Hail Kirk Douglas, 100-year-old Hollywood hero
Star of Spartacus and Paths of Glory celebrated his centenary surrounded by family and friends
THE face is still recognisable as that of the young actor who enthralled cinema audiences all those years ago: the strong jaw, the dimpled chin, the taut expression that enraptured and inspired with performances in films such as Spartacus, Paths of Glory and Ace in the Hole. His body might be more frail and he might be in a wheelchair, but Kirk Douglas is still very much the centre of attraction, the star of the show.
That show was his 100th birthday, celebrated with a gathering of friends, family and film industry heavyweights in the Sunset Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Douglas still knows how to make an entrance. Temporarily discarding his wheelchair, he managed to walk confidently into the room to the strains of the theme from Rocky.
Flanked by Anne Douglas, his wife of more than 62 years, his son Michael, his daughter-in-law Catherine ZetaJones and his grandchildren, Kirk Douglas looked out over the 150-strong crowd and demanded the glass of vodka his doctor had promised him two years ago should he live to be 100.
The drink was duly presented to him in a comically large Martini glass as images from his many classic film performances, including Lust for Life, in which he played Vincent Van Gogh, The Bad and the Beautiful, and his personal favourite, Lonely Are the Brave, played on a screen behind him.
Michael Douglas paid tribute to his father and his life’s many accomplishments.
“One of the things that I find most incredible about dad is the third act of his life,” he said. “After all he accomplished in his professional career and what he’s given for his country, at the point in his life where he’s faced adversity, losing a son, having a helicopter crash, having a stroke, and what he’s accomplished in this third act in his life, I find quite extraordinary.”
Douglas Snr kept his remarks brief for a man who has recited thousands of words and turned the work of countless screenwriters into the stuff of movie magic. “I wonder who he was talking about? He said some nice things about someone I don’t know,” Kirk joked, adding that his son Michael had been chosen to organise the proceedings because “he has the most money”. Zeta-Jones then lit the 12 candles on the cake, saying: “I’m so glad there’s not 100” before leading the room in a rendition of Happy Birthday, accompanied by a string quartet. As the party got under way, Neile Adams, an actress and dancer who was Steve McQueen’s first wife, recalled Douglas’s mischievous side. “Kirk was terrible when he was a young man. When Steve would leave the room suddenly he’d be on me,” she said. “But he was cute.” She recalled how Douglas bridled at the idea of using a wheelchair after he had both his knees replaced a few years ago.
“You’ll never see Spartacus in a chair!” Adams remembered him saying.
Steven Spielberg, the Oscar-winning director, paid tribute to Kirk Douglas in fulsome terms.
“I wanted to come here and say I’ve been shooting movies and television shows for now 47 years and I’ve worked with the best of them and you’re the only movie star I ever met,” he said.
“There is something that you have that no one else ever had … When you watch Kirk’s performance in anything, in anything he’s ever done, you cannot take your eyes off him. It’s not possible to look away from him. You’re a miracle man.”
‘When you watch Kirk’s performance in anything he’s ever done, you cannot take your eyes off him’