worked hardscrabble jobs before becoming an actor, experiences he recounted in his 1988 autobiography The Ragman's Son. Douglas also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. With his chiseled features, famous dimpled chin, and muscular physique, Douglas starred in a variety of films throughout his six-decade-long acting career. But Douglas' most iconic roles saw him portray rebels against the system and often less than sympathetic characters. Long before his son Michael would win accolades for his turn as Wall Street's Gordon Gekko, Kirk Douglas played nasty heels in such classics as Ace in the Hole and The Bad and the Beautiful. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=hidden-gems-on-disney-plus-11-classic-movies-to-watch&captions=true"] Douglas starred in two of Stanley Kubrick's earliest films, Paths of Glory and Spartacus, and helped break the infamous Hollywood blacklist by hiring screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to script Spartacus. Douglas was also one of Hollywood's most notable humanitarians, and received the Medal of Freedom in 1981. Douglas' many iconic films include Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (where he played Doc Holliday), Lonely Are the Brave, Out of the Past, Seven Days in May, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, the boxing classic Champion, and Lust for Life (where he played painter Vincent Van Gogh). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2011/07/22/spartacus-im-spartacus"] Douglas was also no stranger to genre films, having starred in such sci-fi films as Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Final Countdown, Saturn 3, and the horror film The Fury. Douglas' last major film role was in 2003's dramedy It Runs in the Family, opposite his son Michael Douglas and grandson Cameron.
Kirk Douglas in the 1960 epic Spartacus.[/caption] Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916, Douglas was the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia and worked hardscrabble jobs before becoming an actor, experiences he recounted in his 1988 autobiography The Ragman's Son. Douglas also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. With his chiseled features, famous dimpled chin, and muscular physique, Douglas starred in a variety of films throughout his six-decade-long acting career. But Douglas' most iconic roles saw him portray rebels against the system and often less than sympathetic characters. Long before his son Michael would win accolades for his turn as Wall Street's Gordon Gekko, Kirk Douglas played nasty heels in such classics as Ace in the Hole and The Bad and the Beautiful. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=hidden-gems-on-disney-plus-11-classic-movies-to-watch&captions=true"] Douglas starred in two of Stanley Kubrick's earliest films, Paths of Glory and Spartacus, and helped break the infamous Hollywood blacklist by hiring screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to script Spartacus. Douglas was also one of Hollywood's most notable humanitarians, and received the Medal of Freedom in 1981. Douglas' many iconic films include Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (where he played Doc Holliday), Lonely Are the Brave, Out of the Past, Seven Days in May, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, the boxing classic Champion, and Lust for Life (where he played painter Vincent Van Gogh). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2011/07/22/spartacus-im-spartacus"] Douglas was also no stranger to genre films, having starred in such sci-fi films as Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Final Countdown, Saturn 3, and the horror film The Fury. Douglas' last major film role was in 2003's dramedy It Runs in the Family, opposite his son Michael Douglas and grandson Cameron.
Screen Legend Kirk Douglas Dead at 103
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February 05, 2020
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