DOUGLAS, KIRK

DOUGLAS, KIRK (originally Issur Danielovich Demsky; 1916– ), U.S. actor. Douglas was born in Amsterdam, N.Y. A good student and a keen athlete, he wrestled competitively during his time at St. Lawrence University. In 1939 he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. A small part in Broadway's Wind Is Ninety in 1945, as well as the help of former classmate lauren bacall , brought him to the attention of Hollywood producer Hal B. Wallis, who chose him to play opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). His performance received rave reviews, and more work quickly followed, including a role in the dramatic film I Walk Alone (1948). In it, he worked alongside Burt Lancaster. The chemistry between the two future screen legends was so strong that they ultimately appeared in seven films together, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), Seven Days in May (1964), and Tough Guys (1986). Douglas' portrayal in 1949 of a prizefighter in the film Champion confirmed his reputation as a leading dramatic artist. He had memorable roles in Young Man with a Horn (1950), The Bad and the Beautiful (1953), Lust for Life (1956), and Lonely are the Brave (1962). Turning to production, he formed a film company that made the anti-war Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960), in both of which Douglas starred. He identified himself with Israeli causes in the U.S. He starred in The Juggler (1953), which was filmed in Israel, and in 1966 played the lead in Cast a Giant Shadow, a film about Col. David (Mickey) Marcus . Douglas celebrated his bar mitzvah twice: once when he was 13 years old, and the second time when he was 83. Other films in the prolific actor's filmography include My Dear Secretary (1949), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Glass Menagerie (1950), 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954), Ulysses (1955), Man without a Star (1955), The Vikings (1958), Strangers When We Meet (1960), Town without Pity (1961), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), Is Paris Burning? (1966), The Arrangement (1969), There Was a Crooked Man (1970), The Fury (1978), The Man from Snowy River (1982), Greedy (1994), Diamonds (1999), It Runs in the Family (2003), and Illusions (2004). Douglas became a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations in 1983, and he also held the position of director of the Los Angeles chapter of the United Nations Association. He was a goodwill ambassador for the U.S. State Department from 1963. His efforts were rewarded in 1981 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1983 with the Jefferson Award. France honored him by making him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. In 2002 he was awarded the UCLA Medal of Honor. Douglas was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1984. For his film work, he received the American Cinema Award (1987), the German Golden Kamera Award   (1987), the National Board of Review's Career Achievement Award (1989), a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute (1991), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community" (1995), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute (1999). Kirk Douglas was voted the 36th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. He published his autobiography, The Ragman's Son, in 1988. He also wrote the novel Dance with the Devil (1990), the novel The Gift (1992), Kirk Douglas Writes to Gary Cooper (1992), the novel Last Tango in Brooklyn (1994), the novel The Broken Mirror (1997), Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning (1997), Young Heroes of the Bible: A Book for Family Sharing (1999), and My Stroke of Luck (2002). The actor michael douglas is one of his four sons. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Current Biography Yearbook 1952 (1953), 155–6. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: T. Thomas, The Films of Kirk Douglas (1972); J. McBride, Kirk Douglas: A Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies (1976); R. Lacourbe, Kirk Douglas (1980); M. Munn, Kirk Douglas (1985); S. Press, Michael and Kirk Douglas (1995); D.D. Darrid, In the Wings: A Memoir (1999). (Stewart Kampel / Rohan Saxena and Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)