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Kirk Douglas in ‘Spartacus’: An iconic Hollywood role in photos

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Kirk Douglas, who died today at age 103 , was known for many roles, but “Spartacus” was one of his most visible and iconic.

In 1955, he released the first film produced under his own banner, Bryna Productions, which was named after his mother. Bryna also produced the 1957 antiwar film “Paths of Glory,” starring Douglas and directed by a young Stanley Kubrick. Three years later, they collaborated on “Spartacus.”

Here are some images from that film.

Douglas not only starred in “Spartacus” he he also produced it, and as producer he secretly hired the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplay.

Douglas plays the gladiator leader of a Roman slave revolt in “Spartacus,” directed by Kubrick. The film’s first director was Anthony Mann, but Douglas fired him early in production and brought in Kubrick, who had directed him in “Paths of Glory.”

Woody Strode, left, and Douglas in a scene from “Spartacus.”

Douglas, left, and Strode in “Spartacus.” The film won four Oscars.

Spartacus had battles on-screen, and Douglas had battles off-screen, including with the Production Code Administration, forerunner of today’s MPAA.

Douglas, front, and John Ireland in a scene from “Spartacus.”

Known and identified with the role forever, Douglas wrote a memoir entitled “I Am Spartacus!”

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Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories. She also wrote about independent, foreign and studio movies and occasionally TV and theater stories. Born in East Orange, N.J., she received her master’s degree in film history and criticism at USC. She worked for 10 years at the L.A. Herald Examiner and came to work at The Times in January 1990. She left in 2016.

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Kirk Douglas tributes led by Star Trek’s William Shatner and George Takei as Hollywood icon dies aged 103

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William Shatner has led the tributes to Kirk Douglas following the actor’s death aged 103.

Kirk, who appeared in legendary films including Spartacus and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, was confirmed to have passed by his son, Michael Douglas, on Wednesday evening.

Michael said in a statement on Instagram: ‘It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103.

‘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 of us all 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 grandchildren, their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.’

Tributes soon flooded in to commemorate the Hollywood icon, and the legacy he left behind.

Michael’s wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, said: ‘To my darling Kirk, I shall love you for the rest of my life. I miss you already. Sleep tight…’

Star Trek star William Shatner wrote: ‘Condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas. What an incredible icon he was in this industry!’

‘Kirk Douglas . The inspirational Scalawag,’ Danny DeVito added. ‘103 years on this earth. That’s got a nice ring to it! Great hanging with you man.’ 

The Walt Disney Family Museum remembered their work together, sharing a picture of him with Walt Disney as they wrote: ‘ We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Kirk Douglas . His performance of Ned Land in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) anchored the first all live-action feature film at The Walt Disney Studios.

‘Our condolences are with his family and all who cherished his work.’ 

Sylvester Stallone shared an iconic poster from the actor’s 1949 film Champion, writing: ‘ KIRK DOUGLAS!!! The last great giant of my cinema heroes has passed on to Infinite glory. Amazing artist… the likes of which we will never ever see again!’

Meanwhile, Jamie Lee Curtis, whose father also appeared in Spartacus, paid tribute by writing: ‘“I love you Spartacus, like the father I never had.” Antoninus.

‘I did have a father and he LOVED you as the world loved you. Your Passion.Talent. Politics. Family. Art. Strength. I grew up with the Douglas boys. My love to Anne and all his family from mine.’

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who host the Oscars, used the Spartacus’s own words to pay tribute: ‘” I wanted to be an actor ever since I was a kid in the second grade. I did a play, and my mother made a black apron, and I played a shoemaker. After the performance, [my father] gave me my first Oscar: an ice cream cone.”  – Kirk Douglas.’ 

‘Goodbye to a Hollywood legend,’ they added. 

Condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas. What an incredible icon he was in this industry! 😞 — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) February 5, 2020

Kirk Douglas. The inspirational Scalawag. 103 years on this earth. That’s got a nice ring to it! Great hanging with you man. — Danny DeVito (@DannyDeVito) February 6, 2020

Director Stanley Kubrick with actor Kirk Douglas on the set of ‘Paths of Glory’, one of the best (anti-) war movies ever made. pic.twitter.com/iYxJOccrtk — David Walliams (@davidwalliams) February 6, 2020

“I wanted to be an actor ever since I was a kid in the second grade. I did a play, and my mother made a black apron, and I played a shoemaker. After the performance, [my father] gave me my first Oscar: an ice cream cone.” -Kirk Douglas Goodbye to a Hollywood legend. pic.twitter.com/vnu1Hkb2FA — The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 5, 2020

‘Kirk Douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of Hollywood,’ added Rob Reiner. ‘He put himself on the line to break the blacklist. My love goes out to my friend Michael and the whole family.’

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill said: ‘ Kirk Douglas was one of the biggest stars of all time & a brilliant actor with an unforgettable, blazing charisma.

‘He will also be remembered for putting his career on the line by defying the Hollywood Blacklist, hiring writer Dalton Trumbo for the classic Spartacus. #RIP.’

Star Trek’s George Takei also added: ‘Legendary actor Kirk Douglas has passed on today at the age of 103. An Academy Award winning actor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Douglas was a champion for many just causes and lived a long and storied life.

‘He was adored and beloved, and he shall be missed.’

“I love you Spartacus, like the father I never had.” Antoninus I did have a father and he LOVED you as the world loved you. Your Passion.Talent. Politics. Family. Art. Strength. I grew up with the Douglas boys. My love to Anne and all his family from mine. pic.twitter.com/nPlZIFQ7DW — Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) February 6, 2020

Kirk Douglas was one of the biggest stars of all time & a brilliant actor with an unforgettable, blazing charisma. He will also be remembered for putting his career on the line by defying the Hollywood Blacklist, hiring writer Dalton Trumbo for the classic Spartacus. #RIP 💔 pic.twitter.com/snzoHPMtDr — Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) February 6, 2020

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Kirk Douglas. His performance of Ned Land in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) anchored the first all live-action feature film at The Walt Disney Studios. Our condolences are with his family and all who cherished his work. pic.twitter.com/Kdi9R5Y0sb — The Walt Disney Family Museum (@WDFMuseum) February 6, 2020

KIrk Douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of Hollywood. He put himself on the line to break the blacklist. My love goes out to my friend Michael and the whole family. — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 5, 2020

His For Love Or Money co-star Mitzi Gaynor, added: Bravo Kirk Douglas on an incredible life. Thank you for so generously sharing your amazing talent with all of us. The film we made together will always hold a special place in my heart. My love to Anne & your beautiful family.’  

The pair starred alongside each other in the 1963 rom-com.

Bravo Kirk Douglas on an incredible life. Thank you for so generously sharing your amazing talent with all of us. The film we made together will always hold a special place in my heart. My love to Anne & your beautiful family. #KirkDouglas — Mitzi Gaynor (@TheMitziGaynor) February 5, 2020

Legendary actor Kirk Douglas has passed on today at the age of 103. An Academy Award winning actor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Douglas was a champion for many just causes and lived a long and storied life. He was adored and beloved, and he shall be missed. — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) February 5, 2020

Kirk passed away with 92 acting credits to his name, and was remembered as one of the last remaining stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

He was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

In one of his last public appearances, he was present to see his son Michael Douglas get his Hollywood Walk Of Fame star in 2018.

Kirk is survived by his wife Anne Buydens, 100, whom he has been married to since 1954, and his three sons – Michael, Joel and Peter – as well as seven grandchildren.

His fourth son, Eric, passed away in 2004.

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Kirk Douglas, Hollywood legend and star of Spartacus, dies aged 103

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• A life in pictures

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 on Wednesday evening.

“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.”

“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,” Michael said. “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.”

Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky to impoverished Russian-Jewish immigrants, Douglas estimated that he had worked as many as 40 jobs before finding fame as an actor. This hard-scrabble upbringing would come to define him. Even in moneyed middle-age, the actor had a reputation as a tough customer – both on-screen and off it. “I’ve made a career playing sons of bitches,” he once admitted.

As news broke of Douglas’ death on Thursday, the film industry began expressing their condolences. Director Steven Spielberg said in a statement: “Kirk retained his movie star charisma right to the end of his wonderful life and I’m honored 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.”

