Kirk Douglas
Biography
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II. During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), and Detective Story (1951), a film for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination. In 1955, Douglas established Bryna Productions, which produced films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). He took the lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit. In 1963 Douglas starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film. As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema. Kirk Douglas died at age 103.
Known For
Ned Land
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Spartacus
Spartacus
Col. Dax
Paths of Glory
Whit Sterling
Out of the Past
Self (archive footage)
Movie Tough Guys
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
General Patton
Paris brûle-t-il?
Det. James McLeod
Detective Story
Archie Long
Tough Guys
Herschel Vilnofsky
Victory at Entebbe
Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Mitchell Gromberg
It Runs in the Family
George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson
The List of Adrian Messenger
Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey
Seven Days in May
Harrison / Spur
The Man from Snowy River
Dr. Tuttle
Home Movies
Eduardo Provolone
Oscar
Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
Cast a Giant Shadow
Capt. Matthew Yelland
The Final Countdown
Charles Tatum
Ace in the Hole
(in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Jonathan Shields
The Bad and the Beautiful
Uncle Joe
Greedy
Peter Sandza
The Fury
Midge Kelly
Champion
Walter O'Neil
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Noll "Dink" Turner
I Walk Alone
Paris Pitman, Jr.
There Was a Crooked Man...
Lomax
The War Wagon
Rick Martin
Young Man with a Horn
Harry Agensky
Diamonds
Carl 'Buster' Marzack
Eddie Macon's Run
Vincent van Gogh
Lust for Life
Marshal Matt Morgan
Last Train from Gun Hill
Einar
The Vikings
Sen. William J. Tadlock
The Way West
John W. "Jack" Burns
Lonely are the Brave
Dempsey Rae
Man Without a Star
Jim Deakins
The Big Sky
Jim Fallon
The Big Trees
Ulysses
Ulisse
Marshal Len Merrick
Along the Great Divide
Jack Andrus
Two Weeks in Another Town
Commander Paul Eddington, Jr.
In Harm's Way
George Phipps
A Letter to Three Wives
Howard Nightingale
Posse
Robert Caine
Holocaust 2000
Dr. Rolf Pedersen
The Heroes of Telemark
Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley
The Last Sunset
Steve Wallace
Un uomo da rispettare
Owen Waterbury
My Dear Secretary
Jim O'Connor
The Glass Menagerie
Eddie Anderson
The Arrangement
Self
A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Jim Kovalski
Meurtres à l'Empire State Building
Peter Niles
Mourning Becomes Electra
Major Adam
Saturn 3
Will Tenneray
A Gunfight
Frank Ginetta
The Brotherhood
Will Denton
The Light at the Edge of the World
Andrej
Catch Me a Spy
Major Garrett
Town Without Pity
Johnny Hawks
The Indian Fighter
Richard Dudgeon
The Devil's Disciple
Larry Coe
Strangers When We Meet
Jameson Schuyler
A Lovely Way to Die
Donald Baines
Illusion
Mike Wayne
Once Is Not Enough
George Anderson
Mousey
Self - Interviewee
I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas
Tucker Wedge
The Walls of Jericho
Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland
Draw!
Pierre Narval
The Story of Three Loves
Self
Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices
Peg
Scalawag
Ed Reese
The Lies Boys Tell
Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin
Top Secret Affair
Gino Borgesa
The Racers
Cactus Jack
The Villain
Self
Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick
Robert Teller
Un acte d'amour
Sgt. P.J. Briscoe
The Hook
Joe Rabin
Remembrance Of Love
Matthew Harrison Brady
Inherit the Wind
Deke Gentry
For Love or Money
Amos Lasher
Amos
Self
Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget
Hans Muller
The Juggler
Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
Self
Van Gogh: Darkness into Light
Self
Operation Undersea
The Indian Fighter
The Special London Bridge Special
(archive footage)
Final Cut: Hölgyeim és uraim
Self
FBI contre Hollywood
Self – Interviewee
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self - Interviewee
Trumbo
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
(archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here
Quentin
Bienvenido a Veraz
Self
J'ai tout donné
General Calthrop
Two-Fisted Tales
Self
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
Grandpa Mike Dunmore
The Secret
Self
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
Self
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
Self
Completely Cuckoo
Self
Kirk Douglas
Self
Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary
Self
James Bond: The First 21 Years
Self
Walt Disney's Where Do the Stories Come From?
Self (archive footage)
The Universal Story
Self - Actor
Kirk Douglas, l'indompté
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self
A Century of Cinema
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
Self
Hollywood au pied du terril
Self (archive footage)
Kubrick by Kubrick
The Disneyland Story
General Kalthrob
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
Self
Let Poland Be Poland
Self
Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir
Self (archive footage)
From Roger Moore with Love
Self
The Racing Experience
Ned Land (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
Self
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Himself
Kirk Douglas
Self
The Making of A Movie
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
128
Gender
Male
Birthday
1916-12-09
Place of Birth
Amsterdam, New York, USA
Also Known As
Issur Danielovitch