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Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch Demsky December 9, 1916) is an American
actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the
kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is also
father to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas. He came in at #17 on AFI's
list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time and is one of two
living actors on the list (Sidney Poitier being the other).
 Early
life
Douglas was born in Amsterdam, New York to Herschel Danielovitch and Bryna Sanglel,
poor Russian Jewish parents who immigrated from Homel (also known as Gomel), now in
Belarus. He was on the wrestling team at St. Lawrence University. To help make his
way through college, he thought getting an acting scholarship might work. His
talents got him noticed at the acclaimed American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New
York City, where he soon received a scholarship, alongside classmate Betty Joan
Perske (soon to be better known as Lauren Bacall). Another classmate was aspiring
Bermudian actress, Diana Dill. He then served in the U.S. Navy from the entry of
the US into World War II in 1941 until it ended in 1945. In 1943, his former
classmate, Diana Dill, appeared on the cover of Life magazine. Seeing her
photograph, Douglas told his fellow sailors that he would marry her, which he did
on 2 November, 1943. After the war, he returned to New York City and started doing
radio theater and commercials, while trying to break in on Broadway.
Douglas was helped by actress Lauren Bacall in obtaining his first screen role in
the Hal B. Wallis movie The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), starring Barbara
Stanwyck. Wallis was on his way to New York to look for new talent when Bacall
suggested he look up her old drama school classmate, who was working in an
off-Broadway play at the time.
Career
Kirk Douglas received three Academy Award nominations for his work in Champion, The
Bad and the Beautiful and Lust for Life (as Vincent Van Gogh). Douglas did not win
any competitive Oscars, but received a special Oscar in 1996 for "50 years as a
moral and creative force in the motion picture community".
He also played an important role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist by publicly
opposing Stanley Kubrick's intention to take credit for the screenplay of
Spartacus, which had been adapted from Howard Fast's novel by the blacklisted
Dalton Trumbo. Douglas had collaborated closely with Kubrick in Paths of Glory,
where Douglas played one of his most memorable roles, as Colonel Dax, the commander
of a French regiment during World War I ordered to make a suicidal attack.
For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Kirk Douglas has a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Blvd. In 1984, he was inducted into
the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage
Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In October 2004, the avenue "Kirk Douglas Way" in Palm Springs, California was
named in his honor by the Palm Springs International Film Society and Film
Festival.
Popular at home and around the world, Kirk Douglas received the Presidential Medal
of Freedom in 1981, the French Legion of Honor in 1985, and the National Medal of
the Arts in 2001.
Personal
life
Douglas married twice, first to Diana Dill (born January 22, 1923; married November
2, 1943; divorced in 1951), with whom he had two sons, actor Michael Douglas and
producer Joel Douglas. His second wife is Anne Buydens (married May 29, 1954 to
present) with whom he has two sons, producer Peter Vincent Douglas born November
23, 1955 and actor Eric Douglas (born June 1958; died July 6, 2004 of an accidental
drug overdose).
In 1996, he suffered a stroke, partially impairing his ability to speak.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Kirk
Douglas - Generator - Biography