On social media, many shared their sorrow. William Shatner called Douglas “an incredible icon” of the film industry .

Douglas made his screen debut in the 1946 film The Strange Love of Martha Ivers before giving what would prove his breakthrough performance, playing opposite Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in the classic film-noir Out of the Past. With his square jaw, cleft chin and ice-chip eyes, he went on to hone a ruthless, alpha-male image on such films as Champion, Ace in the Hole, I Walk Alone and The Bad and the Beautiful.

Yet Douglas was also shrewd enough to avoid the pitfalls of typecasting. In 1956 he attracted rave reviews for his impersonation of anguished Vincent Van Gogh in Vicente Minnelli’s Lust For Life. John Wayne, for his part, was horrified. “Christ, Kirk, how can you play a part like that?” he reportedly demanded. “We got to play strong, tough characters, not these weak queers.”

Douglas was similarly active behind the scenes. His production company, Bryna Productions, was instrumental in developing what would arguably prove to be his two greatest pictures – Paths of Glory and Spartacus, both directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Other key roles includes a swashbuckling turn in The Vikings and his performance as a doomed modern-day cowboy in 1962’s Lonely are the Brave. For good measure he made seven films opposite Burt Lancaster, running the gamut from Gunfight at the OK Corral to the political thriller Seven Days in May.

Douglas was Oscar nominated three times – for Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful and Lust For Life – but had to be content with the honorary award he was eventually given in 1995. In 1981 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by his friend Jimmy Carter.

By the 1970s Douglas’s star was on the wane. He was judged to be too old to play the role of rebellious RP McMurphy in his long-cherished mission to adapt the Ken Kesey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film was later produced by his son Michael, with Jack Nicholson in the leading role.

Despite suffering a debilitating stroke in 1996, Douglas continued to be active. He made his final screen appearance in 2004 – playing a dying film director in the low budget drama Illusion – and appeared in a one man show, Before I Forget, at the Culver theatre in Culver City, California, in March 2009. In later years he became an active celebrity blogger and confessed that his last great ambition was to meet the actor Angelina Jolie – “provided my wife lets me”.

In his 1988 autobiography, The Ragman’s Son, Douglas recalled his rise from poverty – via work as a bellhop and a stint as a professional wrestler – to the Hollywood A-list. “Life is like a B-movie script,” he concluded. “It’s that corny. If someone offered me my life story to film, I’d turn them down flat.”

Actors and film industry stalwarts paying tribute to Douglas on Thursday included Star Trek legend George Takei , who said on Twitter, “Douglas was a champion for many just causes and lived a long and storied life. He was adored and beloved, and he shall be missed.”

Film director Rob Reiner said , “Kirk Douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of Hollywood. He put himself on the line to break the blacklist. My love goes out to my friend Michael and the whole family.”

Douglas is survived by his wife, Anne Buydens, and his three sons: Michael, Joel, and Peter. A fourth son, Eric, died in 2004.

• Kirk Douglas

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Kirk Douglas

Birth Name: Issur Danielovitch Demsky

Birth date: december 9, 1916, death date: february 5, 2020, birth place: amsterdam, new york, children: michael douglas.

The archetypal Hollywood movie star of the postwar era, Kirk Douglas built a career with he-man roles as soldiers, cowboys and assorted tough guys in over 80 films. His restless, raging creations earned him three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and one Golden Globe win for his portrayal of Vincent van Gogh in "Lust for Life" (1956). But besides his lasting mark as a seething strong man, Douglas was a Tinseltown innovator and rebel. As one of the first A-listers to gain further control of their career by founding an independent production company, Douglas also effectively ended the 1950s practice of blacklisting Hollywood talent suspected of communist ties when he insisted on crediting famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for his script adaptation of "Spartacus" (1960). Douglas maintained his position as a perennial favorite - often opposite fellow tough guy Burt Lancaster - in Westerns and World War II films until the early 1970s. He began a second career as a writer and focused on the philanthropic efforts of The Douglas Foundation, occasionally surfacing throughout the 1980s and 1990s to portray irrepressible old firecrackers in made-for-TV movies and the occasional feature. His death on February 5, 2020 at the age of 103 marked a true end of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch on Dec. 9, 1916. He was the only boy of seven kids born to Russian Jewish immigrants, Herschel and Bryna. His parents were junk dealers in Amsterdam, NY and Douglas' memoir characterized his early years as plagued with poverty and anti-Semitic backlash from local kids. The determined teenager landed a wrestling scholarship to St. Lawrence University, where he was a star on the wrestling team and began to dabble in the drama department. He was a natural, charismatic talent and went on to land another scholarship to the acclaimed American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where his classmates included a 16-year-old Lauren Bacall and future wife, Diana Dill. Douglas was poised to break into Broadway (and adopted the stage name Kirk Douglas) when U.S. involvement in World War II prompted him to join the U.S. Navy, where he served as a communications officer. Douglas returned to New York and promptly married his Academy schoolmate Diana Dill, herself a rising young starlet. Douglas resumed his budding career, working hard to break into radio dramas and commercials before landing on the Great White Way in productions including "Alice in Arms" and "The Wind is Ninety" (1945). Douglas and Dill had a son, Michael in 1944.

Hollywood ingénue now a star overnight, thanks to Bogie and "To Have and Have Not" (1944), Lauren Bacall recommended her former classmate to director Hal Wallis, which led to Douglas' feature film debut opposite Barbara Stanwyck in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946). In 1947, Douglas became a father again with the birth of son, J l, and his career ramped up with features "Mourning Becomes Electra" (1947) and "Out of the Past" (1947). He enjoyed the first of seven roles opposite Burt Lancaster in "I Walk Alone" (1948) before truly achieving stardom as the unscrupulous boxer punching his way to the top in Stanley Kramer's "Champion" (1949). Douglas' Oscar-nominated performance established his forceful and intense screen persona, setting the tone for many more strong performances as selfish, cocky and egocentric characters. Douglas was bumped up to an average of three films a year and began working with the top directors of the day in Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" (1951), William Wyler's "Detective Story" (1951) and Howard Hawks' "Big Sky" (1952), all of which showcased the actor's coiled intensity and commanding movie star presence. Offscreen, his marriage to Dill ended and the actress moved back to New York to raise the couple's young sons.

Focusing on his work, Douglas kicked off a four-film collaboration with director Vincente Minnelli, beginning with the riveting melodrama "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), in which he played a ruthless movie mogul clawing his way to the top and leaving a trail of deception and betrayal in his wake. His violent, over-the-top scenes with an equally overly dramatic Lana Turner were borderline camp, but engrossing nonetheless, making the film a huge hit with audiences. Douglas earned a second Oscar nomination for the performance and went on to appear in Minnelli's romance "The Story of Three Loves" (1953) the following year. While filming "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954), well-known ladykiller Douglas swept his French publicity agent, Anne Buydens, off her feet and married her in a quick Las Vegas ceremony. The pair had son, Peter, in 1955 and the same year, hatched one of Hollywood's first independent production companies, named Bryna in honor of Douglas' mother. He also established The Douglas Foundation, a civic-minded charity involved in health and community programs. Bryna's first production, the Western "The Indian Fighter" (1955), was released later that year. He received far more attention - including a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination - for his portrayal of Vincent van Gogh in Minnelli's biopic "Lust for Life" (1956) - one of Hollywood's most rhapsodic takes on the obsessive, self-tortured artist.

Under the Bryna banner, Douglas brought Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" (1957) to theaters. It was a disappointment in its initial release, but grew in stature to the front rank of anti-war films. Douglas played a French Army officer (and attorney) who defends three soldiers unjustly accused of cowardice in the trenches during World War I, but the real star was Kubrick, whose camera moved inexorably through the carnage of battle, capturing a brutal authenticity. That same year, the Douglas-Lancaster electricity brightened famously in "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (1957), creating a humorous public rivalry after starring roles as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. In the producer's chair, Douglas starred in the underappreciated Western "Last Train from Gun Hill" (1959) before he, Lancaster and Laurence Olivier delivered standout performances in the sparkling film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "The Devil's Disciple" (1959), Shaw's take on how the bumbling British lost their American colonies.

