Welcome to the Posts section of the official Kirk Douglas website. Its purpose is to let Kirk share his thoughts and activities with you, and to enable you to share your thoughts with him.
Below you’ll find links to the most recent "Reflections" and "Activities" posts.
Clicking the “Reflections” button to the left, you’ll be taken to a page where Kirk, a best-selling writer as well as a movie star, has posted his most recent thoughts and musings.
Clicking the “Activities” button, you’ll be taken to a page where you can learn about current and past goings-on in which Kirk is involved.
Clicking the "Kirk Douglas Theatre" button, you'll get the latest news about productions at the theatre, named to honor Kirk Douglas and established as the newest and most intimate of the Center Theatre Group's spaces, which include the Ahmanson and Mark Taper Theatres at the Los Angeles Music Center.
By clicking “Fan Mail,” you’ll have the opportunity to share your thoughts with Kirk.
Kirk Doulgas's new book, written with his wife Anne, Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood is now available. This link will enable you to order a copy, and have part of the proceeds go to the work of The Douglas Foundation.
Film legend Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens, his wife of nearly sixty-three years, look back on a lifetime filled with drama both on and off the screen. Sharing priceless correspondence with each other as well as the celebrities and world leaders they called friends, Kirk and Anne is a candid portrayal of the pleasures and pitfalls of a Hollywood life lived in the public eye.
Compiled from Anne's private archive of letters and photographs, this is an intimate glimpse into the Douglases' courtship and marriage set against the backdrop of Kirk's screen triumphs, including The Vikings, Lust For Life, Paths of Glory, and Spartacus. The letters themselves, as well as Kirk and Anne's vivid descriptions of their experiences, reveal remarkable insight and anecdotes about the legendary figures they knew so well, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, the Kennedys, and the Reagans. Filled with photos from film sets, private moments, and public events, Kirk and Anne details the adventurous, oftentimes comic, and poignant reality behind the glamour of a Hollywood life-as only a couple of sixty-two years (and counting) could tell it.
Michael Douglas pays tribute to dad Kirk and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones after Golden Globes win
- Created on Tuesday, 08 January 2019
- Written by Nancy Dillon
Daily News January 7, 2019
Michael Douglas dedicated his Golden Globe to his 102-year-old father Kirk Douglas Sunday – then paid tribute to his actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones backstage.
Douglas, 74, won the best actor award for a musical or comedy television series for his role as an aging acting coach in the Netflix hit “The Kominsky Method.”
“Alte kackers rule!” he said while raising his statuette onstage, using a Yiddish term for elderly men.
“I acknowledged my father in the end because he more than anybody says, ‘You’re getting an award for being funny?’” Douglas said with a laugh minutes later backstage.
He said he learned “stamina and tenacity” from his famous dad.
“He was out of the school where you know you give it your best shot. You walk away (after) doing the best thing you can, and then, f—k it. So that’s the best advice I got,” he said.
Douglas then boasted he recently celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary with Zeta-Jones.
“Besides a genuine love that only continues to grow, I think the fact that we’re in the same industry together really helps us understand what’s really going on,” he said.
“It was great for her to be here tonight and to share. It’s one of those nice things where your partner totally understands what’s going on, and I flash back to her time when she was pregnant with our daughter during ‘Chicago,’ and all the awards shows that were going on,” he said.
He also touted her new Facebook comedy show, “Queen America.”
“I think she’s doing some really funny, funny stuff,” he said.
Kirk Douglas' 102nd birthday celebrated with historic plaque
- Created on Tuesday, 11 December 2018
- Written by Jason Subic
--The Daily Gazette December 9, 2018
AMSTERDAM, NEW YORK -- Kirk Douglas, Amsterdam's most famous native son, turned 102 years old on Sunday, and the city celebrated by unveiling a historic plaque marking the house where he grew up.
Fans, Amsterdam history buffs and a few family members of the big screen legend gathered at the corner of Eagle and East Main streets, where the historic marker will be placed, once a pole is made available for it. Robert von Hasseln, president of the Historic Amsterdam League (HAL), acted as master of ceremonies for the unveiling of the plaque. Douglas was born Dec. 9, 1916 ,to immigrant parents living at 46 Eagle St., which still stands as the last house on a dead end street, and he rose from poverty to appear in over 90 films in Hollywood.
"Couldn't it have his real name on there too?" asked one of the people gathered for the event, referencing Douglas' birth name, Issur Danielovitch, which he changed when he became an actor.
Von Hasseln said unfortunately there were a limited number of words that could fit on the plaque. He praised HAL members Dan Weaver and Jacqueline Murphy, the former Montgomery County historian, for securing the money for the historic marker from the William C. Pomeroy Foundation.
Weaver said he was glad the plaque included the phrase "rose from poverty" to show that Douglas achieved success without government assistance.
Murphy, in honor of Sunday being the last day of Hanukkah, gave a short speech in which she placed Douglas' success within the context of the many immigrant Jewish families that started many businesses, including the Amsterdam Print Co., Holzheimer and Shaul, Sochin's clothing and haberdashery and businesses started by Jewish families like the Guttenbergs and Galinskis.
