Kirk Douglas

<html> <head> <title>Kirk Douglas</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap>This is a beta version of NNDB</td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </form></td> </tr> </table>        </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/524/000024452/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0>Kirk Douglas<img src="kirkd-75.jpg" height=338 width=263 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Kirk Douglas">AKA Issur Danielovitch DemskyBorn: <a href="/lists/861/000106543/" class=proflink>9-Dec</a>-<a href="/lists/915/000105600/" class=proflink>1916</a> Birthplace: <a href="/geo/660/000081417/" class=proflink>Amsterdam, NY</a> Gender: Male Religion: <a href="/lists/875/000071662/" class=proflink>Jewish</a> <a href="#FN1">[1]</a> Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Actor Party Affiliation: DemocraticNationality: United States Executive summary: SpartacusMilitary service: US Navy (WWII)Kirk Douglas worked his way through St. Lawrence University as a waiter, where he studied drama and wrestled on the school team. He merged these crafts by briefly becoming a professional wrestler, and palled around with big-time wrestling's immortal but now departed Lou Thesz for years. He joined the Navy in World War II, and his first big break after the war was playing a dead soldier on Broadway in The Wind is 90, with 17-year-old <a href="/people/285/000023216/">Dickie Van Patten</a>. The reviews were good, and he started getting offers from Hollywood. In his first film, he was <a href="/people/766/000026688/">Barbara Stanwyck</a>'s wimpy husband in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). He quickly molded a screen persona as a tough, cocky, guy -- a dim gangster in Out of the Past (1947), a jazzman in Young Man with a Horn (1950). Douglas later starred in the super-cynical Paths of Glory (1957) and The Big Carnival (also known as Ace in the Hole, 1951). In the former he's a military man, hung out to die by his superiors. In the latter he's a washed-up reporter looking for a big story. Douglas was one of the first big name actors to establish his own production company. The Bryna Company, named after his mother, produced Paths of Glory, Lonely Are the Brave (1962), and Seven Days in May (1964). Douglas starred as <a href="/people/849/000173330/">Spartacus</a> in that slave-revolt epic (1960), and Bryna produced it, which leveraged his Hollywood power into an unwavering demand: <a href="/people/885/000079648/">Dalton Trumbo</a>, who had decades of screenwriting experience but had been blacklisted for his political views and jailed for refusing to "name names" -- would write the screenplay, and not behind a front. It was a pivotal moment in crumbling the Hollywood blacklist. Douglas starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on Broadway, and bought the movie rights in 1963. But it took more than a decade to get the film financed, and by then he felt he was too old to play the lead. His son <a href="/people/614/000024542/">Michael Douglas</a> produced the film, and it starred <a href="/people/722/000022656/">Jack Nicholson</a>. He survived a helicopter crash in 1991 in which two people were killed. He flirted with killing himself after being hobbled by a stroke in 1996, but decided "suicide is stupid and selfish". Instead he wrote another book, My Stroke of Luck.<hr width=25% size=1 align=left><a name="FN1">[1] Golda Shira and Pauline Dubkin Yearwood, "Kirk Douglas returns to Judaism", Chicago Jewish News, reprinted in Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, 30 May 2003: "Kirk Douglas wanted to talk about the movie and he wanted to talk about Judaism. It's well known from the first volume of his autobiography, The Ragman's Son, that he experienced a resurgence of interest in his religion after a helicopter crash and, later, a stroke that left him partially disabled. He even had a second bar mitzvah at the age of 83, and he continues to recommit himself to the richness of the very heritage from which he had been so estranged for so very long." Father: Herschel Danielovitch ("Harry") Mother: Bryna Sanglel Danielovitch Sister: Pesha Sister: Kaleh Sister: Tamara Sister: Haska (twin) Sister: Siffra (twin) Sister: Rachel Wife: <a href="/people/831/000400628/">Diana Douglas</a> (actress, m. 2-Nov-1943, div. 23-Feb-1951, d. 3-Jul-2015, two sons) Son: <a href="/people/614/000024542/">Michael Douglas</a> (actor and producer, b. 25-Sep-1944) Son: Joel Douglas (producer, b. 23-Jan-1947) Wife: Anne Buydens Douglas (m. 29-May-1954, two sons) Son: Peter Vincent Douglas (producer, b. 23-Nov-1955) Son: Eric Anthony Douglas (actor, b. 21-Jun-1958, d. 6-Jul-2004, drug overdose)     High School: Wilbur H. Lynch High School, Amsterdam, NY (1934)     University: <a href="/edu/629/000079392/">BA, St. Lawrence University (1939)</a>     Conservatory: <a href="/edu/363/000082117/">American Academy of Dramatic Arts</a>     <a href="/org/079/000134674/">Afghanistan Relief Committee</a> Honorary Board of Directors     <a href="/org/910/000161427/">Jefferson Awards</a> Board of Selectors     <a href="/org/970/000354905/">Obama Victory Fund 2012</a>     <a href="/honors/466/000060286/">Oscar (honorary)</a> 1996     <a href="/honors/636/000044504/">Golden Globe</a> 1957 for Lust for Life     <a href="/honors/048/000111712/">National Cowboy Hall of Fame</a> 1984     <a href="/honors/469/000032373/">American Film Institute Life Achievement Award</a> 1991     <a href="/honors/109/000048962/">Kennedy Center Honor</a> 1994     <a href="/honors/312/000044180/">Hollywood Walk of Fame</a> 6263 Hollywood Blvd.     <a href="/honors/902/000044770/">National Medal of Arts</a> 2001     <a href="/event/479/000159999/">Tonsillectomy</a>     <a href="/event/375/000111042/">Rhinoplasty</a>     <a href="/event/713/000365615/">Visited Disneyland on Opening Day</a>     <a href="/event/661/000088397/">Plane Crash</a> helicopter collided with a small plane, Santa Paula, CA (1991)     <a href="/event/187/000071971/">Stroke</a> 1996     <a href="/event/052/000120689/">Paralyzed</a> right side of face     <a href="/group/677/000165182/">Wedding: Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (2000)</a>     <a href="/group/608/000165113/">Wedding: David Gest and Liza Minnelli (2002)</a>     <a href="/lists/919/000095634/">Asteroid Namesake</a> 19578 Kirkdouglas     <a href="/lists/591/000044459/">Russian Ancestry</a>     <a href="/lists/481/000045346/">Jewish Ancestry</a>     Risk Factors: <a href="/lists/786/000167285/">Pacemaker</a>     FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR     <a href="/films/033/000067829/">Posse (22-Aug-1975)</a>     <a href="/films/558/000167057/">Scalawag (14-Nov-1973)</a>     FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR     <a href="/films/491/000273669/">Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (5-May-2010)</a> · Himself     <a href="/films/266/000274441/">Trumbo (10-Sep-2007)</a> · Himself     <a href="/films/694/000274869/">Illusion (Oct-2004)</a> · Donald Baines     <a href="/films/015/000033913/">It Runs in the Family (25-Apr-2003)</a> · Mitchell Gromberg     <a href="/films/683/000037572/">Diamonds (6-Sep-1999)</a> · Harry     <a href="/films/930/000272114/">Completely Cuckoo (16-Dec-1997)</a> · Himself     <a href="/films/859/000032763/">Greedy (4-Mar-1994)</a> · Uncle Joe     <a href="/films/186/000049039/">Oscar (26-Apr-1991)</a>     <a href="/films/983/000119626/">Inherit the Wind (20-Mar-1988)</a>     <a href="/films/289/000092013/">Queenie (10-May-1987)</a>     <a href="/films/636/000034534/">Tough Guys (3-Oct-1986)</a>     <a href="/films/098/000229408/">Amos (29-Sep-1985)</a>     <a href="/films/714/000138300/">Draw! (15-Jul-1984)</a>     <a href="/films/663/000084411/">Eddie Macon's Run (4-Nov-1983)</a> · Marzack     <a href="/films/624/000037513/">The Man from Snowy River (25-Mar-1982)</a> · Spur     <a href="/films/064/000037950/">The Final Countdown (9-Jul-1980)</a> · Capt. Matthew Yelland     <a href="/films/473/000033374/">Home Movies (16-May-1980)</a>     <a href="/films/163/000061977/">Saturn 3 (15-Feb-1980)</a> · Adam     <a href="/films/033/000064838/">The Villain (20-Jul-1979)</a>     <a href="/films/537/000040417/">The Fury (10-Mar-1978)</a> · Peter     <a href="/films/736/000138322/">Holocaust 2000 (25-Nov-1977)</a>     <a href="/films/662/000083413/">Victory at Entebbe (13-Dec-1976)</a>     <a href="/films/033/000067829/">Posse (22-Aug-1975)</a>     <a href="/films/011/000140588/">Once Is Not Enough (18-Jun-1975)</a>     <a href="/films/864/000247123/">Cat and Mouse (9-Mar-1974)</a>     <a href="/films/558/000167057/">Scalawag (14-Nov-1973)</a>     <a href="/films/977/000231284/">The Master Touch (1972)</a>     <a href="/films/605/000260822/">To Catch a Spy (6-Sep-1971)</a>     <a href="/films/102/000083850/">A Gunfight (25-Aug-1971)</a>     <a href="/films/436/000038322/">The Light at the Edge of the World (16-Jul-1971)</a>     <a href="/films/298/000065103/">There Was a Crooked Man... (19-Sep-1970)</a> · Paris Pitman, Jr.     <a href="/films/438/000041315/">The Arrangement (18-Nov-1969)</a> · Eddie & Evangelos     <a href="/films/389/000042263/">The Brotherhood (16-Jan-1969)</a>     <a href="/films/861/000257090/">A Lovely Way to Die (6-May-1968)</a>     <a href="/films/100/000033001/">The War Wagon (27-May-1967)</a> · Lomax     <a href="/films/810/000032714/">The Way West (24-May-1967)</a> · Tadlock     <a href="/films/903/000130513/">Is Paris Burning? (26-Oct-1966)</a>     <a href="/films/402/000074180/">Cast a Giant Shadow (30-Mar-1966)</a>     <a href="/films/121/000041995/">The Heroes of Telemark (Nov-1965)</a>     <a href="/films/288/000037177/">In Harm's Way (6-Apr-1965)</a> · Eddington     <a href="/films/856/000032760/">Seven Days in May (12-Feb-1964)</a> · Col. Jiggs Casey     <a href="/films/403/000220740/">For Love or Money (7-Aug-1963)</a>     <a href="/films/662/000032566/">The List of Adrian Messenger (29-May-1963)</a>     <a href="/films/358/000137944/">The Hook (15-Feb-1963)</a>     <a href="/films/553/000083304/">Two Weeks in Another Town (17-Aug-1962)</a> · Jack Andrus     <a href="/films/041/000064846/">Lonely Are the Brave (24-May-1962)</a> · Jack Burns     <a href="/films/580/000083331/">The Last Sunset (7-Jun-1961)</a> · Brendan O'Malley     <a href="/films/542/000083293/">Town Without Pity (24-Mar-1961)</a>     <a href="/films/661/000032565/">Spartacus (6-Oct-1960)</a> · Spartacus     <a href="/films/530/000083281/">Strangers When We Meet (29-Jun-1960)</a>     <a href="/films/719/000035614/">The Devil's Disciple (21-Aug-1959)</a> · Richard Dudgeon     <a href="/films/968/000066770/">Last Train from Gun Hill (29-Jul-1959)</a> · Marshal Matt Morgan     <a href="/films/573/000040453/">The Vikings (11-Jun-1958)</a>     <a href="/films/858/000032762/">Paths of Glory (25-Dec-1957)</a> · Col. Dax     <a href="/films/718/000035613/">Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (30-May-1957)</a>     <a href="/films/128/000237414/">Top Secret Affair (30-Jan-1957)</a> · Maj. Gen. Melville Goodwin     <a href="/films/429/000041306/">Lust for Life (17-Sep-1956)</a> · Vincent Van Gogh     <a href="/films/727/000091454/">The Indian Fighter (21-Dec-1955)</a>     <a href="/films/884/000067683/">Man Without a Star (24-Mar-1955)</a>     <a href="/films/387/000076159/">Ulysses (8-Feb-1955)</a> · Ulysses     <a href="/films/427/000041304/">The Racers (4-Feb-1955)</a>     <a href="/films/454/000036346/">20000 Leagues Under the Sea (23-Dec-1954)</a> · Ned Land     <a href="/films/757/000115412/">Act of Love (17-Dec-1953)</a>     <a href="/films/824/000173305/">The Juggler (5-May-1953)</a> · Hans Muller     <a href="/films/730/000091457/">The Story of Three Loves (5-Mar-1953)</a>     <a href="/films/712/000034610/">The Bad and the Beautiful (25-Dec-1952)</a> · Jonathan     <a href="/films/245/000065050/">The Big Sky (6-Aug-1952)</a> · Jim Deakins     <a href="/films/303/000083054/">The Big Trees (5-Feb-1952)</a> · Jim Fallon     <a href="/films/944/000042818/">Detective Story (6-Nov-1951)</a> · Det. James McLeod     <a href="/films/875/000061692/">Ace in the Hole (15-Jun-1951)</a> · Charles Tatum     <a href="/films/240/000033141/">Along the Great Divide (16-May-1951)</a> · Len Merrick     <a href="/films/004/000082755/">The Glass Menagerie (28-Sep-1950)</a> · Jim O'Connor     <a href="/films/966/000038852/">Young Man with a Horn (9-Feb-1950)</a> · Rick Martin     <a href="/films/436/000036328/">Champion (9-Apr-1949)</a> · Midge     <a href="/films/217/000038103/">A Letter to Three Wives (20-Jan-1949)</a> · George Phipps     <a href="/films/899/000089632/">My Dear Secretary (12-Jan-1949)</a> · Owen Waterbury     <a href="/films/135/000264340/">The Walls of Jericho (4-Aug-1948)</a>     <a href="/films/714/000035609/">I Walk Alone (16-Jan-1948)</a> · Noll Turner     <a href="/films/854/000140434/">Mourning Becomes Electra (19-Nov-1947)</a> · Peter Niles     <a href="/films/771/000037660/">Out of the Past (13-Nov-1947)</a> · Whit     <a href="/films/318/000043189/">The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (24-Jul-1946)</a> · Walter O'Neil Author of books: The Ragman's Son: An Autobiography (<tt>1988</tt>, memoir) Dance with the Devil (<tt>1990</tt>, novel) The Gift (<tt>1992</tt>, novel) Last Tango in Brooklyn (<tt>1994</tt>, novel) Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning (<tt>1997</tt>, memoir) My Stroke of Luck (<tt>2002</tt>, memoir) Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning (<tt>2007</tt>, memoir) <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;">New! <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=24452"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=24452">Kirk Douglas</a></td> </tr> </table> Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript. 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Kirk Douglas