In 1960, Douglas and Bryna productions made history when, in the middle of anti-communist witch hunts that blacklisted Hollywood talent suspected of being communist sympathizers, Douglas insisted on crediting blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for his screen adaptation of Howard Fast's novel Spartacus. This courageous action - perhaps Douglas' overriding offscreen legacy - essentially ended the blacklist, allowing banned filmmakers to openly return to the industry. "Spartacus" (1960) itself also became an instant classic of the ancient "sand & sandles" epic genre. He again collaborated with Trumbo on the Western "Lonely Are the Brave" (1962), where Douglas essayed a fugitive steeped in the values of the old West who escapes into the Rocky Mountains on horseback in this melancholy and powerful film that eventually attained cult status and earned the star a BAFTA nomination.

Douglas bought the rights to Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and adapted it for Broadway, where he appeared in 1963 in the role of Randel P. McMurphy. Lancaster and Douglas showed up heavily disguised in character roles for John Huston's engaging murder mystery "The List of Adrian Messenger" (1963) and returned to leading roles in John Frankenheimer's absorbing political thriller, "Seven Days in May" (1964). After releasing a solid run of Westerns and World War II films like "Her s of Telemark" (1965), "Is Paris Burning?" (1966) and "The Way West" (1967), shifting tides in American cinema began to render postwar her s like Douglas a thing of the past. So instead, he sought new opportunities, keeping close to his son-of-a-bitch persona in Martin Ritt's mafia drama "The Brotherhood" (1968) and in Elia Kazan's study of the modern man "The Arrangement" (1969), but that role was originally intended for very different actor, Marlon Brando, and it fit Douglas as poorly as Brando's own clothes might have.

Even as Douglas-type Westerns were evolving into a different entity, he soldiered on in the comedic "There Was a Crooked Man" (1970) and the dark, psychedelic "The Gunfight" (1971) opposite Johnny Cash. His directing debut "Scalawag" (1973) was an unsuccessful mash-up of musical, Western and pirate films, and highlighted that the sturdy leading man was having difficulty transitioning into a new era of filmmaking and public taste. In 1975, Douglas sat by frustrated when, after having tried unsuccessfully to bring "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to the big screen for a decade, son Michael finally produced the film and the studio cast Jack Nicholson in his former stage role. Nicholson went on to win Best Actor and the film Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Douglas released his sophomore directing effort that year, faring better with the Western "Posse" (1975), in which he returned to tried and true territory and as a haughty, self-obsessed sheriff. He teamed with fellow aging star Burt Lancaster in the TV movie "Victory at Entebbe," (ABC, 1976) and appeared in the spooky thriller "The Fury" (1978) before taking the stage in a tour de force performance as grown up Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer in Bernard Sabath's "The Boys in Autumn" (1981). Douglas took on another dual role in the Australian Western "The Man from Snowy River" (1983), a family video favorite for its eye-filling scenery and incredible action sequences with wild horses. He earned an Emmy nomination in the title role of the CBS movie "Amos" (1985), which led Douglas to become active in the cause of elderly abuse, for which he even testified before the Congressional Select Sub-Committee on Aging. In 1986, Lancaster and Douglas brought the curtain down on their collaboration with the good-natured parody and aptly titled feature, "Tough Guys" (1986).

Douglas published the memoir The Ragman's Son in 1988, and the bestseller sparked a new writing career. His first novel Dance with the Devil was released in 1990, a year before he made headlines for surviving a Los Angeles helicopter crash that killed two fellow passengers. The Douglas Foundation opened the doors of the Anne Douglas Center for Women, a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles, and Douglas returned to bookstores with well-received titles The Secret in 1992 and Last Tango in Brooklyn in 1994. He starred opposite Craig T. Nelson in the father-son reconciliation TV film "Take Me Home Again" (NBC, 1994) and made a rare comedy appearance as a crotchety family elder in the feature "Greedy" (1994), which fell short of expectations but not because of Douglas, whose love of life clearly came through in a dynamic performance. In 1996, a debilitating stroke permanently impaired his speech but Douglas made an emotional public comeback to accept a lifetime achievement Oscar at the 1996 Academy Awards, despite his impaired speech.

In 1997, Douglas released a second autobiographical work, Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning and the Douglas Foundation funded a citywide program to fix up more than 400 children's playgrounds in Los Angeles. The same year, he reunited with longtime friend Lauren Bacall in the light comedy "Diamonds" (1997) co-starring Dan Aykroyd. Douglas was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Festival in 1997 and another from the Screen Actor's Guild in 1999. In 2002, he released a third autobiography, My Stroke of Luck. The following year he and son Michael - known to have had a tumultuous relationship (made perhaps worse through career jealousies once Michael's star eclipsed his father's) - made a long overdue screen pairing (along with Michael's son Cameron and Douglas' ex-wife, Diandra) in the comedy "It Runs In the Family" (2003), the story of a dysfunctional New York family and their attempts to reconcile.

Unfortunately for any parent, Douglas lost his youngest son Eric, an aspiring actor and comedian, to a drug overdose the same year he and wife Anne Buydens celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a renewal of their vows. Already getting on in years and dealing with his stroke on a daily basis, Douglas took the loss of his youngest extremely hard, having watched Eric struggle with substance abuse over the years. In 2005, Douglas allowed longtime friend, actress-director Lee Grant, to explore the storied careers and relationship of Douglas and his equally famous son Michael in the HBO documentary "A Father...A Son...Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2005). His final screen appearance came in the French made for TV mockumentary "The Empire State Building Murders" (Canal+, 2008). Kirk Douglas died on February 5, 2020 in Beverly Hills at the age of 103.

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'Fresh Air' Remembers Hollywood Star Kirk Douglas

Terry Gross

One of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1950s and '60s, the Spartacus and Lust for Life actor went on to run his own production company. Douglas died Feb. 5. Originally broadcast in 1988.

Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

• Entertainment

Kirk Douglas, longtime influential movie star, dies at 103

Kirk Douglas, the intense, muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in “Spartacus,” “Lust for Life” and dozens of other films, helped fatally weaken the blacklist against suspected Communists and reigned for decades as a Hollywood maverick and patriarch, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 103.

“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,” his son Michael said in a statement on his Instagram account.

Kirk Douglas’ death was first reported by People magazine.

His granite-like strength and underlying vulnerability made the son of illiterate Russian immigrants one of the top stars of the 20th century. He appeared in more than 80 films, in roles ranging from Doc Holliday in “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” to Vincent van Gogh in “Lust for Life.”

He worked with some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, from Vincente Minnelli and Billy Wilder to Stanley Kubrick and Elia Kazan. His career began at the peak of the studios’ power, more than 70 years ago, and ended in a more diverse, decentralized era that he helped bring about.

Always competitive, including with his own family, Douglas never received an Academy Award for an individual film, despite being nominated three times — for “Champion,” “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Lust for Life.”

But in 1996, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him an honorary Oscar. His other awards included a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.

He was a category unto himself, a force for change and symbol of endurance.

In his latter years, he was a final link to a so-called “Golden Age,” a man nearly as old as the industry itself.

In his youth, he represented a new kind of performer, more independent and adventurous than Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and other giants of the studio era of the 1930s and 1940s, and more willing to speak his mind.

Reaching stardom after World War II, he was as likely to play cads (the movie producer in “Bad and the Beautiful,” the journalist in “Ace in the Hole”) as he was suited to play heroes, as alert to the business as he was at home before the camera. He started his own production company in 1955, when many actors still depended on the studios, and directed some of his later films.

A born fighter, Douglas was especially proud of his role in the the downfall of Hollywood’s blacklist, which halted and ruined the careers of writers suspected of pro-Communist activity or sympathies. By the end of the ‘50s, the use of banned writers was widely known within the industry, but not to the general public.

Douglas, who years earlier had reluctantly signed a loyalty oath to get the starring role in “Lust for Life,” provided a crucial blow when he openly credited the former Communist and Oscar winner Dalton Trumbo for script work on “Spartacus,” the epic about a slave rebellion during ancient Rome that was released in 1960. (A few months earlier, Otto Preminger had announced Trumbo’s name would appear on the credits for “Exodus,” but “Spartacus” came out first.)

