Hollywood remembers icon Kirk Douglas

Hollywood paid tribute to Kirk Douglas, one of the enduring figureheads of its Golden Age, following news of the actor’s death. He was 103.

Steven Spielberg said in a statement: “Kirk retained his movie star charisma right to the end of his wonderful life and I’m honored to have been a small part of his last 45 years. I will miss his handwritten notes, letters and fatherly advice, and his wisdom and courage — even beyond such a breathtaking body of work — are enough to inspire me for the rest of mine.”

Rob Reiner honored Douglas’ breaking of the blacklist, remembering when the star hired ousted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to pen “Spartacus”: “Kirk Douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of Hollywood,” Reiner tweeted. “He put himself on the line to break the blacklist. My love goes out to my friend Michael and the whole family.”

The celebrity tweets continued:

Danny DeVito: “Kirk Douglas. The inspirational Scalawag. 103 years on this earth. That’s got a nice ring to it! Great hanging with you man.”

Jason Alexander: “Heartbroken. Kirk Douglas was a friend and an absolute legend of a star and human. He got better with every passing day. So honored to have known him. My love to his family. We could use a true Spartacus.”

Bruce Campbell: “Kirk! A pillar of Hollywood has fallen. Nobody danced on Viking oars like you! Safe travels, stud!”

Carl Weathers: “Legends never leave us! RIP Kirk Douglas. We grew up watching you.”

Ed Asner: “I will always be in awe. May your memory forever be a blessing.”

@TheAcademy tweeted a quote from the late actor himself: “I wanted to be an actor ever since I was a kid in the second grade. I did a play, and my mother made a black apron, and I played a shoemaker. After the performance, (my father) gave me my first Oscar: an ice cream cone.”

“Goodbye to a Hollywood legend,” it concluded.

GETTY-AFP Kirk Douglas as the title character in “Spartacus” (1959).