Karl Douglas, legendary actor, dead at 103.
Kirk Douglas, known as one of the most beloved guys in the industry's history on screen and a defender of blacklisted artists off-screen, died Wednesday at age of 103.
List of Movie by Kirk Douglas.
Michael
Douglas, the actor's Oscar-winning son, announced his death in an Instagram post on behalf of the family.
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 setting a standard for all of us to aspire to, " he
wrote.
Douglas, who
bravely and publicly fought his way back from a severe stroke in 1996, will be
remembered for the grit and determination he showed on screen in action epics
like "Spartacus" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,"
biopics like "Lust for Life" and more intimate character studies like
"Lonely Are the Brave," But his commitment to higher ideals in the
film industry proved even more dramatic.
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Some Interesting facts about Kirk Douglas Read Here.
Douglas was
responsible for helping to break Hollywood's infamous blacklist at the height
of Cold War paranoia when he was instrumental in hiring and crediting the
legendary screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, a member of the so-called Hollywood Ten,
for his work on "Spartacus,"
He was also a committed philanthropist.
"I've
known Kirk Douglas personally and appreciate his friendship," President
Jimmy Carter said as he awarded Douglas the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
nation's highest civilian honor, in 1981,
"But more than that, I have
known how dedicated he is to use his talent
as an actor and a director and the esteem with which he's held by his as an actor and a director
and the esteem with which he's held by his own people in spreading the good
news about this country and explaining our purposes, our ideals, our
commitments and our achievements, our hopes and our dreams to people around the
world"
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Douglas'
progressive values may be the product of his upbringing as the poor child of
Jewish immigrants from what's now Belarus-his birth name was lssur danielovitch
- who grew up in Amsterdam, New York.
After
cutting his teeth as a stage actor and scoring strong supporting roles in
classic films like "Out of the past," Douglas would eventually emerge
as a star in his own right in the 1949 boxing drama "Champion," for
which he earned the first of three Academy Award nominations for best actor.
(He would take home a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1996).
In that, the film, and in his subsequent hits that followed, Douglas broke with the tradition of unflappable leading men by portraying complex and often morally
conflicted characters who tested audiences' sympathies.
Meanwhile,
in tough, trenchant films like "Ace In the Hole," Paths of
Glory" and "Seven Days in May," Douglas didn't shy away from
challenging subject matter like corruption of the press and the military.
Douglas
pursued his passions without sacrificing his popular appeal:
The movie
trade publisher Quigley Publishing ranked him among the top 25 box office stars
for six straight years beginning in 1957.
And even as his production tailed off
in later decades, the cleft-chinned star remained a virile sex symbol well into
his 60s
The pace
Douglas kept as a perpetual A-Lister took a toll on his relationship with his
family. He split from Michael's mother when his famous son was only 6 years
old.
Over the
years, the two stars repaired their relationship and would even appear alongside
each other (along with Kirk's embattled grandson Cameron) in the 2003 drama
" It Runs in the family." and he stood by Michael's side when he
battled stage 4 cancer in 2010.
He also
began blogging in his 90s, attracting a new generation of fans, and his 12th
book, "Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a LIfetime in
Hollywood," co-written with his wife of 62 years. Anne Buydens Douglas was published in 2017.
Douglas is
survived by his wife and three sons, Michael, Peter, and Joel Douglas. His youngest
son with Buydens, Eric, died in 2004 of what was ruled an accidental drug
overdose.
conclusion;
Karl was a
rally a legendary actor in Hollywood and on world television always remember his
contribution to the society and film industry.
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