“Everybody advised me not to do it because you won’t be able to work in this town again and all of that. But I was young enough to say to hell with it,” Douglas said about “Spartacus” in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press. “I think if I was much older, I would have been too conservative: ‘Why should I stick my neck out?'”

Douglas rarely played lightly. He was compulsive about preparing for roles and a supreme sufferer on camera, whether stabbed with scissors in “Ace in the Hole” or crucified in “Spartacus.”

Critic David Thomson dubbed Douglas “the manic-depressive among Hollywood stars, one minute bearing down on plot, dialogue and actresses with the gleeful appetite of a man just freed from Siberia, at other times writhing not just in agony but mutilation and a convincingly horrible death.”

Douglas’ personal favorite was the 1962 Western “Lonely are the Brave,” which included a line of dialogue from a Trumbo script he called the most personal he ever spoke on screen: “I’m a loner clear down deep to my very guts.”

The most famous words in a Douglas movie were spoken about him, but not by him.

In “Spartacus,” Roman officials tell a gathering of slaves their lives will be spared if they identify their leader, Spartacus. As Douglas rises to give himself up, a growing chorus of slaves jump up and shout, “I’m Spartacus!”

Douglas stands silently, a tear rolling down his face.

As Michael Douglas once observed, few acts were so hard to follow. Kirk Douglas was an acrobat, a juggler, a self-taught man who learned French in his 30s and German in his 40s.

Life was just so many walls to crash through, like the stroke in his 70s that threatened — but only threatened — to end his career. He continued to act and write for years and was past 100 when he and his wife published “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.”

He was born Issur Danielovitch to an impoverished Jewish family in Amsterdam, New York. His name evolved over time. He called himself Isidore Demsky until he graduated from St. Lawrence University.

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He took the name Kirk Douglas as he worked his way through the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, choosing “Douglas” because he wanted his last name still to begin with “D” and “Kirk” because he liked the hard, jagged sound of the “K.”

Douglas was a performer as early as kindergarten, when he recited a poem about the red robin of spring. He was a star in high school and in college he wrestled and built the physique that was showcased in many of his movies. He was determined, hitchhiking to St. Lawrence as a teen and convincing the dean to approve a student loan. And he was tough. One of his strongest childhood memories was of flinging a spoonful of hot tea into the face of his intimidating father.

“I have never done anything as brave in any movie,” he later wrote.

Beginning in 1941, Douglas won a series of small roles on Broadway, served briefly in the Navy and received a key Hollywood break when an old friend from New York, Lauren Bacall, recommended he play opposite Barbara Stanwyck in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.”

He gained further attention with the classic 1947 film noir “Out of the Past” and the Oscar-winning “A Letter to Three Wives.”

His real breakthrough came as an unscrupulous boxer in 1949’s “Champion,” a low-budget production he was advised to turn down.

“Before ‘Champion’ in 1949, I’d played an intellectual school teacher, a weak school teacher and an alcoholic,” Douglas once said in an interview with the AP. “After ‘Champion,’ I was a tough guy. I did things like playing van Gogh, but the image lingers.”

He had long desired creative control and “Champion” was followed by a run of hits that gave him the clout to form Bryna Productions in 1955, and a second company later.

Many of his movies, such as Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory,” “The Vikings,” “Spartacus,” “Lonely Are the Brave” and “Seven Days in May,” were produced by his companies.

His movie career faded during the 1960s and Douglas turned to other media.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he did several notable television films, including “Victory at Entebbe” and “Amos,” which dealt with abuse of the elderly.

In his 70s, he became an author, his books including the memoir “The Ragman’s Son,” the novels “Dance With the Devil” and “The Gift” and a brief work on the making of “Spartacus.”

“We are living in a town of make-believe,” he told The Associated Press in 2014. “I have done about 90 movies. That means that every time I was pretending to be someone else. There comes a time in your life when you say, well, `who am I?'” he said. “I have found writing books a good substitute to making pictures. When you write a book, you get to determine what part you are playing.”

Douglas also became one of Hollywood’s leading philanthropists. The Douglas Foundation, which he and Anne Douglas co-founded, has donated millions to a wide range of institutions, from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

In 2015, the foundation endowed the Kirk Douglas Fellowship — a full-tuition, 2-year scholarship — at the American Film Institute.

As a young man, Douglas very much lived like a movie star, especially in the pre-#MeToo era. He was romantically linked with many of his female co-stars and dated Gene Tierney, Patricia Neal and Marlene Dietrich among others.

He would recall playing Ann Sothern’s husband in “A Letter to Three Wives” and how he and the actress “rehearsed the relationship offstage.”

He had been married to Diana Dill, but they divorced in 1951. Three years later, he married Anne Buydens, whom he met in Paris while he was filming “Act of Love” (and otherwise pursuing a young Italian actress) and she was doing publicity.

He would later owe his very life to Anne, with whom he remained for more than 60 years. In 1958, the film producer Michael Todd, then the husband of Elizabeth Taylor, offered the actor a ride on his private jet. Douglas’ wife insisted that he not go, worrying about a private plane, and he eventually gave in. The plane crashed, killing all on board.

Douglas had two children with each of his wives and all went into show business, against his advice.

Besides Michael, they are Joel and Peter, both producers, and Eric, an actor with several film credits who died of a drug overdose in 2004.

Later generations came to regard Kirk as Michael’s father. Michael Douglas not only thrived in Hollywood, but beat his dad to the Oscars with a project his father had first desired.

Kirk Douglas tried for years to make a film out of Ken Kesey’s cult novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

In the 1970s, he gave up and let Michael have a try. The younger Douglas produced a classic that starred Jack Nicholson (in the role Kirk Douglas wanted to play) and dominated the Oscars, winning for best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay.

“My father has played up his disappointment with that pretty good,’’ Michael Douglas later told Vanity Fair. “I have to remind him, I shared part of my producing back-end (credit) with him, so he ended up making more money off that movie than he had in any other picture.”

“And I would gladly give back every cent, if I could have played that role,” the elder Douglas said.

Kirk Douglas’ film credits in the ’70s and ’80s included Brian De Palma’s “The Fury” and a comedy, “Tough Guys,” that co-starred Burt Lancaster, his longtime friend who previously appeared with Douglas in “Seven Days in May,” “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and other movies.

A stroke in 1996 seemed to end his film career, but Douglas returned three years later with “Diamonds,” which he made after struggling to overcome speech problems.

“I thought I would never make another movie unless silent movies came back,” he joked.

In 2003, Douglas teamed with son Michael; Cameron Douglas, Michael’s 24-year-old son; and ex-wife Diana Douglas, Michael’s mother, for “It Runs in the Family,” a comic drama about three generations of a family, with a few digs worked in about the elder Douglas’ parenting.

In March 2009, he appeared in a one-man show, “Before I Forget,” recounting his life and famous friends. The four-night show in the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City was sold out.

“I’ve often said I’m a failure, because I didn’t achieve what I set out to do,” Douglas told the AP in 2009. “My goal in life was to be a star on the New York stage. The first time I was asked by Hal Wallis to come to Hollywood, I turned him down. ‘Hollywood? That trash? I’m an actor on the Broadway stage!'”

The late Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report. Biographical material in this story also was written by former AP staffer Polly Anderson.

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William Shatner, George Takei and More Stars Pay Tribute to Kirk Douglas After His Death

Gone, but not forgotten.  William Shatner ,  George Takei  and more stars paid tribute to Kirk Douglas following the news of his passing on Wednesday, February 5.

The  Spartacus  star died at age 103, his son  Michael Douglas  confirmed via social media on Wednesday.

Related: Celebrity Deaths in 2020: Stars We've Lost

“Condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas,” Shatner, 88, wrote via Twitter on Wednesday. “What an incredible icon he was in this industry!”

The  Star Trek  actor, 82, honored the late actor via Twitter writing, “Legendary actor Kirk Douglas has passed on today at the age of 103. An Academy Award winning actor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Douglas was a champion for many just causes and lived a long and storied life. He was adored and beloved, and he shall be missed.”

Michael announced his father’s passing on Wednesday in a touching post about the legendary actor.“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” he wrote via 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.”

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The Kominsky Method  actor, 75, continued: “But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to  Catherine [Zeta-Jones] , a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchildren 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 wrote alongside photos of his family with their patriarch.

