13 things you don’t know about late Spartacus actor, Kirk Douglas

Hollywood actor, Kirk Douglas, who acted in the 1960 classic Spartacus, died last Wednesday aged 103. He was well-known for a range of roles, including Spartacus, in which he played the titular character. What other information about him do you know? Below, we have highlighted 13 important things about him that you may not know […]

Hollywood actor, Kirk Douglas, who acted in the 1960 classic Spartacus, died last Wednesday aged 103.

He was well-known for a range of roles, including Spartacus, in which he played the titular character.

What other information about him do you know?

Below, we have highlighted 13 important things about him that you may not know about before now.

1. Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch) was born on December 9, 1916.

2. He was an American actor, producer, director, philanthropist and author.

3. After an impoverished childhood with immigrant parents and six sisters, he made his film debut in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck.

4. Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films.

5. During his career, he appeared in more than 90 films.

6. Douglas became an international star through positive reception 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.

7. His other early films include: Young Man with a Horn (1950), playing opposite Lauren Bacall and Doris Day, Ace in the Hole opposite Jan Sterling (1951), and Detective Story (1951), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama.

8. In 1955, he established Bryna Productions, which began producing films as varied as “Paths of Glory” (1957) and “Spartacus” (1960).

9. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit.

10. As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received three Academy Award nominations, an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

11. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema, the highest-ranked living person on the list until his death.

12. After barely surviving a helicopter crash in 1991 and then suffering a stroke in 1996, he focused on renewing his spiritual and religious life.

13. He lived with his second wife (of 65 years), Anne Buydens, a producer, until his death on February 5, 2020, at age 103.