Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
December 9, 1916
Place of Birth:
Amsterdam, New York, USA
Social Media
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.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | From Roger Moore with Love | Self (archive footage) |
| 2023 | Lynch/Oz | Col. Dax (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 2020 | Kubrick by Kubrick | Self (archive footage) |
| 2019 | Vincent van Gogh Superstar | Vincent van Gogh (archive footage) |
| 2019 | Mike Wallace Is Here | (archive footage) |
| 2017 | If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast | Self |
| 2017 | The Untameable Kirk Douglas | Self - Actor |
| 2015 | I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas | Self - Interviewee |
| 2014 | And the Oscar Goes To... | Self (archive footage) |
| 2014 | Hollywood au pied du terril | Self |
| 2012 | Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen | (archive footage) |
| 2012 | Stanley Kubrick in Focus | Self |
| 2010 | Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff | Self – Interviewee |
| 2009 | Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget | Self |
| 2009 | Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Self |
| 2008 | Empire State Building Murders | Jim Kovalski |
| 2008 | Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices | Self |
| 2007 | Trumbo | Self - Interviewee |
| 2005 | A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Self |
| 2004 | Illusion | Donald Baines |
| 2003 | It Runs in the Family | Mitchell Gromberg |
| 2003 | The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway | |
| 2001 | FBI contre Hollywood | Self |
| 2001 | Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir | Self |
| 1999 | Diamonds | Harry Agensky |
| 1999 | Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection | General Kalthrob |
| 1997 | Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line | Self (archive footage) |
| 1997 | Completely Cuckoo | Self |
| 1996 | The Universal Story | Self (archive footage) |
| 1994 | Greedy | Uncle Joe |
| 1994 | The Lies Boys Tell | Ed Reese |
| 1994 | A Century of Cinema | Self |
| 1992 | Two-Fisted Tales | General Calthrop |
| 1992 | The Secret | Grandpa Mike Dunmore |
| 1991 | Movie Tough Guys | Self (archive footage) |
| 1991 | Oscar | Eduardo Provolone |
| 1991 | Welcome to Veraz | Quentin |
| 1990 | Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea | Ned Land (archive footage) |
| 1988 | Inherit the Wind | Matthew Harrison Brady |
| 1988 | The Racing Experience | Self |
| 1986 | Tough Guys | Archie Long |
| 1986 | Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick | Self |
| 1986 | Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary | Self |
| 1985 | Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers | Self (archive footage) |
| 1985 | Amos | Amos Lasher |
| 1984 | Draw! | Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland |
| 1983 | Eddie Macon's Run | Carl 'Buster' Marzack |
| 1983 | James Bond: The First 21 Years | Self |
| 1982 | The Man from Snowy River | Harrison / Spur |
| 1982 | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | (in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage) |
| 1982 | Remembrance Of Love | Joe Rabin |
| 1982 | Let Poland Be Poland | Self |
| 1980 | Home Movies | Dr. Tuttle |
| 1980 | The Final Countdown | Capt. Matthew Yelland |
| 1980 | Saturn 3 | Major Adam |
| 1979 | The Villain | Cactus Jack |
| 1978 | The Fury | Peter Sandza |
| 1977 | Holocaust 2000 | Robert Caine |
| 1976 | Victory at Entebbe | Herschel Vilnofsky |
| 1975 | Posse | Howard Nightingale |
| 1975 | Once Is Not Enough | Mike Wayne |
| 1974 | Mousey | George Anderson |
| 1973 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde |
| 1973 | Scalawag | Peg |
| 1972 | The Master Touch | Steve Wallace |
| 1972 | The Special London Bridge Special | The Indian Fighter |
| 1972 | J'ai tout donné | Self |
| 1972 | Kirk Douglas | Himself |
| 1971 | A Gunfight | Will Tenneray |
| 1971 | The Light at the Edge of the World | Will Denton |
| 1971 | Catch Me a Spy | Andrej |
| 1970 | There Was a Crooked Man... | Paris Pitman, Jr. |
| 1969 | The Arrangement | Eddie Anderson |
| 1968 | The Brotherhood | Frank Ginetta |
| 1968 | A Lovely Way to Die | Jameson Schuyler |
| 1968 | Rowan & Martin at the Movies | Self |
| 1967 | The War Wagon | Lomax |
| 1967 | The Way West | Sen. William J. Tadlock |
| 1966 | Is Paris Burning? | General Patton |
| 1966 | Cast a Giant Shadow | Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus |
| 1966 | Kirk Douglas | Self |
| 1965 | In Harm's Way | Commander Paul Eddington, Jr. |
| 1965 | The Heroes of Telemark | Dr. Rolf Pedersen |
| 1964 | Seven Days in May | Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey |
| 1963 | The List of Adrian Messenger | George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson |
| 1963 | The Hook | Sgt. P.J. Briscoe |
| 1963 | For Love or Money | Deke Gentry |
| 1962 | Lonely are the Brave | John W. "Jack" Burns |
| 1962 | Two Weeks in Another Town | Jack Andrus |
| 1961 | The Last Sunset | Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley |
| 1961 | Town Without Pity | Major Garrett |
| 1960 | Spartacus | Spartacus |
| 1960 | Strangers When We Meet | Larry Coe |
| 1959 | Last Train from Gun Hill | Marshal Matt Morgan |
| 1959 | The Devil's Disciple | Richard Dudgeon |
| 1958 | The Vikings | Einar |
| 1957 | Paths of Glory | Col. Dax |
| 1957 | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral | Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday |
| 1957 | Top Secret Affair | Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin |
| 1957 | Van Gogh: Darkness into Light | Self |
| 1956 | Lust for Life | Vincent van Gogh |
| 1956 | Walt Disney's Where Do the Stories Come From? | Self |
| 1955 | Man Without a Star | Dempsey Rae |
| 1955 | The Indian Fighter | Johnny Hawks |
| 1955 | The Racers | Gino Borgesa |
| 1954 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Ned Land |
| 1954 | Ulysses | Ulysses |
| 1954 | Operation Undersea | Self |
| 1954 | The Disneyland Story | |
| 1953 | The Story of Three Loves | Pierre Narval |
| 1953 | Act of Love | Robert Teller |
| 1953 | The Juggler | Hans Muller |
| 1952 | The Bad and the Beautiful | Jonathan Shields |
| 1952 | The Big Sky | Jim Deakins |
| 1952 | The Big Trees | Jim Fallon |
| 1951 | Detective Story | Det. James McLeod |
| 1951 | Ace in the Hole | Charles Tatum |
| 1951 | Along the Great Divide | Marshal Len Merrick |
| 1950 | Young Man with a Horn | Rick Martin |
| 1950 | The Glass Menagerie | Jim O'Connor |
| 1949 | Champion | Midge Kelly |
| 1949 | A Letter to Three Wives | George Phipps |
| 1948 | My Dear Secretary | Owen Waterbury |
| 1948 | The Walls of Jericho | Tucker Wedge |
| 1947 | Out of the Past | Whit Sterling |
| 1947 | I Walk Alone | Noll "Dink" Turner |
| 1947 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Peter Niles |
| 1946 | The Strange Love of Martha Ivers | Walter O'Neil |