He concluded: “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. #KirkDouglas.”

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The  Champion  star was one of the last living actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Kirk starred in more than 90 movies and TV shows since beginning his career in the 1940s. He was an Oscar-winning actor who won the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991, a Golden Globe for 1956’s  Lust for Life and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy Carter in 1981.

In 2018, his daughter-in-law Zeta-Jones accompanied him on stage at the Golden Globes where he was honored, calling him a “living legend.”

Scroll below to see what stars had to say about the iconic actor.

Credit: Shutterstock (2)

Gone, but not forgotten.  William Shatner ,  George Takei  and more stars paid tribute to Kirk Douglas following the news of his passing on Wednesday, February 5.

The  Spartacus  star died at age 103, his son  Michael Douglas  confirmed via social media on Wednesday.

“Condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas,” Shatner, 88, wrote via Twitter on Wednesday. “What an incredible icon he was in this industry!”

The  Star Trek  actor, 82, honored the late actor via Twitter writing, “Legendary actor Kirk Douglas has passed on today at the age of 103. An Academy Award winning actor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Douglas was a champion for many just causes and lived a long and storied life. He was adored and beloved, and he shall be missed.”

Michael announced his father’s passing on Wednesday in a touching post about the legendary actor.“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” he wrote via 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 Kominsky Method  actor, 75, continued: “But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to  Catherine [Zeta-Jones] , a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchildren 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 wrote alongside photos of his family with their patriarch.

He concluded: “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. #KirkDouglas.”

The  Champion  star was one of the last living actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Kirk starred in more than 90 movies and TV shows since beginning his career in the 1940s. He was an Oscar-winning actor who won the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991, a Golden Globe for 1956’s  Lust for Life and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy Carter in 1981.

In 2018, his daughter-in-law Zeta-Jones accompanied him on stage at the Golden Globes where he was honored, calling him a “living legend.”

Credit: Rob Latour/Shutterstock

Mark Hamill

"Kirk Douglas was one of the biggest stars of all time & a brilliant actor with an unforgettable, blazing charisma," the Star Wars actor wrote via Twitter on Wednesday. "He will also be remembered for putting his career on the line by defying the Hollywood Blacklist, hiring writer Dalton Trumbo for the classic Spartacus. #RIP 💔"

Credit: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

Bryan Adams

"RIP #kirkdouglas I remember him walking into a lift in NYC, I was 21," the Canadian singer-songwriter penned via Twitter on Wednesday. "After a few moments he looked up at me and said 'how’s school son?' I said 'good sir.' (I couldn’t tell him I never finished school.) What a moment, what a total legend he was."

Credit: Jim Smeal/Shutterstock

"Hollywood doesn't make legends like Kirk Douglas anymore," the newscaster shared via Twitter on Wednesday. "Born into a Jewish immigrant family, his star rose In the golden age of film, when marquee lights were bright and movie houses palaces. My thoughts are with his family. May his memory be a blessing to them, and all of us."

Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Jeffrey Wright

"Kirk Douglas. RIP. Never met him. In his latter years, seemed an unimpeachably decent man. No fool ever lived 103 years. READ THIS," the Angels in America star wrote via Twitter on Wednesday and shared an op-ed the late actor wrote about the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Credit: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/Shutterstock

Danny DeVito

"Kirk Douglas. The inspirational Scalawag. 103 years on this earth. That’s got a nice ring to it! Great hanging with you man," the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star shared via Twitter on Wednesday.

Steven Spielberg

"Kirk retained his movie star charisma right to the end of his wonderful life and I’m honored to have been a small part of his last 45 years," the Academy Award-winning director said in a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday. "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.”

Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

Hugh Jackman

"Kirk Douglas was one of the greatest actors of all time," the Logan star shared via Twitter on Thursday, February 6. "A few years ago Deb & I went around for tea. It was one of the most wonderful afternoons we’ve ever spent. Kirk shared amazing stories. He was funny, self deprecating, giving & brutally honest. In a word ... LEGEND."

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Gary Sinise

"Summer, 2001. Backstage after performance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ," the Forrest Gump actor captioned a photo with Kirk via Twitter on Thursday. "Kirk Douglas was the first to play RP McMurphy. Was so honored he saw the show. Thank you for all the great films over the years sir. May you Rest In Peace. God bless."

Credit: Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Rob Schneider

"The last of the great Lions has left the circus. But what a circus it was. And the big top will never be the same again. #KirkDouglas #iamspartacus," the Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo star wrote via Twitter on Thursday.

Credit: Cindy Barrymore/Shutterstock

John Cusack

"RIP Kirk Douglas," the actor simply wrote via Twitter on Wednesday.

Credit: Alex Berliner/BEI/Shutterstock

Catherine Zeta-Jones

"To my darling Kirk, I shall love you for the rest of my life," the actress wrote on Instagram about her father-in-law. "I miss you already. Sleep tight..." 

Credit: Rich Fury/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Jason Alexander

“Heartbroken. Kirk Douglas was a friend and an absolute legend of a star and human,” the Seinfeld alum wrote via Twitter. “He got better with every passing day. So honored to have known him. My love to his family. We could use a true Spartacus. #ripkirkdouglas”

Dog the Bounty Hunter

“RIP Kirk Douglas,” the reality TV star wrote via Twitter.

Credit: Brian To/Shutterstock

Bruce Campbell

“Kirk Douglas Dead: Iconic Actor Was 103,” Campbell tweeted. “Kirk! A pillar of Hollywood has fallen. Nobody danced on Viking oars like you! Safe travels, stud!”

Credit: Shutterstock

Wilson Cruz

“What a long and important life, well lived. #RIP #KirkDouglas,” the My So Called Life alum wrote via Twitter.

Adrian Martinez

“I was a just novice but #kirkDouglas treated me as an equal and I’ll never forget his grace, and legendary contribution to film. My deepest condolences to son #michaeldouglas and the entire family. Long live #Spartacus #itrunsinthefamily,” Martinez wrote alongside a photo with the late star.

Credit: Victoria Will/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Alton Brown

“In front of, or behind the camera, the significance and magnificence of Kirk Douglas cannot be overstated,” Brown shared via Twitter.

William Shatner

“Condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas,” the Boston Legal alum tweeted on Wednesday. “What an incredible icon he was in this industry! 😞”

George Takei

“Legendary actor Kirk Douglas has passed on today at the age of 103,” Takei wrote via Twitter. “An Academy Award winning actor and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Douglas was a champion for many just causes and lived a long and storied life. He was adored and beloved, and he shall be missed.”

Mitzi Gaynor

“Bravo Kirk Douglas on an incredible life,” Gaynor wrote via Twitter. “Thank you for so generously sharing your amazing talent with all of us. The film we made together will always hold a special place in my heart. My love to Anne & your beautiful family. #KirkDouglas.”

“I will always be in awe. May your memory forever be a blessing #KirkDouglas,” The Mary Tyler Moore Show alum wrote via social media.

“Kirk Douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of Hollywood,” Reiner shared via Twitter. “He put himself on the line to break the blacklist. My love goes out to my friend Michael and the whole family.”

Newt Gingrich

“Kirk Douglas made a lot of great movies,” the politician wrote on Wednesday. “He had a very fulfilling 103 years. He has a lot of fans who will always remember his great performances as an actor. My heart and prayers go out to his family.”

