Vale: Kirk Douglas

Legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas, best known for Spartacus, has died, aged 103.

“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” son Michael Douglas wrote on his Instagram account. “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 set a standard for all of us to aspire to.

“But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.

“Kirk’s life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet,” he added. “Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son.”

Nominated three times for best actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — for Champion (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Lust for Life (1956) — Douglas was the recipient of an honorary Oscar in 1996. Arguably the top male star of the post-World War II era, he acted in more than 80 movies.

Amongst his many films were 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Letter to Three Wives, There Was a Crooked Man, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , The List of Adrian Messenger, The Indian Fighter, The Vikings, Lonely Are the Brave, Seven Days in May and The Brotherhood.

In 1982 he filmed The Man from Snowy River in Australia.

His television credits include Inherit the Wind, Victory at Entebbe, Empire State Building Murders, Touched by an Angel, The Simpsons, Tales from the Crypt, Arthur Hailey’s the Moneychangers, The Lucy Show and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.

Douglas supported many causes and worked in public service. In 1981 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Jimmy Carter and in 1994 he was one of the recipients of the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

He recently appeared on the Golden Globes 2018 to present the prize for the best scenario and received a standing ovation when he entered the stage. In 1968  the Hollywood Foreign Press presented him with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

On his 99th birthday, Douglas and his wife -now 100- donated $15 million toward a new $35 million care centere at the Motion Picture Television Fund home in Woodland Hills.

This post updates.

Source: Hollywood Reporter