In Memory of Kirk Douglas (1916-2020)

Kirk Douglas
1916-2020

Screen icon Kirk Douglas died today at the age of 103. Over his career, which spanned from 1946 to 2008, he appeared in iconic films such as Spartacus, Champion (for which he earned his first Oscar nomination), Young Man with a Horn, Ace in the Hole, The Bad and the Beautiful, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. One of the last living actors of old Hollywood, Douglas last appeared in a major Hollywood film in 2003's It Runs in the Family. He appeared in the film alongside his son Michael, himself one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, his grandson Cameron, and his ex-wife Diana. His final on-screen acting appearance was the 2008 television film Empire State Building Murders alongside previous co-star Lauren Bacall. Douglas received numerous accolades over his lengthy career, being named one of the greatest Hollywood stars of all time by the American Film Institute, being given a Presidential Medal of Freedom, receiving a Kennedy Center Honor, and winning an Academy Honorary Award, an honorary SAG award and a Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe Award. Douglas was credited for effectively breaking the Hollywood blacklist of the 1940s and 50s, pushing for Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted at the time due to ties to communism, to be credited for his writing of the iconic Spartacus, the highest-grossing film of 1960. Beyond film, Douglas was an author who penned ten novels and memoirs between 1988 and 2014. Douglas was married to his second wife, Anne Buydens, for over 65 years and was the father of four children: the previously mentioned Michael, producer Joel and Peter, and actor Eric, who died in 2004.

The TV Ratings Guide sends its condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas during this difficult time. Rest in peace, Mr. Douglas.

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