Kirk Douglas

(October 1997) Ranked #53 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Born Issur Danielovitch (also reported as Issur Danielovitch Demsky) to father Jacob Danielovitch, and mother Bryna, from Russia, who came to America in 1912.

(January 1996) Suffered a stroke that made it very difficult for him to talk. Speech therapy over the years greatly alleviated the problem.

Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy Carter on 17th January 1981. This is the highest US honor a civilian can receive.

Turned down two Oscar-winning roles: Lee Marvin s in Cat Ballou and William Holden s in Stalag 17 .

Father of four sons: Michael Douglas , Eric Douglas , Joel Douglas and Peter Douglas.

Earned $50,000 for saying the only English word at the end of a 1980s Japanese TV commercial: "Coffee".

Speaks German (fluently, but not accent-free) and also French.

He survived a helicopter crash on February 23, 1991, in which two fellow occupants were killed. He was left with a debilitating back injury.

Kirk has celebrated his Bar Mitzvah twice. Firstly, the typical 13 years of age, and secondly when he was 83 years old.

Graduated with degree in English from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. President of the class of 1939.

Received a UCLA Medal of honor 14 June 2002 from the University of California, Los Angeles, during schools graduation ceremony for theater, film and television students. Previous recipients include former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton , former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres , and actors Laurence Olivier and Carol Burnett.

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Father-in-law of Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Was originally cast to play Colonel Sam Trautman in First Blood , but walked out on the project. Douglas wanted substantial changes made to the script, specifically that John Rambo die at the hands of Trautman, like the character did in the novel. The writers held their ground and refused. Richard Crenna was eventually cast in the role.

He was voted the 36th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Was named #17 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute.

He wore lifts in many of his films, which made him appear about 5 11" or 6 feet on screen. Once, as a prank, Burt Lancaster found Douglass lifts on a film set and hid them from him, which allegedly infuriated the shorter actor.

(August 1986) Had a pacemaker fitted after collapsing in a restaurant.

Douglas had a fully Jewish upbringing, but did not practice extensively as an adult. This changed when, on his 83rd birthday, he had a second Bar Mitzvah, reaffirming his faith and causing him to practice again.

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980.

Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970.

Had appeared together with Burt Lancaster in eight movies: I Walk Alone , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and The Devils Disciple , The List of Adrian Messenger , Seven Days in May , Victory at Entebbe , Dead Men Dont Wear Plaid and Wise Guys .

He had both knees replaced in 2005, against the advice of his doctors. The operation was a success.

After his son Michael Douglas was fired from the stage production of the play "Summer Tree", Kirk bought the stage and film rights to the story and gave it to Michael to star in.

Grandfather of seven children: Cameron Douglas (born 13 December 1978), Dylan Michael Douglas (born 8 August 2000), Carys Zeta Douglas (born 20 April 2003) (children of his son Michael Douglas ), Kelsey Douglas , Tyler Douglas (born 1996), Ryan Douglas (born 2000) and Jason Douglas (born 2003) (children of his son Peter Douglas ).

Former father-in-law of Diandra Douglas.

Appeared in a stage production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" and later bought the film rights. He didnt make a movie of it and eventually turned the rights over to his son Michael Douglas , who was able to secure financing and produce the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest .

If he had not heeded wife Anne Douglas s advice, he would have been on producer Mike Todd s private plane in 1958 when it crashed and killed all on-board. Todds wife Elizabeth Taylor was also scheduled to be on the plane but canceled due to a bad cold.

Met his German wife-to-be, Anne Douglas , when she applied for a job as his assistant on the French location shoot for the movie Un acte damour .

He was awarded the American National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment of the Arts.

He resided in Palm Springs, California, for more than 40 years. In October 2005, the city honored him by naming a lushly-landscaped drive "Kirk Douglas Way". It winds around part of Palm Springs International Airport. A lavish ceremony and party was given by the Palm Springs International Film Society and International Film Festival and was attended by the actor, his wife Anne Douglas and their three surviving sons. His son Joel, also a Palm Springs resident, was responsible for the campaign.

Gave up his two- to three-pack-a-day cigarette habit in 1950. His father later died from lung cancer in 1955, at age 72.

In 1955, he was among the first actors to set up a personal production company, Bryna Productions, after the first name of his mother.

