November 30, 2006. Copyright 2006, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Hollywood great Kirk Douglas turns 90
By Jo Griffin

LONDON, November 30, Graphic News:  Long before the current crop of tough guys were slugging it out on cinema screens, Kirk Douglas was intimidating co-stars as well as audiences. But the actor, who turns 90 on December 9, has also won accolades for sensitive, more complex roles during a long and distinguished career that has included producing and directing.

For many fans, a favourite Douglas moment is when, as rebel slave Spartacus in Stanley KubrickÕs 1960 film of the same name, the dimple-chinned one faces Roman interrogators with his troops who protect his anonymity by calling out, ÒI am SpartacusÓ. A tear slides down their leaderÕs weary face in appreciation of their loyalty. His portrayal of a defiant spirit that refuses to buckle is acknowledged to be one of DouglasÕs finest.

Born in 1916, Douglas began life in New York state as Issur Danielovitch Demsky, the son of illiterate Russian Jewish immigrants. He studied at St Lawrence University before winning an acting scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he was back treading the boards in New York.

Luckily for Douglas, a former classmate was Lauren Bacall, who helped him to make his screen debut with a leading role in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). From then on Douglas needed no help as the work poured in. I Walk Alone (1948) established a successful screen partnership with Burt Lancaster, with whom Douglas would appear in seven movies including the classic western Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957).  

His first of three Oscar nominations came with a role as ruthless boxer Midge Kelly in Stanley KramerÕs Champion (1949). The arrogant, intense lead character was a typical one for Douglas, who once said he had built his career on Òplaying sons of bitchesÓ, and whose rugged physicality meant he was frequently cast as a fearless opponent -- notably as Colonel Dax in KubrickÕs Paths to Glory (1956) -- in many of his 90 movies.

Off-screen, too, Douglas was a force to be reckoned with: after forming his production company Bryna, he hired blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to adapt Spartacus for the screen, effectively ending the veto that had kept filmmakers with alleged Communist sympathies out of Hollywood for a decade. The gesture was in keeping with the actorÕs renowned determination and self-possession. 

A second Oscar nomination for Best Actor came for his portrayal of an unscrupulous movie mogul in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and a third for his memorable turn as Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1952). He won numerous honours, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, before finally collecting a special Oscar for his lifeÕs work in 1996. That same year he suffered a stroke, partially impairing his speech.

But in 2003 he was back on screen, appearing with son Michael and first wife Diana Dill in It Runs in the Family. Though it went down badly with the critics, the movie was eagerly received by fans who wanted to see real-life father and son act together. Douglas and Dill had a second son, producer Joel Douglas, and his second marriage to Anne Buydens also produced two sons, Peter Vincent and Eric, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2004.
/ENDS