Kirk Douglas
Acting • Born 1916-12-09 – Died 2020-02-05
Biography
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II. During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), and Detective Story (1951), a film for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination. In 1955, Douglas established Bryna Productions, which produced films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). He took the lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit. In 1963 Douglas starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film. As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema. Kirk Douglas died at age 103.
Filmography
180 credits
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Movie • 1954
Ned Land
Spartacus
Movie • 1960
Spartacus
Paths of Glory
Movie • 1957
Col. Dax
Out of the Past
Movie • 1947
Whit Sterling
Movie Tough Guys
Movie • 1991
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Movie • 1985
Self (archive footage)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Movie • 1973
Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Is Paris Burning?
Movie • 1966
General Patton
Detective Story
Movie • 1951
Det. James McLeod
Tough Guys
Movie • 1986
Archie Long
Victory at Entebbe
Movie • 1976
Herschel Vilnofsky
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Movie • 1957
Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
It Runs in the Family
Movie • 2003
Mitchell Gromberg
The List of Adrian Messenger
Movie • 1963
George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson
Seven Days in May
Movie • 1964
Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey
The Man from Snowy River
Movie • 1982
Harrison / Spur
Home Movies
Movie • 1980
Dr. Tuttle
Oscar
Movie • 1991
Eduardo Provolone
The Final Countdown
Movie • 1980
Capt. Matthew Yelland
Cast a Giant Shadow
Movie • 1966
Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
Ace in the Hole
Movie • 1951
Charles Tatum
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Movie • 1982
(in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
The Bad and the Beautiful
Movie • 1952
Jonathan Shields
Greedy
Movie • 1994
Uncle Joe
The Fury
Movie • 1978
Peter Sandza
Champion
Movie • 1949
Midge Kelly
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Movie • 1946
Walter O'Neil
I Walk Alone
Movie • 1947
Noll "Dink" Turner
There Was a Crooked Man...
Movie • 1970
Paris Pitman, Jr.
The War Wagon
Movie • 1967
Lomax
Young Man with a Horn
Movie • 1950
Rick Martin
Diamonds
Movie • 1999
Harry Agensky
Eddie Macon's Run
Movie • 1983
Carl 'Buster' Marzack
Lust for Life
Movie • 1956
Vincent van Gogh
Last Train from Gun Hill
Movie • 1959
Marshal Matt Morgan
The Vikings
Movie • 1958
Einar
The Way West
Movie • 1967
Sen. William J. Tadlock
Lonely are the Brave
Movie • 1962
John W. "Jack" Burns
Man Without a Star
Movie • 1955
Dempsey Rae
The Big Sky
Movie • 1952
Jim Deakins
The Big Trees
Movie • 1952
Jim Fallon
Ulysses
Movie • 1954
Ulysses
Along the Great Divide
Movie • 1951
Marshal Len Merrick
Two Weeks in Another Town
Movie • 1962
Jack Andrus
In Harm's Way
Movie • 1965
Commander Paul Eddington, Jr.
A Letter to Three Wives
Movie • 1949
George Phipps
Posse
Movie • 1975
Howard Nightingale
Holocaust 2000
Movie • 1977
Robert Caine
The Heroes of Telemark
Movie • 1965
Dr. Rolf Pedersen
The Last Sunset
Movie • 1961
Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley
The Master Touch
Movie • 1972
Steve Wallace
My Dear Secretary
Movie • 1948
Owen Waterbury
The Glass Menagerie
Movie • 1950
Jim O'Connor
The Arrangement
Movie • 1969
Eddie Anderson
A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Movie • 2005
Self
Empire State Building Murders
Movie • 2008
Jim Kovalski
Mourning Becomes Electra
Movie • 1947
Peter Niles
Saturn 3
Movie • 1980
Major Adam
A Gunfight
Movie • 1971
Will Tenneray
The Brotherhood
Movie • 1968
Frank Ginetta
The Light at the Edge of the World
Movie • 1971
Will Denton
Catch Me a Spy
Movie • 1971
Andrej
The Indian Fighter
Movie • 1955
Johnny Hawks
Town Without Pity
Movie • 1961
Major Garrett
The Devil's Disciple
Movie • 1959
Richard Dudgeon
Strangers When We Meet
Movie • 1960
Larry Coe
A Lovely Way to Die
Movie • 1968
Jameson Schuyler
Illusion
Movie • 2004
Donald Baines
Once Is Not Enough
Movie • 1975
Mike Wayne
Mousey
Movie • 1974
George Anderson
I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas
Movie • 2015
Self - Interviewee
The Walls of Jericho
Movie • 1948
Tucker Wedge
Draw!