"Many of the Jewish immigrants started out as peddlers, but then became very prominent merchants in the community," she said.
At the corner of the plaque is the number 477, indicating the Douglas marker as the 477th official New York state historic plaque paid for by that foundation.
Von Hasseln said when he was researching what to say for the event he realized he couldn't possibly do justice to Douglas' long career. He said Douglas' dream of becoming an actor was too big for him to stay in Amsterdam, but he has continued to touch the city of his youth in significant ways. He said Douglas' given name is still scratched behind the stage at Wilbur H. Lynch Middle School. He also contributed, without realizing it, to Von Hasseln's decision to join the military after he watched "Seven Days in May" a movie in which Douglas' character helped thwart a military coup of the U.S. government.
"The last thing you see at the end of that movie is the Constitution of the United States, and that's when I realized I wanted to serve and protect the Constitution, and it had later ramifications for the city of Amsterdam, because some years ago when we were designing the Amsterdam Veterans Memorial, and we were lined up to once again spend tens of thousands of dollars on another cookie cutter memorial, with seals, dates, names of the services, and I said to myself 'Let's go deeper,' " Von Hasseln said. "What's the one thing that separates veterans from every civilian? And all of a sudden in my head I saw the last frame of 'Seven Days in May,' and that's why the only thing that's on the Amsterdam Veterans Memorial is the oath of office."
Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, spoke at the event. He said Douglas is a great example of the many talented people who've gotten their start in Amsterdam.
"Happy birthday to Kirk Douglas and congratulations to his family members," Santabarbara said.
On hand Sunday were Douglas' oldest living nephew, Fred Simon, and his oldest niece, Marilyn Gordon, whose mother Ida Sahr is Douglas' only living sibling. She will turn 100 on Feb. 24. Gordon said her mother was able to Facetime Kirk Douglas Saturday and sing happy birthday to him.
"In addition, I told him about the historic marker that was going to be put up at the corner of East Main and Eagle street where he grew up. He was very touched and appreciative of this dedication and asked me to thank the Historic Amsterdam League," she said.
Amsterdam group honoring Kirk Douglas, who turns 102 today
- Created on Monday, 10 December 2018
- Written by Bill Buell
--The Daily Gazette December 9, 2018
Kirk Douglas is going to spend part of his 102nd birthday Sunday talking to his 99-year-old sister in Schenectady.
Ida Sahr, the younger sister of the iconic movie star, will be sending her brother birthday wishes via FaceTime, according to Marilyn Gordon, Douglas's niece and Sahr's daughter. A native of Amsterdam, as is her brother, Sahr has lived in Schenectady for more than 50 years.
"We have it all set up, and we've been doing this for a while," said Gordon, a Glenville resident who flew out to California two years ago to help celebrate her uncle's 100th birthday. "They look at each other and talk, and she sings him happy birthday."
"If things go right I'll be heading over there with my cousin," Gordon said, referring to Sunday's ceremony in Amsterdam. "That's where they lived when they grew up."
Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch on Dec. 9, 1916, the son of Russian Jews who had earlier emigrated to the U.S. Herschel Danielovtich, his father, had arrived in 1908 from Belarus, and Douglas's mother, Bryna, came two years later in 1908.
Douglas was the lone boy in a family of six siblings. All are deceased except for him and Sahr. Douglas penned his autobiography in 1988 and named the book, "The Ragman's Son."
Known as Izzy Demsky when he was growing up, Douglas was a good student and after graduating from Wilbur H. Lynch High School in Amsterdam in 1935, he went to St. Lawrence University where he became president of the student body, a member of the Dramatic Society and a standout on the college's wrestling team.
Douglas graduated from St. Lawrence in 1939, his acting talent helping him land a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. His promising acting career, he had already been on Broadway, was interrupted by World War II as Douglas spent much of 1943 and 1944 on an anti-submarine craft in the Pacific Theater. He was medically discharged in 1944 after being injured when a depth charge failed to work correctly.
After the war, Douglas headed to Hollywood and got his first big break with the help of fellow actor Lauren Bacall. Urged by Bacall, Douglas got the lead role in "The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers," and his film career took off.
He earned his first Oscar nomination in 1949 for "Champion," and remained a huge box office star for nearly the next four decades. He made his final public visit to upstate New York when he visited Amsterdam and his sister in Schenectady in 1985.
The marker being put up Sunday was funded by a grant from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
"We are so happy to be allied with the Pomeroy Foundation on this project," said Rob von Hasseln, president of the Historic Amsterdam League. "Their demands for accuracy and significance are rigorous and we feel validated that we passed the test."
Gordon said she has been in touch with Douglas's family recently.
"He has his limitations, but he's doing pretty well, just like my mother," said Gordon. "We're doing the best we can, and while it's unfortunate that neither one can travel anymore, they still do stay in touch. He's going to celebrate with his family, and we'll do the same here. We're also going to celebrate on Feb. 24 when Ida turns 100."
Sunday at 2 p.m., the Historic Amsterdam League will have its own celebration of Douglas's birthday when it puts up a historic marker at the corner of East Main and Eagle Street in Amsterdam where Douglas grew up.
