Born December 9, 1916 in Amsterdam, New York, Issur Danielovitch Demsky was the son of Russian emigrants who legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas in 1941 before serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Douglas’ father was the local ragman. He grew up in abject poverty with his six sisters. He would sell snacks to local mill workers to earn enough money to buy milk and bread for the family. Having caught the acting bug at age 6, he later earned a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts where his classmates included Betty Perske (who later changed her name to Lauren Bacall) and Diana Dill, whom he married in 1943. Initially a stage actor, he made his film debut opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers in 1946 based on a recommendation from Bacall.

Fourth billed behind Stanwyck, Van Heflin and Lizabeth Scott in his first film, Douglas played major supporting roles in 1947’s Mourning Becomes Electra, Out of the Past and I Walk Alone, achieving major stardom in 1949’s A Letter from Three Wives and Champion, earning an Oscar nomination for the latter.

Douglas and first wife Diana, the mother of his two oldest sons, divorced in 1951. He married second wife Anne in 1954 with whom he had his third and fourth sons. For two decades, from 1951 through 1970 he was consistently one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. His hits included 1951’s Ace in the Hole and Detective Story, 1952’s The Bad and the Beautiful for which he received his second Oscar nomination, 1954’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 1955’s Man Without a Star and The Indian Fighter, 1956’s Lust for Life for which he received his third Oscar nomination, 1957’s Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Paths of Glory, 1958’s The Vikings, 1959’s The Devil’s Disciple, 1960’s Spartacus, 1961’s Town Without Pity, 1962’s Lonely Are the Brave, 1963’s The List of Adrian Messenger, 1964’s Seven Days in May, 1965’s In Harm’s Way, 1966’s Cast a Giant Shadow, 1967’s The War Wagon, 1968’s The Brotherhood, 1969’s The Arrangement and 1970’s There Was a Crooked Man.

Having starred in the 1963-1964 Broadway version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Douglas purchased the screen rights intent on making the film with himself, but never having done so he gave the rights to his son Michael who produced the Oscar winning film in 1975. Still a potent actor in his 60s, Douglas played the leads in both 1976’s Once Is Not Enough and 1978’s Fury. After that, he played mostly guest-star or supporting roles on TV.

At the age of 79 in January 1996, Douglas suffered a severe stroke that left him without the ability to speak, but after a daily regimen of speech therapy he was able to express his thanks in accepting his honorary Oscar at the annual awards ceremony two months later.
An avid blogger, Douglas, who will be 103 in December, is believed to be the oldest celebrity blogger in the world.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

CHAMPION (1949), directed by Mark Robson

Douglas in his first sole starring role received the first of his three Oscar nominations for his portrayal of a ruthless boxer in this film which was the most gruesome film about the fight scene until Raging Bull came along 31 years later. Douglas had played heels before, and would again, but this one was one of his most vicious with Ruth Roman as his victimized wife, Arthur Kennedy as his brother, Paul Stewart as his manager and Marilyn Maxwell and Lola Albright as his other women. Douglas would receive a second Oscar nod for playing a Hollywood heel three years later in The Bad and the Beautiful.

MAN WITHOUT A STAR (1955), directed by King Vidor

This may not be the greatest western ever made or even the greatest western Douglas made, but it is a notoriously under-rated one. With a script by Borden Chase, it bears more than a passing resemblance to Chase’s 1948 classic, Red River. With direction by the man who made The Big Parade and The Crowd and who would soon make War and Peace, the film is as visually impressive as it is in its storytelling about a drifter (Douglas) who takes a young hotshot (William Campbell) under his wings while at the same time romancing both Jeanne Crain and Claire Trevor.

LUST FOR LIFE (1956), directed by Vincente Minnelli

The first and still the best of at least four biopics made about reclusive Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, this one meticulously directed by Minnelli provided Douglas with the most outstanding role of his long career. Having won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Actor, Douglas probably came closer to winning a competitive Oscar for this role than any other. He was nominated but lost to Yul Brynner in The King and I. Anthony Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing his friend, fellow artist Paul Gauguin. It was filmed in the actual locations Van Gogh visited during his life.

PATHS OF GLORY (1957), directed by Stanley Kubrick

Taken from Humphrey Cobb’s novel and Sidney Howard’s play of the same name, this now classic film of trench warfare in France during the Great War (World War I) was a flop upon its initial release and banned in numerous countries including France for its anti-military stance. Douglas is unforgettable as the commanding officer forced to defend a group of his men who have refused a suicide mission ordered them by the French generals (Adolphe Menjou, George Macready). The film’s title is taken from Timothy Gray’s Elegy in a Graveyard, “the paths of glory lead but to the grave”.

SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964), directed by John Frankenheimer

Originally scheduled for release in December 1963 but held back until 1964 because of the assassination of President Kennedy, this cold war thriller features Douglas as the military aid who discovers that his boss, the much admired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Burt Lancaster) is plotting a coup against the president (Fredric March). The president’s trusted friends, aid Martin Balsam and alcoholic senator Edmond O’Brien are tasked, along with Douglas, with finding proof. March and O’Brien were nominated for Golden Globes with O’Brien who was also nominated for an Oscar, winning at the Globes.

KIRK DOUGLAS AND OSCAR

• Champion (1949) – nominated – Best Actor
• The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) – nominated – Best Actor
• Lust for Life (1956) – nominated – Best Actor
• Honorary Award (1995) – Oscar – for 50 years as a moral and creative force in motion pictures.