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Kirk Douglas, longtime influential movie star, dies at 103

FILE - In this Monday March 25, 1996 file photo, Hollywood star Kirk Douglas accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 68th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Douglas, the intense, muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in “Spartacus,” “Lust for Life” and dozens of other films, died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, at age 103. (AP Photo/Eric Draper, File)

FILE - This Jan. 21, 1999 file photo shows actor Kirk Douglas at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kirk Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE - This March 23, 2003 file photo shows father-son presenters Kirk Douglas, left, and Michael Douglas shouting out “Chicago” as the best picture of the year at the 75th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Kirk Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. The film starred Michael Douglas’ wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, who also won the Oscar for best supporting actress. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 1981 file photo, President Jimmy Carter, right, congratulates actor Kirk Douglas upon receiving the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, at the White House in Washington. Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz, File)

FILE - This May 4, 2017 file photo shows actor Kirk Douglas in Los Angeles. Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103.(AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE - This April 22, 2002 file photo shows President Bush, left, with actor Kirk Douglas, center, as first lady Laura Bush, right, looks on during the National Endowment for the Arts National Medal of Arts Awards ceremony in Washington. Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - In this April 7, 2003 file photo, actor Michael Douglas, right, kisses his father, legendary actor Kirk Douglas, during a photo session in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote their project, “It Runs In the Family.” Kirk Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - This Aug. 9, 1962 file photo shows actor Kirk Douglas in New York. Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (AP Photo/DAB, File)

FILE - This Dec. 9, 2016 file photo shows actor Kirk Douglas, seated left, holding hands with his wife Anne Douglas, seated right, as they pose with family members, their son Michael, standing second left, his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, standing second and their children, Carys, left, and son Dylan during Kirk’s 100th birthday party in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kirk Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

FILE - This Dec. 19, 1969 file photo shows actor Kirk Douglas and his wife, Anne, attending the premiere of “Hello Dolly” in Los Angeles. Kirk Douglas died Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 at age 103. (AP Photo/David F Smith, File)

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Kirk Douglas, the intense, muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in “Spartacus,” “Lust for Life” and dozens of other films, helped fatally weaken the blacklist against suspected Communists and reigned for decades as a Hollywood maverick and patriarch, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 103.

“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,” his son Michael said in a statement on his Instagram account.

Kirk Douglas’ death was first reported by People magazine.

His granite-like strength and underlying vulnerability made the son of illiterate Russian immigrants one of the top stars of the 20th century. He appeared in more than 80 films, in roles ranging from Doc Holliday in “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” to Vincent van Gogh in “Lust for Life.”

He worked with some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, from Vincente Minnelli and Billy Wilder to Stanley Kubrick and Elia Kazan. His career began at the peak of the studios’ power, more than 70 years ago, and ended in a more diverse, decentralized era that he helped bring about.

Always competitive, including with his own family, Douglas never received an Academy Award for an individual film, despite being nominated three times — for “Champion,” “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Lust for Life.”

But in 1996, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him an honorary Oscar. His other awards included a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.

He was a category unto himself, a force for change and symbol of endurance.

In his latter years, he was a final link to a so-called “Golden Age,” a man nearly as old as the industry itself.

In his youth, he represented a new kind of performer, more independent and adventurous than Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and other giants of the studio era of the 1930s and 1940s, and more willing to speak his mind.

Reaching stardom after World War II, he was as likely to play cads (the movie producer in “Bad and the Beautiful,” the journalist in “Ace in the Hole”) as he was suited to play heroes, as alert to the business as he was at home before the camera. He started his own production company in 1955, when many actors still depended on the studios, and directed some of his later films.

A born fighter, Douglas was especially proud of his role in the the downfall of Hollywood’s blacklist, which halted and ruined the careers of writers suspected of pro-Communist activity or sympathies. By the end of the ‘50s, the use of banned writers was widely known within the industry, but not to the general public.

Douglas, who years earlier had reluctantly signed a loyalty oath to get the starring role in “Lust for Life,” provided a crucial blow when he openly credited the former Communist and Oscar winner Dalton Trumbo for script work on “Spartacus,” the epic about a slave rebellion during ancient Rome that was released in 1960. (A few months earlier, Otto Preminger had announced Trumbo’s name would appear on the credits for “Exodus,” but “Spartacus” came out first.)

“Everybody advised me not to do it because you won’t be able to work in this town again and all of that. But I was young enough to say to hell with it,” Douglas said about “Spartacus” in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press. “I think if I was much older, I would have been too conservative: ‘Why should I stick my neck out?’”

Douglas rarely played lightly. He was compulsive about preparing for roles and a supreme sufferer on camera, whether stabbed with scissors in “Ace in the Hole” or crucified in “Spartacus.”

Critic David Thomson dubbed Douglas “the manic-depressive among Hollywood stars, one minute bearing down on plot, dialogue and actresses with the gleeful appetite of a man just freed from Siberia, at other times writhing not just in agony but mutilation and a convincingly horrible death.”

Douglas’ personal favorite was the 1962 Western “Lonely are the Brave,” which included a line of dialogue from a Trumbo script he called the most personal he ever spoke on screen: “I’m a loner clear down deep to my very guts.”

The most famous words in a Douglas movie were spoken about him, but not by him.

In “Spartacus,” Roman officials tell a gathering of slaves their lives will be spared if they identify their leader, Spartacus. As Douglas rises to give himself up, a growing chorus of slaves jump up and shout, “I’m Spartacus!”

Douglas stands silently, a tear rolling down his face.

As Michael Douglas once observed, few acts were so hard to follow. Kirk Douglas was an acrobat, a juggler, a self-taught man who learned French in his 30s and German in his 40s.

Life was just so many walls to crash through, like the stroke in his 70s that threatened — but only threatened — to end his career. He continued to act and write for years and was past 100 when he and his wife published “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.”

He was born Issur Danielovitch to an impoverished Jewish family in Amsterdam, New York. His name evolved over time. He called himself Isidore Demsky until he graduated from St. Lawrence University.

He took the name Kirk Douglas as he worked his way through the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, choosing “Douglas” because he wanted his last name still to begin with “D” and “Kirk” because he liked the hard, jagged sound of the “K.”

Douglas was a performer as early as kindergarten, when he recited a poem about the red robin of spring. He was a star in high school and in college he wrestled and built the physique that was showcased in many of his movies. He was determined, hitchhiking to St. Lawrence as a teen and convincing the dean to approve a student loan. And he was tough. One of his strongest childhood memories was of flinging a spoonful of hot tea into the face of his intimidating father.

“I have never done anything as brave in any movie,” he later wrote.

Beginning in 1941, Douglas won a series of small roles on Broadway, served briefly in the Navy and received a key Hollywood break when an old friend from New York, Lauren Bacall, recommended he play opposite Barbara Stanwyck in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.”

He gained further attention with the classic 1947 film noir “Out of the Past” and the Oscar-winning “A Letter to Three Wives.”

His real breakthrough came as an unscrupulous boxer in 1949’s “Champion,” a low-budget production he was advised to turn down.

“Before ‘Champion’ in 1949, I’d played an intellectual school teacher, a weak school teacher and an alcoholic,” Douglas once said in an interview with the AP. “After ‘Champion,’ I was a tough guy. I did things like playing van Gogh, but the image lingers.”

He had long desired creative control and “Champion” was followed by a run of hits that gave him the clout to form Bryna Productions in 1955, and a second company later.

Many of his movies, such as Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory,” “The Vikings,” “Spartacus,” “Lonely Are the Brave” and “Seven Days in May,” were produced by his companies.

His movie career faded during the 1960s and Douglas turned to other media.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he did several notable television films, including “Victory at Entebbe” and “Amos,” which dealt with abuse of the elderly.

In his 70s, he became an author, his books including the memoir “The Ragman’s Son,” the novels “Dance With the Devil” and “The Gift” and a brief work on the making of “Spartacus.”

“We are living in a town of make-believe,” he told The Associated Press in 2014. “I have done about 90 movies. That means that every time I was pretending to be someone else. There comes a time in your life when you say, well, `who am I?’” he said. “I have found writing books a good substitute to making pictures. When you write a book, you get to determine what part you are playing.”

Douglas also became one of Hollywood’s leading philanthropists. The Douglas Foundation, which he and Anne Douglas co-founded, has donated millions to a wide range of institutions, from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

In 2015, the foundation endowed the Kirk Douglas Fellowship — a full-tuition, 2-year scholarship — at the American Film Institute.

As a young man, Douglas very much lived like a movie star, especially in the pre-#MeToo era. He was romantically linked with many of his female co-stars and dated Gene Tierney, Patricia Neal and Marlene Dietrich among others.

He would recall playing Ann Sothern’s husband in “A Letter to Three Wives” and how he and the actress “rehearsed the relationship offstage.”

He had been married to Diana Dill, but they divorced in 1951. Three years later, he married Anne Buydens, whom he met in Paris while he was filming “Act of Love” (and otherwise pursuing a young Italian actress) and she was doing publicity.

