Kirk Douglas, one of the most famous actors of all time, died today at the age of 103. People was the first to report the news, which was confirmed to them in a statement by one of his sons, the actor Michael Douglas. It read in part:
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. But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.
He also posted the message to Instagram with photos of his late father.
Born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York, Douglas changed his name before entering the Navy in World War II. He was nominated for three Oscars during his film career and received an honorary Academy Award in 1996. He starred in major movies from what is considered the golden age of Hollywood, including Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful, Lust for Life, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and Spartacus, the last of which Douglas hired Dalton Trumbo to write, despite his having been blacklisted by the industry during the McCarthy era. Once Douglas was firmly established in Hollywood, he started making movies through his own company, Bryna Productions, which he named after his mother.
The actor suffered a stroke in 1995 but had been mostly healthy since that time. He was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and numerous humanitarian awards and wrote a dozen books, both fiction and autobiographical. Douglas retired from acting more than a decade ago; his last feature-film role was in 2004’s Illusion.
