Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 44

Kirk Douglas - Early life, Career, Filmography, Bibliography

Film actor, born in Amsterdam, New York, USA. He made his Broadway debut in 1941, served in the US Navy, and embarked on a screen career in 1946. His films include Champion (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Lust for Life (1956), and Spartacus (1960), and from the 1970s he also worked as a director. His son, Michael Douglas, also became an actor.

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas in The Big Trees (1952)
Birth name Issur Danielovitch Demsky
Born December 09, 1916 (age 89)
Amsterdam, New York, USA
Notable roles Michael "Midge" Kelly in Champion (1949)
Jonathan Shields in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956)
Col. Dax in Paths of Glory (1957)
Spartacus in
Spartacus (1960)

Kirk Douglas (born December 9, 1916) is an American actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches".

Early life

Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch Demsky in Amsterdam, New York to Herschel Danielovitch and Bryna Sanglel, poor Belarusian Jewish parents who immigrated from Homel (also known as Gomel).

Career

Kirk Douglas received three Academy Award nominations for his work in Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful and Lust for Life (as Vincent Van Gogh). His second wife is Anne Buydens (married May 29, 1954 to present) with whom he has two sons, producer Peter Vincent Douglas born November 23, 1955 and actor Eric Douglas (born June 1958;

Filmography

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) Out of the Past (1947) Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) I Walk Alone (1948) The Walls of Jericho (1948) My Dear Secretary (1949) A Letter to Three Wives (1949) Champion (1949) Young Man with a Horn (1950) The Glass Menagerie (1950) Along the Great Divide (1951) Ace in the Hole (1951) Detective Story (1951) The Big Trees (1952) The Big Sky (1952) The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) The Story of Three Loves (1953) The Juggler (1953) Act of Love (1953) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), as harpooneer Ned Land The Racers (1955) Man Without a Star (1955) The Indian Fighter (1955) Ulysses (1955) Van Gogh: Darkness Into Light (1956) (short subject) Lust for Life (1956), as painter Vincent Van Gogh Top Secret Affair (1957) Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), as gunfighter Doc Holliday Paths of Glory (1957) (also producer) The Vikings (1958) Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) The Devil's Disciple (1959) Premier Khrushchev in the USA (1959) (documentary) Strangers When We Meet (1960) Spartacus (1960) (also executive producer), as slave rebel Spartacus Town Without Pity (1961) The Last Sunset (1961) Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) The Hook (1963) The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) For Love or Money (1963) Seven Days in May (1964) The Heroes of Telemark (1965) In Harm's Way (1965) Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) Is Paris Burning? (1966) The Way West (1967) The War Wagon (1967) Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968) (short subject) Once Upon a Wheel (1968) (documentary) A Lovely Way to Die (1968) The Brotherhood (1968) (also producer) The Arrangement (1969) There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) To Catch a Spy (1971) The Light at the Edge of the World (1971) (also producer) A Gunfight (1971) The Master Touch (1972) Scalawag (1973) (also director) Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975) Posse (1975) (also director and producer) Holocaust 2000 (1977) The Fury (1978) Home Movies (1979) The Villain (1979) Saturn 3 (1980) The Final Countdown (1980) The Man From Snowy River (1982) Eddie Macon's Run (1983) Tough Guys (1986) Oscar (1991) Welcome to Veraz (1991) A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary) Greedy (1994) Diamonds (1999) It Runs in the Family (2003) Illusion (2004)

Bibliography

Wisdom of the Elders (1986) The Ragman's Son (1988) Dance With the Devil (1991) The Gift (1992) Last Tango in Brooklyn (1994) The Broken Mirror (1997) Young Heroes of the Bible (1999) Climbing The Mountain: My Search For Meaning (2000) Rabbis : Observations of 100 Leading and Influential Rabbis of the 21st Century (introduction) (2002) My Stroke of Luck (2003)

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