07 February 2020 - Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas dies aged 103
Kirk Douglas, Hollywood legend and star of Spartacus, dies aged 103
Xan Brooks and Stephanie Convery (The Guardian, 06/02/2020)
Kirk Douglas, the self-styled “ragman’s son” who became the last great star of Hollywood’s golden age, has died at the age of 103. His son Michael announced the news in a statement posted on Instagram.
“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,” the statement said.
“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.”
'Maverick' Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas has died at 103, son Michael Douglas reveals
Bill Trott (The National Post, 05/02/2020)
Kirk Douglas, the cleft-chinned movie star who fought gladiators, cowboys and boxers on the screen and the Hollywood establishment, died at the age of 103, his son Michael Douglas said.
Douglas made more than 90 movies in a career that stretched across seven decades and films such as Spartacus and The Vikings made him one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1950s and ’60s.
He also played a major role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist – actors, directors and writers who were shunned professionally because of links to the communist movement in the 1950s. Douglas said he was more proud of that than any film he made.
Kirk Douglas rose from poverty to become a king of Hollywood
Hillel Italie (The Daily Herald, 06/02/2020)
He was born Issur Danielovitch, a ragman's son. He died Kirk Douglas, a Hollywood king.
Douglas, the muscular, tempestuous actor with the dimpled chin, lived out an epic American story of reinvention and perseverance, from the riches he acquired and risked to the parts he took on and the boundaries he defied. Among the most popular, versatile and recognizable leading men of the 20th century, he could will himself into a role or a favorite cause as mightily as he willed himself out of poverty.
Kirk Douglas death: Steven Spielberg and Danny DeVito lead tributes to ‘breathtaking’ and ‘inspirational’ Hollywood legend
Ellie Harrisson (The Independent, 06/02/2020)
Hollywood figures have been paying tribute to Kirk Douglas, who has died at the age of 103. The star of Spartacus, Lust for Life and Paths of Glory was also father to the actor Michael Douglas.
In a statement, Steven Spielberg wrote: “Kirk retained his movie star charisma right to the end of his wonderful life and I’m honoured to have been a small part of his last 45 years. I will miss his handwritten notes, letters and fatherly advice, and his wisdom and courage – even beyond such a breathtaking body of work – are enough to inspire me for the rest of mine.”