US silver screen legend Kirk Douglas, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants who rose to become one of Hollywood’s biggest-ever stars, has passed away, his family said on Wednesday. He was 103.
One of the last survivors of the golden age of cinema and the father of Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Michael Douglas, the Spartacus actor was known for the macho tough guy roles he took on in around 90 movies over a six-decade career.
Michael Douglas took to Facebook to pen a note for his father. “It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103. 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,” he wrote.
Michael continued, “(To) me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine (Zeta-Jones), a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband. Kirk’s life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet.”
Kirk Douglas was nominated for Oscars for his roles in Champion (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Lust for Life (1956).
But his only Academy Award came in 1995 - an honorary lifetime achievement statuette “for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community.”
Douglas is survived by second wife Anne Buydens, 100, and three sons. A fourth child, Eric, died of a drug overdose in his 40s, in 2004.
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