The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Hollywood star Kirk Douglas dies aged 103
TRIBUTE: Film legend was one of the last remaining icons of Tinseltown’s golden age
American actor Kirk Douglas has died aged 103, his son Michael said in a statement late last night.
Douglas, best known for films including Spartacus and Ace In The Hole, was one of the last remaining stars of Hollywood’s golden age.
Michael, also a Hollywood actor, said his father died yesterday.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” Michael’s statement said.
“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.”
Michael said his father was a “wonderful husband” and a “loving grandfather”. He added: “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.
“Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad – I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son.”
Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916 to mother Bryna and Herschel Danielovitch, Jewish immigrants from what is today Belarus.
He endured an impoverished childhood and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before joining the US Navy during the Second World War.
He made his film debut in 1946 noir The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers, opposite Barbara Stanwyck. Douglas soon established himself as a Hollywood leading man and starred in serious dramas, westerns and war movies.
But it is for 1960 epic Spartacus, in which he played the leader of a slave revolt, for which he is best known.