Kirk Douglas, Indomitable Icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, Dies at 103

[Soph0571]

Source: Hollywood Reporter

The actor starred in such films as 'Champion,' 'The Bad and the Beautiful,' 'Lust for Life,' 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' and 'Spartacus,' to name just a few.
Kirk Douglas, the son of a ragman who channeled a deep, personal anger through a chiseled jaw and steely blue eyes to forge one of the most indelible and indefatigable careers in Hollywood history, has died. He was 103.

“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son Michael Douglas said in a statement obtained by People magazine. “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.”

Douglas walked away from a helicopter crash in 1991 and suffered a severe stroke in 1996 but, ever the battler, he refused to give in. With a passionate will to survive, he was the last man standing of all the great stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kirk-douglas-dies-spartacus-670526

---

That is truly the end of an era.
RIP

[jimfields33]

1. I'm bummed.

[BKDem]

2. I wish I were Spartacus.

[Soph0571]

3. No, I'm Spartacus :-)

[marked50]

4. Yes-a great loss of a true Justice Patriot

[BKDem]

11. As the producer (and star) of Spartacus...

Kirk Douglas broke the Hollywood blacklist by giving Dalton Trumbo a writer’s credit.

May I just take this opportunity to give a posthumous Fuck You shout out to Joe McCarthy? Oops, I did it anyway.

[efhmc]

5. Rapist of Natalie Wood

Another alleged case was exposed after the death of actress Natalie Wood, who died in 1981 when she fell from her yacht and drowned. ... alleging that Douglas, while drunk, had raped Wood when the actress was 16 years old ...

[Bradshaw3]

7. So your headline finds him guilty

While the text says allegedly. I don't recall him being found guilty of what you say so you really should change it.

[efhmc]

9. Ever bio of her and multiple people of her day say it is true. Research it.

Including her sister and other people close to her.

[Bradshaw3]

15. You need to research what the word "guilty" means

"Everyone says" is not a finding of guilt. Pathetic.

[efhmc]

18. Your response is why there is a Me too movement.

"Natalie Wood is a perfect example of a young actress who was abused, beaten, raped, then shamed into silence by powerful men, who threatened her career. You just gave that abuser a standing O tribute @golden globes. Shame on you."

[Bradshaw3]

43. And your response is why I'm glad we have a judicial system

Not everyone accused of a crime is guilty, and you don't get to decide who is and who isn't, no matter how much you think you have a right to.

[efhmc]

52. I didn't do the accusing. His peers did.

I just relayed the info which you decided was not real because as usual the powerful male is believed and the young girl is not. Natalie told her sister and many others: "Natalie Wood was a child star who went on to have a very successful adult career. Unfortunately the beautiful actress was also the victim of a horrific sexual assault. When she was fifteen years old Natalie was raped by an older actor. Although she never went to the police she told several friends that her rapist was actor Kirk Douglas." But of course she was a young woman and therefore not to be believed. If you think that she could have gone to the courts with this accusation and still had a career in Hollywood at this time, you represent the exact reason she did not.

[Bradshaw3]

54. Did you make these comments in the Kobe Bryant threads?

I looked back at some and didn't fund any there. After alll, he paid a settlement to his accuser. Perhpas you did and I missed it. If not, why not?

[BlueStater]

60. That's not entirely accurate.

Her sister, Lana, confirms that Natalie did indeed tell her and her mother that she was raped by an actor "twice her age", but a specific individual was not named.

At least that's the case with this NYT article from last year:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/style/lana-wood-natalie-sister-death.html

[obamanut2012]

19. We aren't a court of law - he raped and beat her

He did it, everyone knows he did. She was a 16-year-old nobody, and he was a major actor. She isn't the only one he raped, either.

But keep lauding him.

[Bradshaw3]

25. Apparently EVERYONE doesn't know it

But keep smearing someone who just died if it makes you feel better. And you don't know either way, for a fact. Assuming you weren't there. Or will you claim that next?

[MicaelS]

39. This is the first time I ever heard this.

and I am 62 and love movies.

[obamanut2012]

17. Raped AND beat her bloody

Fuck him.

[efhmc]

21. Still there are those who do not believe a woman.

He is not guilty until men deem him so or if he is taken to court (not then pretty much also), which by the way if she had accused him at that time, her career would have been over.

[efhmc]

24. I believe her sister. He was a brute and a monster.

[ailsagirl]

58. AND apparently told her that if this got out...

"...you'll never work in Hollywood again."

[ailsagirl]

32. I believe it

[WestIndianArchie]

56. Thank you!!!

You posted this before I could.

