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Kirk Douglas Dead at 103
Veteran actor Kirk Douglas died Wednesday at the age of 103. His famous son, Michael Douglas, said, “It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103. 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 of us all to aspire to.”
In 1996 he suffered a stroke but recovered most his faculties, kept active, and made many public appearances. He devoted himself to acting after serving in the US Navy during WW2. He starred in “Champion” (1959) where he was nominated for Best Actor Oscar, “Spartacus” (1960), and co-starred with John Wayne in several films.
President Jimmy Carter gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Academy Awards gave him an honorary Oscar in 1995. Rest in peace.
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Published in Entertainment
Good night, Issur Danielovitch.
My favorite Kirk Douglas films (not in any particular order):
Out of the Past (clip below)
Lonely Are The Brave (about the cowboy as an American archetype that seems to no longer belong in a modern world):
The Vikings (for its Saturday matinee campiness and broad performances by Douglas and Ernest Borgnine and Jack Cardiff’s great cinematography, especially some of the opening scenes in a fjord).
Paths of Glory
Ace In The Hole (clip below)
https://youtu.be/5hWwIJkHD04
Spartacus
Spotacus! BDE. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Yerushalayim. May his memory be a blessing.
Jon,
Never boring there was always an edge to him. How we will miss him and those like him. The new stuff is all special effects and the acting is limp dishwater.
Perhaps this is the most fitting clip for this moment.
Regards,
Jim
Comedian and an old movie fan Dennis Miller apparently became friends with Kirk Douglas after starring in the movie Disclosure with his son Michael Douglas. (Disclosure was written by Michael Crichton who Dennis considered to be the smartest guy he ever met.) One day Dennis found himself at a party with Russell Crowe and Kirk Douglas.
Dennis, to Russell: “Have you ever met Kirk?”
Russell: “No.”
Dennis: “Please. Let me do the honors. Maximus, Spartacus. Spartacus, Maximus.” Then I think he tried to get them to shake hands Roman-style and by gasping each other’s forearm…
One of my oldest movie-going memories is Kirk Douglas and John Wayne’s War Wagon. Our family was on vacation and we came in late, so we stayed to watch the beginning. Not a classic, but good fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnzYLHA_wSc
I would have paid to see that.
Oh yeah.
My two favorite scenes from Paths of Glory. The first is the very touching last scene of the movie in which a local German girl sings for the French troops.
Douglas’ two superior officers were a sadist (Adolphe Menjou) and an incompetent martinet George Macready).
Jon,
Remembering Kirk I think there was more to him than one would normally give credit to a “Hollywood” actor. This interview shows just how much was Kirk and how much was Hollywood.
Regards,
Jim
Eternal rest in peace.
RIP Kirk. I know you had a legendary and storied career in many fine films. But to me you will always be Ned Land. A whale of a tale indeed.
7 Days in May followed by Paths of Glory.
Just FYI, Stanley Kubrick ( the director of the movie) married the woman singing at the end of the movie. They met when she auditioned for the part.🙂
Sorry, Cory Booker, but Kirk Douglas was Spartacus . . .
R.I.P.
I was, at first, not going to post a comment because when a man lives as long as Kirk Douglas did it is hard to mourne his passing. However, having read the tributes written by both his son Michael and daughter-in-law, Katherine Zeta Jones, I was deeply touched by his passing. I had always admired him in film, grew up watching his films. Like Burt Lancaster or John Wayne, he had a certain presence on the screen which didn’t require him to do any “method acting.” He just was. The character he played was him, and he was wonderful at it. It has been a long time since he last starred in a film, but his work will always seem fresh. As the old prayer says, May God hold you in his hands, Kirk Douglas.