Kirk Douglas
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.
Photos
Movies (144)
My Life As Roger Moore
2026 · Self (Archive film material)
From Roger Moore with Love
2024 · Self (archive footage)
Morceaux de Cannes
2021 · Self (archive footage)
Kubrick by Kubrick
2020 · Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
2020 · Self (archive footage)
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
2019 · Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
Mike Wallace Is Here
2019 · (archive footage)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: The Shocking Truth
2018 · Self
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
2017 · Self - Actor
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
2017 · Self
I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas
2015 · Self - Interviewee
Johnny Cash: American Rebel
2015 · Self (archive photo)
Hollywood au pied du terril
2014 · Self
Discovering: Robert Mitchum
2014 · Self (archive footage)
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
2012 · Self
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
2012 · (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010 · Self – Interviewee
Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget
2009 · Self
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2009 · Self
Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices
2008 · Self
Empire State Building Murders
2008 · Jim Kovalski
Trumbo
2007 · Self - Interviewee
A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2005 · Self
Illusion
2004 · Donald Baines
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003
It Runs in the Family
2003 · Mitchell Gromberg
Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir
2001 · Self
FBI contre Hollywood
2001 · Self
Diamonds
1999 · Harry Agensky
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
1999 · General Kalthrob
Completely Cuckoo
1997 · Self
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997 · Self (archive footage)
The Universal Story
1996 · Self (archive footage)
The Lies Boys Tell
1994 · Ed Reese
Greedy
1994 · Uncle Joe
A Century of Cinema
1994 · Self
The Secret
1992 · Grandpa Mike Dunmore
Two-Fisted Tales
1992 · General Calthrop
Welcome to Veraz
1991 · Quentin
Oscar
1991 · Eduardo Provolone
Movie Tough Guys
1991 · Self (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
1990 · Ned Land (archive footage)
The Racing Experience
1988 · Self
Inherit the Wind
1988 · Matthew Harrison Brady
All-Time Movie Greats
1988 · Self (archive footage)
Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick
1986 · Self
Tough Guys
1986 · Archie Long
Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary
1986 · Self
Amos
1985 · Amos Lasher, Executive Producer
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985 · Self (archive footage)
A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape
1984 · Narrator
Draw!
1984 · Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland
Salute to Lady Liberty
1984
James Bond: The First 21 Years
1983 · Self
Something Wicked This Way Comes
1983 · Executive Producer
Eddie Macon's Run
1983 · Carl 'Buster' Marzack
Remembrance Of Love
1982 · Joe Rabin
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982 · (in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
The Man from Snowy River
1982 · Harrison / Spur
Let Poland Be Poland
1982 · Self
Home Movies
1980 · Dr. Tuttle
Saturn 3
1980 · Major Adam
The Final Countdown
1980 · Capt. Matthew Yelland
The Villain
1979 · Cactus Jack
The Fury
1978 · Peter Sandza
Holocaust 2000
1977 · Robert Caine
Victory at Entebbe
1976 · Herschel Vilnofsky
Once Is Not Enough
1975 · Mike Wayne
Posse
1975 · Howard Nightingale, Director, Producer
Mousey
1974 · George Anderson
Scalawag
1973 · Peg, Director, Writer
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1973 · Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
The Master Touch
1972 · Steve Wallace
Kirk Douglas
1972 · Himself
J'ai tout donné
1972 · Self
The Special London Bridge Special
1972 · The Indian Fighter
Catch Me a Spy
1971 · Andrej
A Gunfight
1971 · Will Tenneray, Executive Producer
The Light at the Edge of the World
1971 · Will Denton, Producer
Summertree
1971 · Producer
There Was a Crooked Man...
1970 · Paris Pitman, Jr.
The Arrangement
1969 · Eddie Anderson
The Brotherhood
1968 · Frank Ginetta, Producer
A Lovely Way to Die
1968 · Jameson Schuyler
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
1968 · Self
The War Wagon
1967 · Lomax
The Way West
1967 · Sen. William J. Tadlock
Kirk Douglas
1966 · Self
Grand Prix
1966 · Executive Producer
Is Paris Burning?
1966 · General Patton
Seconds
1966 · Co-Executive Producer
Cast a Giant Shadow
1966 · Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
The Heroes of Telemark
1965 · Dr. Rolf Pedersen
In Harm's Way
1965 · Commander Paul Eddington, Jr.
