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“The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946)
Kirk Douglas made his film debut with 1946’s “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.”
“Mourning Becomes Electra” (1947)
Douglas starred with Rosalind Russell in RKO Pictures’ “Mourning Becomes Electra.”
“Champion” (1949)
The film that catapulted him to stardom, and forever cast him as a brooding, explosive personality, was 1949’s “Champion.” For his performance as an unscrupulous boxer he gained his first Academy Award nomination.
“Ace in the Hole” (1951)
Kirk Douglas starred in Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” in 1951. From Variety’s review: “Douglas enacts the heel reporter ably, giving it color to balance its unsympathetic character.”
“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954)
Douglas scored with critical and box office success in Walt Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” in 1954.
Singing with Marlene Dietrich and Gina Lollobrigida, 1955
Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas and Gina Lollobrigida rehearse for a charity concert in Paris on Aug. 14, 1955. Douglas started his career on the stage, debuting on Broadway in 1941 as a singing Western Union messenger in “Spring Again.”
With wife Anne, 1956
Douglas and his first wife Diana had divorced in 1951, but while working in Europe on such films as “The Juggler” and “Ulysses,” Douglas met publicist Anne Buydens. They married in 1954.
With sons, 1956
Kirk Douglas with his sons Joel and Michael in 1956. (He also had two sons with wife Anne, Peter and Eric.)
“Lust for Life” (1956)
Vincente Minnelli said Kirk Douglas was “the only choice” to play Vincent Van Gogh in “Lust for Life,” for which the actor picked up his third Oscar nomination.
“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” (1957)
“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” was thesecond of seven films Douglas made with Burt Lancaster and a commercial success.In his 1988 autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son,” Kirk Douglas wrote that he planned exactly how many and what kinds of coughs he would have in each scene so that continuity wouldn’t be a problem once the film was edited together.
“Paths of Glory” (1957)
“It was a truly great film with a truly great theme: the insanity and brutality of war,” Douglas wrote of “Paths of Glory” inhis autobiography. “As I had predicted, it made no money.”Directed by relative novice Stanley Kubrick,pic was also produced by Douglas’ Bryna Productions (named forhis mother).
“Spartacus” (1960)
Kirk Douglas hired Stanley Kubrick to directSpartacus,” replacing Anthony Mann two weeks into production. Kubrick distanced himself from the Roman epic, which is nonetheless considered one of the best of its kind.
“I think one of the most important things in my career was the breaking of the blacklist,” Douglas said of his insistence that Dalton Trumbo’s name be listed as scenarist for “Spartacus.” Following Douglas’ lead, Otto Preminger also listed Trumbo’s name for screenplay adaptation on “Exodus” that same year.“Lonely Are the Brave” (1962)
Also written by Dalton Trumbo, Kirk Douglas and many critics consider the modern-day Western “Lonely Are the Brave” (which he also produced) to be one of his finest moments.
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)
Kirk Douglas starred in the 1963 Broadway production of“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Dale Wasserman’s adaptation of the Ken Kesey novel, which he tried valiantly to get made into a film over the next decade.
His son, Michael, finally succeeded. But by then Kirk Douglas was too old for the role of McMurphy, which was played by Jack Nicholson.
In 1975, “Cuckoo’s Nest” became the second film (after “It Happened One Night”) to win the top five Oscars: best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay. Kirk Douglas, who owned the rights to the novel, recalled, “I made more money from that film than any I acted in. And I would gladly give back every cent, if I could have played that role.”AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, 1991
In 1991, he was honored with the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, and by the Writers Guild of America for breaking the blacklist.
SAG award, 1999
Douglassuffered a stroke in 1995 and had to teach himself to speak all over again. He was left with some paralysis in his face.Here withJanet Leighin 1999, he received the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award.“When they first spoke to me about this award, lifetime achievement, I was scared,” he said.“I saw a committee going over my medical file; we have to give him something. Well, maybe then they learned that I have just finished a movie, they might want to take the award back but what the hell. I am young, I have made eighty-two movies.”
“It Runs in the Family” (2003)
In 2003, Kirk Douglas fulfilled a longtime dreamperforming with son Michael, ex-wife Diana and grandson Cameron in “It Runs in the Family.”
Florence Avenue School playground, 2003
Anne and Kirk Douglas sponsored more than 240 school playgrounds in Southern California and founded their Douglas Foundation in 1964.
“Before I Forget” (2009)
Douglas embraced his new role as an unofficial spokesman for stroke victims, penning and appearing in a one-man show, “Before I Forget,” in 2009.
With Melissa Leo, Academy Awards, 2011
Kirk Douglas made a memorable appearance at the 2011 Academy Awards show, flirting with supporting actress winner Melissa Leo.
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