
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.
Filmografi
Spartacus1960 · Spartacus
Paths of Glory1957 · Col. Dax
Ulysses1954 · Ulysses
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea1954 · Ned Land
Out of the Past1947 · Whit Sterling
Illusion2004 · Donald Baines
Greedy1994 · Uncle Joe
The Final Countdown1980 · Capt. Matthew Yelland
The War Wagon1967 · Lomax
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral1957 · Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Is Paris Burning?1966 · General Patton
The Heroes of Telemark1965 · Dr. Rolf Pedersen
Ace in the Hole1951 · Charles Tatum
Detective Story1951 · Det. James McLeod
Oscar1991 · Eduardo Provolone
Home Movies1980 · Dr. Tuttle
Last Train from Gun Hill1959 · Marshal Matt Morgan
The Vikings1958 · Einar
The Devil's Disciple1959 · Richard Dudgeon
The Man from Snowy River1982 · Harrison / Spur
The Fury1978 · Peter Sandza
The Light at the Edge of the World1971 · Will Denton
The Way West1967 · Sen. William J. Tadlock
Lonely are the Brave1962 · John W. "Jack" Burns
Ted de Corsia
Robert J. Wilke
Dayton Lummis
John Daheim
Carleton Young
Kay Stewart
Kevin Weisman
Bryan Cranston
Tony Curtis
Michael A. Goorjian
Peter Lorre
Arthur Batanides