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Kirk Douglas
You may not know him by his
full name, Issur Danielovitch Demsky, but the name Kirk Douglas
rings familiar in most Americans’ ears. Born in 1916, this American
actor and producer has a Hollywood career that spans more than 60
years, and an influence that will reach the American film industry
well into the future, most critics are willing to wager.
Douglas was born in Amsterdam, New York to Herschel
Danielovitsch and Bryna Sanglel, Jewish immigrants from what is now
the country of Belarus. He pursued acting first as a way to get a
scholarship to attend college. His aspirations were put on hold for
four years in the early 1940s, while he was serving in World War II,
but after the war was over, he returned to New York.
There, Douglas did work in radio and commercials until former
classmate and friend Lauren Bacall helped him get his first film
role in the movie The Strange Love of Marthe Ivers in 1946.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Douglas appeared in a number
of movies, including I Walk Alone (1948), The Glass Menagerie
(1951), The Big Trees (1952), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954),
Ulysses (1955), Lust for Life (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), and The
Devil’s Disciple (1959). However, he became most popular in the
1960s, due to his stand against the Hollywood blacklisted.
During the 1960s, the Hollywood blacklist was a list of
American writers, actors, musicians, producers, and others in the
industry who were denied work in Hollywood due to their unsavory
political connections. Artists in every field were barred from
American work because of their involvement with or sympathy with the
American Communist Party.
In some cases, these allegations were completely false.
Liberal tendencies and political actions, even if they were not
directly involved with the American Communist Party, were enough to
get a person on the Hollywood blacklist.
In 1960, Douglas starred in Sparticus, a movie with a
screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the may on the Hollywood
blacklist. Stanley Kubrick was going to take credit for the
screenplay because of this, and Douglas publicly opposed him. He is
credited with helping to break the power of the Hollywood blacklist.
Douglas considers his best work to be Lonely are the Brave, a
1962 movie following the story of a cowboy named Jack Burns who
refused to join the changing modern world.
Other movies he did in the 1960s and 1970s include For Love
or Money (1963), In Harm’s Way (1965), A Gunfire (1971), Holocaust
2000 (1977), The Villain (1979), and Home Movies, (1979). His career
did not stop there, and he played many memorable rolls in the 1980s,
1990s, and even into the 21st century.
One of his most memorable rolls is appearing as the father of
his real-life son, Michael Douglas, in the 2003 film, It Runs in the
Family. His ex-wife and Michael’s mother, Diana Dill, also appears
in the movie, as does his grandson Cameron.
He married Diana in 1943, and they had two sons together.
After divorcing her in 1951, he went on to marry Anne Buydens in
1954 and the couple is still together. They had two sons together as
well, Peter Vincent Douglas who is a Hollywood producer and Eric
Douglas who was an actor before his tragic death due to drug
overdose in 2004.
Douglas received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984
as well as received a Presidential Medal of Freedom, French Legion
of Honor, and National Medal of the Arts. Although he never won any
competitive Oscars for any of his professional work, he was awarded
a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1996 for 50 years as a talent and as
a moral leader. Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke in the mid-1990s
as well, affecting his ability to speak.
He continues to inspire others in the Hollywood community,
however, as well as Americans across the nation. He’s the author of
three novels and the autobiographies The Ragman’s Son (1988) and
Climbling the Mountain: My Search for Meaning (1997).
His family has reached beyond the silver screen to donate
money for the creation of public parks and performing arts stages,
ensuring that his legacy will continue well into the future.
by Erika Cox
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