He would later owe his very life to Anne, with whom he remained for more than 60 years. In 1958, the film producer Michael Todd, then the husband of Elizabeth Taylor, offered the actor a ride on his private jet. Douglas’ wife insisted that he not go, worrying about a private plane, and he eventually gave in. The plane crashed, killing all on board.

Douglas had two children with each of his wives and all went into show business, against his advice.

Besides Michael, they are Joel and Peter, both producers, and Eric, an actor with several film credits who died of a drug overdose in 2004.

Later generations came to regard Kirk as Michael’s father. Michael Douglas not only thrived in Hollywood, but beat his dad to the Oscars with a project his father had first desired.

Kirk Douglas tried for years to make a film out of Ken Kesey’s cult novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

In the 1970s, he gave up and let Michael have a try. The younger Douglas produced a classic that starred Jack Nicholson (in the role Kirk Douglas wanted to play) and dominated the Oscars, winning for best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay.

“My father has played up his disappointment with that pretty good,’’ Michael Douglas later told Vanity Fair. “I have to remind him, I shared part of my producing back-end (credit) with him, so he ended up making more money off that movie than he had in any other picture.”

“And I would gladly give back every cent, if I could have played that role,” the elder Douglas said.

Kirk Douglas’ film credits in the ‘70s and ‘80s included Brian De Palma’s “The Fury” and a comedy, “Tough Guys,” that co-starred Burt Lancaster, his longtime friend who previously appeared with Douglas in “Seven Days in May,” “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” and other movies.

A stroke in 1996 seemed to end his film career, but Douglas returned three years later with “Diamonds,” which he made after struggling to overcome speech problems.

“I thought I would never make another movie unless silent movies came back,” he joked.

In 2003, Douglas teamed with son Michael; Cameron Douglas, Michael’s 24-year-old son; and ex-wife Diana Douglas, Michael’s mother, for “It Runs in the Family,” a comic drama about three generations of a family, with a few digs worked in about the elder Douglas’ parenting.

In March 2009, he appeared in a one-man show, “Before I Forget,” recounting his life and famous friends. The four-night show in the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City was sold out.

“I’ve often said I’m a failure, because I didn’t achieve what I set out to do,” Douglas told the AP in 2009. “My goal in life was to be a star on the New York stage. The first time I was asked by Hal Wallis to come to Hollywood, I turned him down. ‘Hollywood? That trash? I’m an actor on the Broadway stage!’”

The late Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report. Biographical material in this story also was written by former AP staffer Polly Anderson.

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William shatner willing to return to ‘star trek’ as de-aged captain kirk.

The 93-year-old actor says he's down to return as James T. Kirk for a new movie, and has an idea about how to make it work.

By James Hibberd

James Hibberd

Writer-at-Large

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“Mr. Scott, set the de-ager for 40 years!”

William Shatner says he’s down to play Captain James T. Kirk in a movie again, and has an idea for how it might work.

The 93-year-old sci-fi legend told the Canadian Press that he’d be willing to return to the Starship Enterprise under certain conditions.

Related Stories

William shatner on living boldly throughout acting career: "the future is unheralded", 'star trek: lower decks' to end with season 5.

Shatner suggested he could play a younger version of his iconic character, thanks to a company he’s working with that specializes in de-aging technology that “takes years off your face, so that in a film you can look 10, 20, 30, 50 years younger than you are.”

While Kirk was, of course, killed off in the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations (photo above), Shatner suggested that Kirk’s body and brain might have been frozen for posterity, and then he could be revived years later.

“‘We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here,'” he mused. “There’s a scenario. ‘Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper [in his hair]. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!'”

The prospect of this happening seems rather unlikely, of course. But filmmakers have been getting rather bold with de-aging technology, so it’s hardly impossible that a future Trek film might take Shatner up on his offer and at least try for a de-aged Kirk flashback or cameo of some kind.

Shatner was doing this interview to promote his biographical documentary You Can Call Me Bill , which is being released On Demand.

The actor famously journeyed into space in 2021 as a member of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin craft, becoming the oldest person to ever go into orbit.

Shatner has managed to remain quite sharp, energetic and hearty despite his years. The actor credits both genetic luck and taking care of himself.

“I eat well, I exercise, I ride horses a lot,” he said. “My wife cooks noninflammatory foods extremely well.”

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J.J. Abrams called Kirk and Spock the "key and heart" of Star Trek

S tar Trek: The Original Series has long been hailed as the be-all and end-all of Star Trek. Mr. Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) were the icons of the science fiction world Gene Roddenberry created, and neither would ever be able to be replaced. Yet, other movies and series have brought aboard different actors to take on the roles to keep the franchise going. J.J. Abrams was the first to reinvent Spock and Kirk with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in the roles in Star Trek (2009), and he admitted that he wasn't a fan of Star Trek before Star Trek (2009). But he knew about the start of Star Trek.

In The Fifty Year Mission The Next 25 Years From The Next Generation to J.J. Abrams by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Abrams said that, to him, The Original Series was what Star Trek was all about. He went on to say that as Star Trek went on, the series and movies became "less relatable" And while he originally thought a new version of Star Trek would have to be brought to life "in a way that never had been done before," it didn't take him long to realize that "Kirk and Spock were the key, the heart, of Trek." And that's why he chose to focus on Spock and Kirk in the series of movies that began in 2009.

Many fans would disagree with Star Trek being less relatable in different series. For some, their first love of Treke began with Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Voyager. Many more say Star Trek: Deep Space Nine inspired their love of the franchise, and Star Trek: Enterprise made them want to watch all of the series from the very beginning.

But no one can deny that Nimoy's Spock and Shatner's Kirk ignited the firestorm that would become the Star Trek franchise. Without these two, the chances of any kind of follow-up movies or series would have been minimal at best. But Abrams took a big risk when he reinvented Spock and Kirk, and although it paid off at the box office, some fans remain unhappy with the new direction he sent the crew in even if it was an alternate timeline.

Now, we're coming up to a fourth movie in the series, if it ever makes it into production, and Abrams has to wrap up the story in such a way that fans don't regret having watched the first three movies in the series or reject the new movie outright much like what happened with Star Trek: Nemesis. For many fans, the Kelvin Timeline movies don't need a fourth movie, especially not after all of this time. But, if the movie does actually make it to production, we'll see if Pine's Kirk and Quinto's Spock, along with the rest of the amazing cast, can bring this timeline to a satisfying conclusion, one that remembers why Spock and Kirk are so iconic to Star Trek.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as J.J. Abrams called Kirk and Spock the "key and heart" of Star Trek .

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Star Trek: Discovery’s Burnham Fight Makes Michael Even More Like Kirk

Enterprise’s mirror universe episodes marked the sad end of the star trek prequel, before from season 3’s return, watch hbo’s 10-year-old mystery show with 91% on rotten tomatoes.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery, season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors".

• In "Star Trek: Discovery", new information about the fate of the Mirror Universe Captain Kirk is provided by the return of the ISS Enterprise.
• Mirror Kirk may have faced execution or plotted violent opposition against Spock's peaceful reforms.
• A planned William Shatner comeback in "Star Trek: Enterprise" involving Mirror Kirk's return was shelved due to financial reasons.

Star Trek: Discovery has just brought back the ISS Enterprise from the Terran Empire, raising the question of what happened to the Mirror Universe's Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) after the end of Star Trek: The Original Series . In Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", written by Johanna Lee and Carlos Cisco, and directed by Jen McGowan, the next clue to the Progenitors' treasure is found aboard the ISS Enterprise , trapped inside a pocket of interdimensional space. As Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) explore the Mirror Universe's version of the starship Enterprise , they learn more about what happened after TOS ' "Mirror, Mirror".

In "Mirror, Mirror", the Mirror Universe version of Captain Kirk switched places with his Prime Universe counterpart. While in the Mirror Universe, Prime Kirk inspired the Mirror Universe variant of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) to embrace the possibility of a more peaceful future. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed that Spock's more peaceful approach led to the downfall of the Terran Empire at the hands of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance . However, DS9 was vague on what happened to the ISS Enterprise, Spock, and Kirk. While Star Trek: Discovery has now revealed the fate of the ISS Enterprise, the fate of Mirror Kirk is something of a mystery.

