
Kirk Douglas
0 FOLLOWERS • 55 CREDITS • DEC 9, 1916 - FEB 5, 2020 • 103
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.
Known For

The Ed Sullivan Show

What's My Line?

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Merv Griffin Show

Real Time with Bill Maher

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Simpsons

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

The Steve Allen Show

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Touched by an Angel

Tales from the Crypt

Golden Globe Awards

The Lucy Show

The Kennedy Center Honors

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

The George Gobel Show

Tony Awards

The Oscars

Is Paris Burning?

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast

The Man from Snowy River

This Is Your Life

I Walk Alone

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

A Gunfight

In Harm's Way

Seven Days in May

Ace in the Hole

Saturday Night Live

The Secret

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The Vikings

Last Train from Gun Hill

Scalawag

Draw!

Paths of Glory

The Brotherhood

Once Is Not Enough

Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers

Young Man with a Horn

Posse

Detective Story

Spartacus
Production Credits
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