Kirk Douglas

Acting

Born Dec 09, 1916

From Amsterdam, New York, USA

Died Feb 05, 2020

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.

Kirk Douglas

Known For

Spartacus

Paths of Glory

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

The Vikings

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Oscar

The Fury

Out of the Past

The Final Countdown

Posse

Filmography — Acting

Spartacus

Paths of Glory

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

The Vikings

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Oscar

The Fury

Out of the Past

The Final Countdown

Posse

The Way West

In Harm's Way

Ulysses

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

Holocaust 2000

Greedy

Last Train from Gun Hill

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Is Paris Burning?

The Man from Snowy River

The Bad and the Beautiful

Ace in the Hole

Lust for Life

The Heroes of Telemark

Saturn 3

The War Wagon

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Trumbo

Seven Days in May

The Brotherhood

Lonely are the Brave

The Last Sunset

Cast a Giant Shadow

I Walk Alone

The Villain

Young Man with a Horn

Champion

Mike Wallace Is Here

Tough Guys

Victory at Entebbe

Along the Great Divide

The Big Sky

It Runs in the Family

Strangers When We Meet

For Love or Money

Two-Fisted Tales

There Was a Crooked Man...

Scalawag

Detective Story

The Indian Fighter

Diamonds

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

A Gunfight

Kubrick by Kubrick

Man Without a Star

The List of Adrian Messenger

The Big Trees

My Dear Secretary

The Story of Three Loves

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

Draw!

Once Is Not Enough

The Devil's Disciple

The Light at the Edge of the World

The Hook

A Letter to Three Wives

A Lovely Way to Die