[skylucy]

6. RIP

😔

[msongs]

8. olivia deHavilland is still alive - melanie in gone with the wind - nt

[OnlinePoker]

23. So is veteran actor Norman Lloyd, 105 and counting. n/t

[Chrysanthemum]

63. I loved him

...in Hitchcock's Saboteur and as Dr. Auschlander in St. Elsewhere!

[Bayard]

10. 103......

Definitely a fighter.

[NecklyTyler]

12. RIP Mr. Douglas

[stonecutter357]

13. Rest in peace Kirk Douglas !

[pazzyanne]

14. RIP, Kirk.

Your work speaks for you.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. Wow. Just seeing the breaking.

He hung in there for so long and I know that was comfort for his son Michael (given Michael's own travails).

R.I.P. and thank you for many many decades of work.

[yaesu]

20. A true legend, R.I.P.

[sinkingfeeling]

22. R.I.P.

[efhmc]

26. From Twitter: @annaswnsn

"In honor of Kirk Douglas’ passing, I’m sharing these photos of a teenage Natalie Wood who told friends that at the age of 15, she was violently raped by Mr. Douglas. Call me old fashioned, but I’d rather honor the victims."

[packman]

27. Damn, that's sad

I know no one is immortal, but---

[DinahMoeHum]

28. Paths of Glory. . .

[cos dem]

48. I watched this tonight as a tribute.

It just struck me how the sham-trial in this movie matches the sham-trial that just concluded today. Both of them with preordained outcomes, and neither of them resulting in anything close to actual justice.

Great movie and great actor. His contribution to quality cinema will not be forgotten.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

29. RIP

[Martin Eden]

30. I am saddened

[Maxheader]

31. Loved the parts he played...

Kirk could be either a gentle, but strong character or a real bad ass..

rip kirk...thanks for the entertainment...

[Ferrets are Cool]

33. RIP Spartacus

[Captain Zero]

47. I am SPARTACUS !!

RIP.

[Paladin]

34. God bless and keep him.

And trump better keep his distance from any services or memorials---Kirk Douglas was a life-long liberal, and proud of it.

[Demonaut]

35. I Am Sparticus, ...RIP

[Kablooie]

36. I think Olivia de Havilland is the last living performer from the Golden Age.

She is also 103 years old.

[AdamGG]

37. And he near single handedly broke the HUAC blacklist

by pushing for Dalton Trumbo to be openly listed as the screenwriter of Spartacus.

A man of great talent, fame, charisma and principles, who lived for 103 years and was married for 65. Not too shabby.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

38. 💔

[FuzzyRabbit]

40. For me, he will always be Ned Land in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

I swear by my tattoo!

[oasis]

49. a whale of a tale!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

41. Rest in power, Natalie.

[jcmaine72]

42. RIP. One of the greats.

[Talitha]

44. ...

[FailureToCommunicate]

45. RIP to one of the Greats...

Here he is in Kubrick's "Paths of Glory"



Also:

1946- The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1947- Mourning Becomes Electra
1947- Out of the Past
1947- I Walk Alone
1949- A Letter To Three Wives
1949- Champion
1951- Ace in the Hole
1951- Detective Story
1952- The Bad and the Beautiful
1952- The Big Sky
1954- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1955- The Indian Fighter
1956- Lust For Life
1957- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957- Paths of Glory
1958- The Vikings
1959- Last Train from Gun Hill
1960- Spartacus
1962- Lonely Are the Brave
1964- Seven Days in May
1965- In Harm’s Way
1982- The Man From Snowy River

[area51]

46. RIP.

[arenean]

50. Legend

Brilliant actor, philanthropist, fought against McCarthyism, and got to 103. RIP Sir.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

51. Seven days in May

I have literally watched this movie more than 100 times.

Rip

[oasis]

53. Kirk Douglas/Burt Lancaster. A big screen "Dynamic Duo" for all time.

[Paladin]

55. "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), "Paths of Glory" (1957)

My two favorite Kirk Douglas movies---I can't decide which one I like more, so I won't.

[WestIndianArchie]

57. Let's not forget

He was a RAPIST

[Yeehah]

62. The allegation was never corroborated and no charges were filed

I believe we still have a presumption of innocence in this country.

[Paladin]

64. Unsubstantiated rumor from a third-rate gossip column.

Enjoy your stay.

[Aristus]

59. I always love it when the 'tough guys' are liberal in real life.

Like Robert De Niro, etc.

Some actors *koff*John Wayne*koff* become too enamored of their tough guy image to espouse an ideology of empathy, compassion, and love like liberalism.

Kirk Douglas was tough enough to be tender. Macho enough to be loving. Hard-edged enough to be compassionate.

[Yeehah]

61. He had a good life

He got to see Jean Simmons naked.