Captain Burnham fought herself in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, which is an experience Captain James T. Kirk is very familiar with in Star Trek: TOS.

What Happened To Mirror Universe Captain Kirk After Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: Discovery reveals that the Terran High Chancellor was killed for trying to make reforms, which is presumably a reference to Mirror Spock . In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 23, "Crossover", it was confirmed that Mirror Spock rose to the role of Commander in Chief, and the peaceful reforms led to the Terran Empire being unprepared for war with the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. While Discovery seems to confirm that Mirror Spock was executed for this failure, it remains tight-lipped on the fate of Mirror Kirk after he was beamed off the USS Enterprise at the end of "Mirror, Mirror".

The fate of Mirror Kirk after Star Trek: The Original Series has spawned multiple comic books and novels over the years, including the Mirror Universe trilogy by William Shatner, and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

Many speculated that Mirror Kirk was either imprisoned or put to death by Mirror Spock, even though that doesn't correlate with the Vulcan's attempt to make peaceful reforms . However, career progression in the Mirror Universe is ruthless, so it's certainly possible that Spock would have had Kirk executed, so he could take control of the ISS Enterprise to cement his rise to power. Another possibility is that Kirk survived, and was one of the many Terrans who objected to Mirror Spock's more peaceful reforms, perhaps even being the one who killed him in Star Trek: Discovery 's new version of events.

Mirror Kirk’s Aborted Star Trek: Enterprise Return Explained

Mirror Kirk was an integral part of a William Shatner comeback pitched for Star Trek: Enterprise season 4. In Shatner's pitch, co-conceived with writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Mirror Kirk was put to death by Spock following the events of "Mirror, Mirror", by being placed in the Tantalus Field. However, it would be revealed that the Tantalus Field didn't kill its victims, it placed them inside a pocket universe, where they would be discovered by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the crew of the Enterprise NX-01. Mirror Kirk and his comrades would then launch a hostile takeover of the Enterprise, pitting Shatner against Bakula.

Another pitch for a William Shatner episode of Star Trek: Enterprise would have seen him play the NX-01's unseen chef, who would be revealed as an ancestor of James T. Kirk.

William Shatner's return in Star Trek: Enterprise would have been a ratings smash, but it was nixed by Paramount . The reasons behind Paramount aborting Shatner's Star Trek return were said to be financial, with both Manny Coto and Rick Berman telling "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek" by Peter Holmstrom that the actor's fee was more than Enterprise could afford. With the Mirror Kirk episode abandoned, the fate of Captain Kirk's Terran counterpart would have to remain a mystery. However, Star Trek: Enterprise did return to the Mirror Universe in a season 4 two-parter involving the USS Defiant from Star Trek: TOS .

Star Trek: Enterprise's cast got bad news about the future of the prequel series while they filmed season 4's popular Mirror Universe episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery Reveals What Happened To Mirror Captain Kirk’s Enterprise

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors" may not reveal the fate of Mirror Kirk, but it does reveal what happened to his Enterprise. Investigating the abandoned ISS Enterprise in search of Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) , Burnham and Book learn about what happened after Spock's reforms. Following the death of the Terran High Chancellor, a group of Terrans boarded the ISS Enterprise in search of the Prime Universe, perhaps inspired by the hopeful words of Prime Kirk in "Mirror, Mirror". The refugees were led by Mirror Saru (Doug Jones), who had become a resistance leader following Discovery season 1 .

Saru is one of the few Star Trek characters to be a good guy in both the Mirror and Prime Universes.

However, the ISS Enterprise became trapped in the interdimensional fold encountered by the USS Discovery in the 32nd century. Forced to abandon ship, the refugees made it through the wormhole into the prime Star Trek universe. One of the refugees was Dr. Cho, who became part of the Federation's team that investigated the Progenitors' technology alongside Dr. Vellek (Michael Copeman) and Jinaal . Dr. Cho is the only named refugee in Star Trek: Discovery , but it creates the fascinating possibility that Mirror Saru, and maybe even Mirror Kirk found their way to the Prime Universe in the 24th century.

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

*Availability in US

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
• Star Trek: Discovery (2017)

Star Trek's William Shatner Knows How His Captain Kirk Can Return (But It's Gross)

James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) is without a doubt one of the best Enterprise captains in "Star Trek." The bold, brash Starfleet officer was the main man of "Star Trek: The Original Series" and multiple movies, but with the Kelvin Universe version (Chris Pine) possibly notwithstanding, it's easy to assume that time has passed him by — especially since the character dies in "Star Trek: Generations" when the movie quite literally drops a bridge on him. 

Despite this, Shatner was willing to entertain the idea of bringing Kirk back in an interview with the Canadian Press (via Global News ), and he even came up with a somewhat unsettling plot where Kirk's frozen remains would be used to transplant his brain into a younger version of the character — played by a digitally de-aged Shatner, of course. 

"A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way of going about it," he described the idea. "'We've got Captain Kirk's brain frozen here.' There's a scenario. 'Let's see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!'"

Shatner isn't happy with the way Kirk dies

William Shatner would change some things about Kirk's death in "Star Trek: Generations," and he's even said that he would go back and demand a better death for Kirk if he could . As such, it's hardly surprising that he's willing to speculate about ways to give his famous character one more whirl — and possibly, a better ending. 

Still, don't take that to mean Shatner is chasing Kirk clout at any cost. On the contrary, he's quite aware of the character's importance in the franchise, and as such, any potential return would require a story worthy of Captain James T. Kirk's time. 

In the Canadian Press interview, Shatner himself notes that while he might be willing to revisit the role in the right circumstances, bringing Kirk back would be a tall order. "It's almost impossible but it was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it," he said. As such, if Kirk ever ends up returning on screens big or small, expect Shatner to make sure that fans are in for a thrilling ride. 

William Shatner is open to returning to Star Trek as a de-aged Captain Kirk, as long as it's "not just to make a cameo appearance"

"It’s an intriguing idea"

William Shatner is open to returning to Star Trek as Captain Kirk under certain circumstances – and he thinks de-aging technology could be the key. 

"It’s an intriguing idea," Shatner told The Canadian Press . "It’s almost impossible. But if it was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it."

The actor went on to suggest that he could play a younger version of the character with the aid of de-aging technology. "A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way of going about it,” he continued. "'We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here.' There’s a scenario. 'Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!'"

Shatner played James T. Kirk from 1966, when he first appeared in the Stark Trek TV show, to 1994, when the character was killed off in the movie Star Trek Generations. Chris Pine played a younger version of the USS Enterprise captain in Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond , while Paul Wesley took on an even earlier version of the role in the Paramount Plus series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .  

The newest installment in the iconic sci-fi franchise, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 , is streaming now on Paramount Plus . If you're up to date, check out our guide to the best new TV shows still to come in 2024.

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I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. 

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Michael Douglas Says Intimacy Coordinators Feel Like Execs ‘Taking Control Away From Filmmakers’: ‘You Take Responsibility’ As a Man to ‘Make Sure the Woman Is Comfortable’

By Zack Sharf

Digital News Director

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Michael Douglas has starred in some of the most iconic erotic thrillers ever made, from “Basic Instinct” to “Fatal Attraction,” so he knows a thing or two about crafting a memorable movie sex scene. In a new interview with The Telegraph, the actor gave his honest opinion about intimacy coordinators becoming the new normal in Hollywood when it comes to filming intimate moments on set.

Popular on Variety

Douglas is aware that harassment can be a real issue on film and television sets when it comes to performing intimate acts, but he’s noticed an overall mood change in how actors behave.

“I’m sure there were people that overstepped their boundaries, but before, we seemed to take care of that ourselves,” Douglas noted. “They would get a reputation and that would take care of them… But I talked to the ladies, [because] I did a few of those sex movies — sexual movies — and we joke about it now, what it would have been like to have an intimacy coordinator working with us…”

Douglas’ most recent acting role is that of Ben Franklin on the limited series “Franklin,” now streaming on Apple TV+. The drama, created by Kirk Ellis and Howard Korder, is based on Stacy Schiff’s 2005 book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” Douglas stars opposite Noah Jupe, Daniel Mays, Ludivine Sagnier and more.

Head over to The Telegraph’s website to read his profile in its entirety.

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