kirk douglas
After World War II, Kirk Douglas worked in the movies, making his mark in 1949’s The Champion. [1]
???????????; December 9, 1916) is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. [2]
); December 9, 1916) is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. [3]
Slowed by a stroke, Douglas nevertheless appeared in the 1999 movie Diamonds. [...] During the 1950s and ’60s Douglas was a savvy and bankable star, varying from intense dramatic roles in Paths of Glory (1957) and Seven Days in May (1964), to playful entertainments such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). [...] He had minor Broadway roles before making his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) and emerged as a major star in Champion (1949). [1]
His efforts were rewarded in 1981 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1983 with the Jefferson Award. [4]
During high school, he acted in school plays, and discovered “The one thing in my life that I always knew, that was always constant, was that I wanted to be an actor.” [...] The couple had two sons, actor Michael Douglas and producer Joel Douglas. [2]
The quality of his work continued to garner the attention of critics and he was again nominated for Oscars for his role as a film producer in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and as tortured painter Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), both directed by Vincente Minnelli. [4]
He also formed his own production company (later he transferred the rights to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) to his son, Michael Douglas) and tried his hand at directing movies in the 1970s, including Posse (1975). [1]
… the rights remained with the Douglas clan, and Kirk’s talented son Michael Douglas finally filmed the tale in 1975, starring Jack Nicholson. [4]
He is #17 on the American Film Institute ’s list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time. [3]
In 1996, he received the Academy Honorary Award “for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community”. [2]
Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch) was the son Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Amsterdam, NY, on December 9, 1916. [1]
Sources:
[1] Kirk Douglas: Biography from Answers.com
[2] Kirk Douglas
[3] Kirk Douglas - Wikipedia
[4] Kirk Douglas (I) - Biography