Movie • 1984
Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland
The Story of Three Loves
Movie • 1953
Pierre Narval
Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices
Movie • 2008
Self
Scalawag
Movie • 1973
Peg
The Lies Boys Tell
Movie • 1994
Ed Reese
Top Secret Affair
Movie • 1957
Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin
The Racers
Movie • 1955
Gino Borgesa
The Villain
Movie • 1979
Cactus Jack
Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick
Movie • 1986
Self
Act of Love
Movie • 1953
Robert Teller
The Hook
Movie • 1963
Sgt. P.J. Briscoe
Remembrance Of Love
Movie • 1982
Joe Rabin
Inherit the Wind
Movie • 1988
Matthew Harrison Brady
For Love or Money
Movie • 1963
Deke Gentry
Amos
Movie • 1985
Amos Lasher
Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget
Movie • 2009
Self
The Juggler
Movie • 1953
Hans Muller
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
Movie • 2019
Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
Van Gogh: Darkness into Light
Movie • 1957
Self
Operation Undersea
Movie • 1954
Self
The Special London Bridge Special
Movie • 1972
The Indian Fighter
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Movie • 2012
(archive footage)
FBI contre Hollywood
Movie • 2001
Self
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Movie • 2010
Self – Interviewee
Trumbo
Movie • 2007
Self - Interviewee
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here
Movie • 2019
(archive footage)
Welcome to Veraz
Movie • 1991
Quentin
J'ai tout donné
Movie • 1972
Self
Two-Fisted Tales
Movie • 1992
General Calthrop
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
Movie • 2012
Self
The Secret
Movie • 1992
Grandpa Mike Dunmore
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
Movie • 1968
Self
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
Movie • 2017
Self
Completely Cuckoo
Movie • 1997
Self
Kirk Douglas
Movie • 1966
Self
Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary
Movie • 1986
Self
James Bond: The First 21 Years
Movie • 1983
Self
Walt Disney's Where Do the Stories Come From?
Movie • 1956
Self
The Universal Story
Movie • 1996
Self (archive footage)
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
Movie • 2017
Self - Actor
A Century of Cinema
Movie • 1994
Self
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
Movie • 2003
Hollywood au pied du terril
Movie • 2014
Self
The Disneyland Story
Movie • 1954
Self
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
Movie • 1999
General Kalthrob
Let Poland Be Poland
Movie • 1982
Self
Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir
Movie • 2001
Self
From Roger Moore with Love
Movie • 2024
Self (archive footage)
The Racing Experience
Movie • 1988
Self
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
Movie • 1990
Ned Land (archive footage)
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Movie • 2009
Self
Kirk Douglas
Movie • 1972
Himself
The Making of A Movie
Movie • 1965
Self
My Life As Roger Moore
Movie
Self (Archivfilmmaterial)
Kubrick by Kubrick
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
Movie • 2009
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Chester J. Lampwick (voice)
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Ross Berger
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
The Lucy Show
TV • 1962
Kirk Douglas
Tales from the Crypt
TV • 1989
Gen. Kalthrob
The View
TV • 1997
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV • 1993
Self - Guest
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self (uncredited)
The Johnny Cash Show
TV • 1969
Self
This Is Your Life
TV • 1952
Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Recipient
Clive Anderson All Talk
TV • 1996
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
TV • 1978
Self
Basketball: A Love Story
TV • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV • 1957
Self
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Ulysses (archive footage)
The George Gobel Show
TV • 1954
Self
Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers
TV • 1976
Alex Vandervoort
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
Wogan
TV • 1982
Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
TV • 1971
Self
Scene by Scene
TV • 1997
Self
Spécial cinéma
TV • 1974
Self
Verstehen Sie Spaß?
TV • 1980
Self
Goldene Kamera
TV • 1984
Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Guest
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
TV • 1975
Self
Queenie
TV • 1987
David Konig
Champs-Elysées
TV • 1982
Self
Cinépanorama
TV • 1956
Self
Apostrophes
TV • 1975
Self
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
Real Time with Bill Maher
TV • 2003
Self
Champs-Elysées
TV • 1982
Self (archive footage)
Der große Preis
TV • 1974
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self
Brisant
TV • 1994
Self
Parkinson
TV • 1998
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Presenter
Once Upon a Wheel
TV • 1971
Clive James' Postcard from
TV • 1989
Self
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host
People's Choice Awards
TV • 1975
Self
Cérémonie des César
TV • 1976
Self - President