He and his wife Anne Douglas renewed their wedding vows in California around the 50th anniversary of their 1954 marriage. They reaffirmed their vows before 300 friends and family members at the famous Greystone Estate in Beverly Hills. Guests included Dan Aykroyd , Lauren Bacall , Nancy Reagan and Tony Curtis. Douglas walked into the traditional Jewish ceremony to the tune of "Im in the Mood for Love" and later sang a tune he had written for the occasion, "Please Stay in Love With Me".

Attended the state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan , with Charlton Heston , Tom Selleck and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger , on June 11, 2004.

Helped break the Hollywood blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo , a member of the "Hollywood Ten", to write the screenplay for Spartacus . Despite widespread criticism from many in the industry, including John Wayne and Hedda Hopper , Douglas refused to back down and Trumbo received screen credit under his own name. When presenting Douglas with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at The 68th Annual Academy Awards , Steven Spielberg publicly thanked Douglas for his courage. However, Otto Preminger had already broken the blacklist by hiring Trumbo for Exodus . Trumbos family publicly said that Douglas greatly exaggerated his role in breaking the blacklist.

Attended the premiere of Basic Instinct , which starred his son, Michael Douglas.

Fell out with his close friend, former President Jimmy Carter , over Carters book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid".

His idol was President Harry S. Truman.

Confirmed his retirement from acting after making Illusion , although he did act in one more film, Meurtres lEmpire State Building , and has had numerous appearances (as himself) on entertainment and gossip programs, and in documentaries.

While filming The War Wagon in September 1966, Douglas enraged his co-star John Wayne by recording a television advertisement for Edmund G. Brown , the Democratic Governor of California, after Wayne had recorded an advertisement for Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

Admitted he made The Big Trees (1952) for nothing just to get out of his contract with Warner Bros. He later said, "It was a terrible movie.".

In his last book, "Lets Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving and Learning", he expressed regret at turning down William Holden s Oscar-winning role in Stalag 17 , Stephen Boyd s role in The Fall of the Roman Empire , and Lee Marvin s Oscar-winning role in Cat Ballou .

He was close friends with Jack Valenti.

He was originally cast in John Wayne s role in Sands of Iwo Jima , but pulled out in order to make Champion .

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Is an avid user of the Internet and is registered with MySpace.

Best of friends with Karl Malden (who was also very close with his son Michael Douglas , with whom he co-starred on "The Streets of San Francisco" ). After Malden died on July 1, 2009, Douglas remarked that their acquaintance was the longest he had with anyone in his life, lasting 70 years.

Co-hosted (with Cass Elliot ) the release party for folk-rocker Donovan s album "Barabajagal" , posing for photos with Donovan and Elliot. He described Donovan as "not just a gentleman, but a gentle man".

Enlisted in the United States Navy in 1941, shortly after the United States entered World War II, where he served as a communications officer in submarine warfare. He was medically discharged for war injuries in 1944.

He was not close friends with Burt Lancaster as was often perceived. The closeness of their friendship was largely fabricated by the publicity-wise Douglas, while, in reality, they were very competitive with each other and sometimes privately expressed a mutual personal disdain despite a mutual respect for their acting talents.

His acting mentor was Gary Cooper.

Lonely Are the Brave is his personal favourite film.

He rejected a key role in The Great Sinner to star in Champion . He was replaced by Melvyn Douglas.

According to Burt Lancaster in 1987 at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts tribute to Douglas: "Kirk would be the first person to tell you hes a very difficult man." After a pause he added, " And I would be the second.".

Douglas father changed the family name from Danielovich to Demsky.

Hedda Hopper told him after he became a star with Champion , "Now that youre a big hit, youve become a real S.O.B." Douglas replied," Youre wrong. I was always an S.O.B. You just never noticed before.".

Hal B. Wallis tested him for a role in what would be his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers after a recommendation by friend Lauren Bacall.

Douglas wrote his autobiography without the help of a ghostwriter - very unusual for a Hollywood bio.

Was signed to play Gabey in On the Town but had to be replaced because he suffered from a case of psychosomatic laryngitis.

He got out of his contract with Warner Bros. by offering to star in any picture they chose for no salary. The picture was The Big Trees (1952) .

