by Erika Cox
You may not know him by his full name, Issur Danielovitch Demsky, but
the name Kirk Douglas rings familiar in most Americans’ ears. Born in
1916, this American actor and producer has a Hollywood career that spans
more than 60 years, and an influence that will reach the American film
industry well into the future, most critics are willing to wager.
Douglas was born in Amsterdam, New York to Herschel Danielovitsch and
Bryna Sanglel, Jewish immigrants from what is now the country of
Belarus. He pursued acting first as a way to get a scholarship to attend
college. His aspirations were put on hold for four years in the early
1940s, while he was serving in World War II, but after the war was over,
he returned to New York.
There, Douglas did work in radio and
commercials until former classmate and friend Lauren Bacall helped him
get his first film role in the movie The Strange Love of Marthe Ivers in
1946.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Douglas appeared in a number of movies,
including I Walk Alone (1948), The Glass Menagerie (1951), The Big Trees
(1952), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Ulysses (1955), Lust for
Life (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), and The Devil’s Disciple (1959).
However, he became most popular in the 1960s, due to his stand against
the Hollywood blacklisted.
During the 1960s, the Hollywood blacklist was a list of American
writers, actors, musicians, producers, and others in the industry who
were denied work in Hollywood due to their unsavory political
connections. Artists in every field were barred from American work
because of their involvement with or sympathy with the American
Communist Party.
In some cases, these allegations were completely false.
Liberal tendencies and political actions, even if they were not directly
involved with the American Communist Party, were enough to get a person
on the Hollywood blacklist.
In 1960, Douglas starred in Sparticus, a
movie with a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the may on the
Hollywood blacklist. Stanley Kubrick was going to take credit for the
screenplay because of this, and Douglas publicly opposed him. He is
credited with helping to break the power of the Hollywood blacklist.
Douglas considers his best work to be Lonely are the Brave, a 1962 movie
following the story of a cowboy named Jack Burns who refused to join the
changing modern world.
Other movies he did in the 1960s and 1970s
include For Love or Money (1963), In Harm’s Way (1965), A Gunfire
(1971), Holocaust 2000 (1977), The Villain (1979), and Home Movies,
(1979). His career did not stop there, and he played many memorable
rolls in the 1980s, 1990s, and even into the 21st century.
One of his most memorable rolls is appearing as the father of his
real-life son, Michael Douglas, in the 2003 film, It Runs in the Family.
His ex-wife and Michael’s mother, Diana Dill, also appears in the movie,
as does his grandson Cameron.
He married Diana in 1943, and they had two
sons together. After divorcing her in 1951, he went on to marry Anne Buydens in 1954 and the couple is still together. They had two sons
together as well, Peter Vincent Douglas who is a Hollywood producer and
Eric Douglas who was an actor before his tragic death due to drug
overdose in 2004.
Douglas received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984 as well as
received a Presidential Medal of Freedom, French Legion of Honor, and
National Medal of the Arts. Although he never won any competitive Oscars
for any of his professional work, he was awarded a lifetime achievement
Oscar in 1996 for 50 years as a talent and as a moral leader.
Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke in the mid-1990s as well, affecting
his ability to speak.
He continues to inspire others in the Hollywood community, however, as
well as Americans across the nation. He’s the author of three novels and
the autobiographies The Ragman’s Son (1988) and Climbling the Mountain:
My Search for Meaning (1997).
His family has reached beyond the silver
screen to donate money for the creation of public parks and performing
arts stages, ensuring that his legacy will continue well into the
future.
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