FAREWELL, KIRK
H’wood icon, moral force Douglas dies at 103
Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas — whose trademark cleft chin and tough-talking swagger defined rugged masculinity for a generation of moviegoers — died Wednesday at age 103.
“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,” said his son Michael Douglas on Instagram.
“But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.
“Kirk’s life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet.”
Douglas died in Beverly Hills, his longtime friend, spokeswoman and biographer Marcia Newberger told the Daily News.
“He was at home when he died, surrounded by family — his children and grandchildren, and of course his wife of 65 years, Anne. She’s 100. They had 65 extraordinary years together,” Newberger said.
Newberger called it “fitting” that Douglas, a devoted Democrat, died on the final day of President
Trump’s impeachment trial. “He was a real patriot. He and Anne traveled the world on behalf of the State Department,” she said.
Asked about the cause of death, Newberger said: “No cause given. At 103, things just start wearing out. He enjoyed it up until the very end.”
Douglas, who appeared in more than 80 films over 58 years — and was famed for starring roles in the classics “Spartacus,” “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and “The Bad and the Beautiful” — survived a heart attack in 1989, a helicopter crash in 1991 and a debilitating stroke in 1995. He fought to regain his speech after the stroke and courageously returned to the screen in 1999’s “Diamonds” with longtime pal Lauren Bacall. Fulfilling what he called “a dream,” Douglas co-starred with Oscar-winner son Michael and grandson Cameron Douglas in the 2003 generational drama “It Runs in the Family.” His final film was “Illusion” in 2004, in which he played an ailing father searching for his estranged son.
The threetime Best Actor Oscar nominee was passed over for his memorable portrayals of a ruthless boxer in “Champion” (1949), a despicable movie producer in “The Bad and the Beautiful” (1952) and the tortured artist Vincent van Gogh in “Lust for Life” (1956).
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally gave him his due in 1996, bestowing a special Oscar for 50 years as a moral and creative force.
He is best known for his iconic portrayal of a shirtless rebel slave in director Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus” (1960).
Douglas did not receive an Oscar nod for that timehonored role. But he did make sure screenwriter Dalton Trumbo got credit for the “Spartacus” script. It was one of Trumbo’s first credits as Hollywood emerged from the blacklist of the 1950s, when many in the film industry were put out of work by the Red Scare.
“He always said of all his accomplishments, the greatest one that made him the proudest was his role in helping to break the Hollywood blacklist,” Newberger said.
The son of poor Russian Jewish immigrants, Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in upstate Amsterdam, where his father worked as a junk dealer. He memorialized his humble roots in his 1988 autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son.”
“Collecting the things that people had thrown away was an awful way to make a living. Even in the poorest section of town, where all the families were struggling, the ragman was the lowest rung on the ladder. And I was the ragman’s son,” Douglas wrote.