When he was contacted by MGM to replace Ricardo Montalban in The Story of Three Loves because of his box-office power, he refused until he discussed it with Montalban, who was in training for the role. Although Montalban felt appreciative of Douglas concern for him, he understood Metros position and surrendered the role.

After winning a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he found work as a waiter at Schrafts on 86th Treet and Broadway. Among the other aspiring actors working there was John Forsythe.

Douglas claims that painter Marc Chagall asked the actor to play him in a filmography, but the actor turned him down after the rigors of playing painter Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life .

Although he played Ernest Borgnine s son in The Vikings , he was six weeks his senior in real life.

Cowboy Stan Polson, owner of the Apple Valley Stables, taught Kirk Douglas how to ride a horse for Douglass role in his first western, "Along the Great Divide".

Is portrayed by Dean OGorman in Trumbo .

(June 2013) Publicly called for more gun control in the United States.

His claim to have broken the blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplay for Spartacus was publicly disputed by Trumbos son and daughter, as well as the films producer Edward Lewis and Howard Fast s children.

Douglas claimed to be 5 11" at his peak. However, he was well known for wearing lifts and many sources say his peak height was 5 8".

He released this statement for the release of Trumbo : "As actors it is easy for us to play the hero. We get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice. In real life, the choices are not always so clear. The Hollywood Blacklist, recreated powerfully on screen in Trumbo, was a time I remember well. The choices were hard. The consequences were painful and very real. During the blacklist, I had friends who went into exile when no one would hire them; actors who committed suicide in despair. My young co-star in Detective Story , Lee Grant , was unable to work for twelve years after she refused to testify against her husband before the House Un-American Activities Committee. I was threatened that using a Blacklisted writer for Spartacus - my friend Dalton Trumbo - would mark me as a "Commie-lover" and end my career. There are times when one has to stand up for principle. I am so proud of my fellow actors who use their public influence to speak out against injustice. At 98 years old, I have learned one lesson from history: It very often repeats itself. I hope that Trumbo, a fine film, will remind all of us that the Blacklist was a terrible time in our country, but that we must learn from it so that it will never happen again.".

Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.

He claimed to have become engaged to Pier Angeli while filming The Story of Three Loves .

Friends with Lauren Bacall , Tony Curtis , Ronald Reagan , Nancy Reagan , Don Rickles , Carl Reiner , Carroll OConnor and Steven Spielberg.

Acting mentor of Dana Carvey.

In order to achieve anything you must be brave enough to fail.

I came from abject poverty. There was nowhere to go but up.

Making movies is a form of narcissism.

I think half the success in life comes from first trying to find out,what you really want to do. And then going ahead and doing it.

If you want to know about a man you can find out an awful lot by looking,at who he married.

My kids never had the advantage I had. I was born poor.

Generation Y, you are on the cusp. You are the group facing many,problems: abject poverty, global warming, genocide, AIDS and suicide,bombers, to name a few. These problems exist and the world is silent.

We have done very little to solve these problems. Now we leave it to,you. You have to fix it because the situation is intolerable. You need,to rebel, to speak up, write, vote, and care about people and the world,you live in. We live in the best country in the world. I know. My,parents were Russian immigrants. America is a country where EVERYONE,regardless of race, creed, or age has a chance. I had that chance. You,are the generation that is most impacted and the generation that can,make a difference. I love this country because I came from a life of,poverty. I was able to work my way through college and go into acting,the field that I love. There is no guarantee in this country that you,will be successful. But you always have a chance. Nothing should,interfere with it. You have to make sure that nothing stands in the,way. When I blow out my candles - 90! . . . it will take a long time .

You have to leave your country to get a perspective, to see what makes,America great. Now I can say that nowhere in the world is there a match,for what we have in Hollywood.

[on Paths of Glory (1957) ] A truly great film with a truly great,theme: the insanity and brutality of war. As I predicted, it made no,money.

Now, everybody thinks he is a cowboy too. That frightens me. We have,become a cowboy country with too many guns. I cannot understand the,people who are against some form of gun control. They should be the,first to welcome a message on making it more difficult to get a gun.

Many of them seem to propose more guns being available to everybody.

I was not a tough guy. I just acted like one.

In order to achieve anything,you must be brave enough to fail.

The learning process continues until the day you die.