Person
Kirk Douglas
Amsterdam, New York, USA
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…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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2024
From Roger Moore with Love
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2021
Morceaux de Cannes
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2020
Kubrick by Kubrick
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2020
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2019
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
Movie Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
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2019
Mike Wallace Is Here
Movie (archive footage)
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2018
Basketball: A Love Story
TV show Self (archive footage)
- 2018
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2017
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
Movie Self - Actor
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2017
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
Movie Self
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2015
I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas
Movie Self - Interviewee
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2015
Johnny Cash: American Rebel
Movie Self (archive photo)
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2014
Hollywood au pied du terril
Movie Self
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2014
Discovering: Robert Mitchum
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2012
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
Movie Self
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2012
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Movie (archive footage)
More credits
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2010
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Movie Self – Interviewee
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2009
Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget
Movie Self
- 2009
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2009
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Movie Self
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2008
Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices
Movie Self
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2008
Empire State Building Murders
Movie Jim Kovalski
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2007
Trumbo
Movie Self - Interviewee
- 2005
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2004
Illusion
Movie Donald Baines
- 2003
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2003
It Runs in the Family
Movie Mitchell Gromberg
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2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
TV show Self
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2001
Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir
Movie Self
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2001
FBI contre Hollywood
Movie Self
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1999
Diamonds
Movie Harry Agensky
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1999
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
Movie General Kalthrob
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1998
Parkinson
TV show Self
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1997
Completely Cuckoo
Movie Self
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1997
The View
TV show Self
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1997
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1997
Scene by Scene
TV show Self
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1996
Clive Anderson All Talk
TV show Self
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1996
The Universal Story
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1994
The Lies Boys Tell
Movie Ed Reese
