True Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas has died at the age of 103. He was one of the leading stars of Hollywood’s golden age – as well as a World War II veteran. He’d been in good health after surviving a stroke in 1996.
Michael Douglas announced his father’s passing on Instagram. “To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to,” Michael said. “But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad. To Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law. To his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife, Anne, a wonderful husband.”
Kirk had over 92 acting credits, including 75 movies. He received his first Academy Award nomination for “Champion” in 1950. He also got two more nominations – in 1953 and 1957 for “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Lust for Life,” respectively. He was probably best known for his work in “Spartacus,” – which is good, as he’s said that he’s most proud of that role. In fact, he received an honorary Oscar for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community.
Douglas supported many causes and worked in public service. During the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson eras, he toured widely for the US Information Agency and the US State Department as a goodwill ambassador, going on missions to South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.
In addition, Kirk was also the author of 11 books, including “The Ragman’s Son” and “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.” The two met in Paris on the set of a film and married in 1954. She survives him at the tender age of 100.
Source: Michael Douglas
