103 years. You have to write it again to believe it. Kirk Douglas therefore died at the age of 103 this Wednesday, and will remain in the history of cinema as a sacred monster of Hollywood (but not the last, Olivia de Havilland remains), with a hundred films and roles iconic like Le Champion , Vincent Van Gogh and of course Spartacus. As tributes multiply around the world and special programming is on television soon, immerse yourself in a century of life and career with five things you (perhaps) didn't know about Kirk Douglas. It is not even his real name.
His name was not really Kirk Douglas
Born December 9, 1916 in Amsterdam, New York, Kirk Douglas is the son of Jewish immigrants who fled Russia, and his real name is Issur Danielovitch. But the paternal uncle who preceded them in the United States uses the name Demsky. The whole family adopted him, in addition to adapting their respective first names: his parents Herschel and Bryna became Harry and Betha, and little Issy took the nickname Izzy. Izzy Demsky so. It was when he landed in New York for an acting career that he took Kirk Douglas as his stage name, before officially and legally adopting it just before enlisting in the navy in 1941.
DEATH OF A LEGEND - Kirk Douglas, the last giant of Hollywood, died during the night. Unforgettable Spartacus, the actor has also toured with the greatest American directors. In 1967, he expressed his love for westerns. And in perfect French! #KirkDouglasRIP pic.twitter.com/NTQHR3N5un
- Ina.fr (@Inafr_officiel) February 6, 2020He spoke impeccable French
In the aftermath of his death, television brought out from his archives the numerous interventions and interviews that the star was able to give in France, and in fact in French. Nearly perfect French. The actor never hid his love for France, he filmed the classic Paris burning there? , received an honorary Caesar and the Legion, and above all met his second wife, the Belgian producer Anne Buydens, while he was filming a film ( Histoire de trois amours , An act of love or The passionate life of Vincent Van Gogh according to sources) and that she was a publicist. This surely explains this.
Kirk Douglas, December 9, 1916 - February 5, 2020.
A life, a voice, a legend pic.twitter.com/xEd6YhenvU
He almost got lost in a role
If Kirk Douglas always regretted not having been able to adapt and interpret Vol over a cuckoo's nest in the cinema, after having played it on stage, there is a role which almost made him lose his head, and the ear, he who always managed to keep distance from his characters, to remain the man he is at the bottom. "I am not Spartacus, I am not a Viking, I am myself, if I start to forget, I need to write it in a book", he explained on the set of Apostrophe for the out of his memories, The son of the ragpicker . There remains one exception: Vincent Van Gogh. Kirk Douglas did not leave the character between takes, and will describe the experience as frightening, close to madness, going so far as to touch his ear to verify that it was still there.
He never won an Oscar
If his interpretation of Van Gogh won him the Golden Globe for best actor in 1957, he missed the Oscar despite a nomination and an Oscar for best actor in a supporting role for Anthony Quinn in Paul Gauguin. It was his third and last nomination to the highest of distinctions, after Le Champion in 1950 and Les Ensorcelés in 1953. And that's it. Kirk Douglas will have to wait until 1996 to be honored by the Academy with an Oscar of honor for "for 50 years of creative and moral force in the cinematographic community".
He owed his first film role to Lauren Bacall
While attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Kirk Douglas befriended a younger student, Betty Joan Perske. She has a soft spot for him, but he prefers her classmate and future first wife, Diana Dill. The fact remains that Kirk and Betty remain friends, and after the war, she intervenes with the producer Hall B. Wallis and gets him a small role in L'emprise du crime in 1946. It is his first appearance in the cinema . What does this have to do with Lauren Bacall? Like Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall is a stage name, from a certain Betty Joan Perske.
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Death of Kirk Douglas, last great sacred monster in Hollywood, at 103 years old
- Michael douglas
- People
- Hollywood