Hollywood movie icon Kirk Douglas, whose trademark cleft chin and tough-talking swagger defined rugged masculinity for a generation of movie goers in an earlier day has died. He passed away at 103 years old it was announced Wednesday by son Michael Douglas.
Screen legend Kirk Douglas got his start in radio and on stage before moving into film in 1946.
Douglas was one of the last superstars of Hollywood’s golden age. He was born Issur Danielovitch Demsky (December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) of Jewish immigrant parents from Chavusy, in the Russian Empire, located in present day Belarus. He was the only son in a family of seven children and grew up impoverished, but a keen student and athlete.
Douglas’ family adopted the last name of his uncle, Demsky, after they entered the United States. He was given the name Isadore Demsky, and was called Izzy, which he said he hated. He legally changed it to Kirk Douglas before entering the US Navy during World War II.
Douglas authored eleven books over his lifetime, including, Young Heroes of the Bible and Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning.
In his first book, and 1988 autobiography, The Ragman’s Son, He wrote,
“My father, who had been a horse trader in Russia, got himself a horse and a small wagon, and became a ragman, buying old rags, pieces of metal, and junk for pennies, nickels, and dimes…. Even on Eagle Street, in the poorest section of town, where all the families were struggling, the ragman was on the lowest rung on the ladder. And I was the ragman’s son.”
Douglas sold snacks to mill workers when growing up to earn enough money to buy milk and bread to help his family. As he got older he delivered newspapers and he had more than forty jobs during his youth before becoming an actor.
When Kirk Douglas turned 100 years old the movie magazine Variety interviewed Douglas and quoted him as saying, “I never wanted to be in movies” and that “he’s given away more than $120 million”. “I have given most of my money away because that pleases me,” he says. “I was born a poor boy. My mother and father came from Russia; I don’t think they could have gotten into the country today. So I have a lot to be thankful for.” He also created Harry’s Haven, and donated $40 million to the charity named for his father, toward helping Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones, at the Motion Picture & TV Home.
In the same interview with Variety, Douglas said, “I didn’t speak English until I went to school. My father was a ragman. We had no money. Nothing. But hobos every evening would come knocking at the door, and my mother always had food for them. She was wonderful. So, my background made me try to do something for other people.”
He made his film debut in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946), and over his career Douglas made 92 major motion pictures spanning 62 years, making his last movie in 2008. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times. He was an American actor, producer, director, and author.
As an actor, his classic films which included, “Champion” (1949), “The Bad and the Beautiful” (1952), “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954), and “Lust for Life” (1956). The one film he is probably best known for is the 1960 epic “Spartacus”, in which he was also co-executive producer.
Kirk Douglas singing “A Whale of a Tale” in the Walt Disney production of Jules Verne’s book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
The American Film Institute lists Douglas as No. 17 on the all time greatest male screen legends in American film history. He received the Academy Honorary Award “for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community” in 1996. Over his lifetime he was recognized many times for his contributions to the art of acting, and achieved numerous honors, awards, and lifetime achievements.
In 1996, he suffered a severe stroke that left him on a difficult road to recovery. He wrote a book following that to describe the stroke entitled My Stroke of Luck.
Kirk Douglas lived a full life, as an actor, husband, father and humanitarian. And he wrote about how his life changed over his later years. And at 103, he was still going strong until the very end. Bravo Kirk! Great performance!
Michael Reed is Editor of The Standard.
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