The Making of A Movie
1965 · Self
Seven Days in May
1964 · Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey, Co-Executive Producer
For Love or Money
1963 · Deke Gentry
The List of Adrian Messenger
1963 · George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson, Executive Producer
The Hook
1963 · Sgt. P.J. Briscoe
Two Weeks in Another Town
1962 · Jack Andrus
Lonely are the Brave
1962 · John W. "Jack" Burns, Executive Producer
Town Without Pity
1961 · Major Garrett
The Last Sunset
1961 · Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley, Executive Producer
Spartacus
1960 · Spartacus, Executive Producer
Strangers When We Meet
1960 · Larry Coe, Executive Producer
The Devil's Disciple
1959 · Richard Dudgeon
Last Train from Gun Hill
1959 · Marshal Matt Morgan
The Vikings
1958 · Einar, Executive Producer
Ride Out for Revenge
1957 · Executive Producer
Paths of Glory
1957 · Col. Dax, Producer
Van Gogh: Darkness into Light
1957 · Self
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957 · Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Lizzie
1957 · Executive Producer
Top Secret Affair
1957 · Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin
Lust for Life
1956 · Vincent van Gogh
Walt Disney's Where Do the Stories Come From?
1956 · Self
The Indian Fighter
1955 · Johnny Hawks, Executive Producer
Man Without a Star
1955 · Dempsey Rae
The Racers
1955 · Gino Borgesa
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1954 · Ned Land
Operation Undersea
1954 · Self
The Disneyland Story
1954 · Self
Ulysses
1954 · Ulysses
Act of Love
1953 · Robert Teller
The Juggler
1953 · Hans Muller
The Story of Three Loves
1953 · Pierre Narval
The Bad and the Beautiful
1952 · Jonathan Shields
The Big Sky
1952 · Jim Deakins
The Big Trees
1952 · Jim Fallon
Detective Story
1951 · Det. James McLeod
Ace in the Hole
1951 · Charles Tatum
Along the Great Divide
1951 · Marshal Len Merrick
The Glass Menagerie
1950 · Jim O'Connor
Young Man with a Horn
1950 · Rick Martin
Champion
1949 · Midge Kelly
A Letter to Three Wives
1949 · George Phipps
The Walls of Jericho
1948 · Tucker Wedge
My Dear Secretary
1948 · Owen Waterbury
I Walk Alone
1947 · Noll "Dink" Turner
Out of the Past
1947 · Whit Sterling
Mourning Becomes Electra
1947 · Peter Niles
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946 · Walter O'Neil
Monsters of the Deep
· Himself
TV shows (52)
Basketball: A Love Story
2018 · Self (archive footage)
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003 · Self
Parkinson
1998 · Self
The View
1997 · Self
Scene by Scene
1997 · Self
Clive Anderson All Talk
1996 · Self
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Ross Berger
Brisant
1994 · Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993 · Self - Guest
Los Simpson
1989 · Chester J. Lampwick (voice)
Tales from the Crypt
1989 · Gen. Kalthrob
Clive James' Postcard from
1989 · Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Queenie
1987 · David Konig
Goldene Kamera
1984 · Self
Wogan
1982 · Self
Champs-Elysées
1982 · Self, Self (archive footage)
Verstehen Sie Spaß?
1980 · Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · Self
Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers
1976 · Alex Vandervoort
Cérémonie des César
1976 · Self - President
Saturday Night Live
1975 · Self - Host
People's Choice Awards
1975 · Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975 · Self
Apostrophes
1975 · Self
Spécial cinéma
1974 · Self
Der große Preis
1974 · Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973 · Self
Film '72
1971 · Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971 · Self
Once Upon a Wheel
1971
The Johnny Cash Show
1969 · Self
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968 · Self (uncredited)
Pour le plaisir
1964 · Self
The Lucy Show
1962 · Kirk Douglas
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self
Tales of the Vikings
1959 · Producer
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957 · Self
The Steve Allen Show
1956 · Self - Recipient, Self - Guest
Tony Awards
1956 · Self - Presenter
Cinépanorama
1956 · Self
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954 · Self
The George Gobel Show
1954 · Self
The Oscars
1953 · Self
This Is Your Life
1952 · Self
The Jack Benny Program
1950 · Kirk Douglas
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · Self, Ulysses (archive footage)
What's My Line?
1950 · Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self
Golden Globe Awards
1944 · Self, Self - Presenter