R.I.P. Kirk Douglas 1916-2020

   Hollywood was saddened to learn of the death of Kirk Douglas today at age 103. The last remnant of cinema's Golden Age, it was starting to look like the indestructible Douglas would never leave us. But unlike many of the chiseled characters he played, Kirk was human after all. An impoverished immigrant turned Navy officer(his birth name was Issur Danielovitch), Douglas moved to NYC after WWII to pursue work in radio and theater, where it quickly became clear that his crackling voice couldn't be contained to the stage. At the urging of friend Lauren Bacall, Douglas broke into films, and his powerhouse performance in the 1949 boxing drama "Champion" was a star-making role if there ever was one. There's nothing dated about the work Douglas did at the height of his 1950s fame- "Ace in the Hole", "The Bad and the Beautiful", "Lust for Life"(he's Vincent Van Gogh), "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"(he's Doc Holliday) and "Paths of Glory" are all still great, relevant movies. That last one was directed by Stanley Kubrick, a partnership that would lead to perhaps his most famous role, in the 1960 epic "Spartacus". As Douglas aged out of leading man roles in the '70s, he began to mentor his son Michael, a screen legend in his own right. Film lovers will never forget the larger-than-life presence and explosive charisma of Kirk Douglas.

"We're not hitchhiking anymore. We're riding".  

Complete Filmography(76 films, the successful ones are darkened)

"The Strangle Loves of Martha Ivers"(1946)
"Out of the Past"(1947)
"Morning Becomes Electra"(1947)
"I Walk Alone"(1948)
"The Walls of Jericho"(1948)
"My Dear Secretary"(1948)
"A Letter to Three Wives"(1949)
"Champion"(1949)
"Young Man with a Horn"(1950)
"The Glass Menagerie"(1950)
Along the Great Divide"(1951)
"Ace in the Hole"(1951)
"Detective Story"(1951)
"The Big Trees"(1952)
"The Big Sky"(1952)
"The Bad and the Beautiful"(1952)
"The Story of Three Loves"(1953)
"The Juggler"(1953)
"Act of Love"(1953)
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"(1954)
"The Racers"(1955)
"Ulysses"(1955)
"Man Without a Star"(1955)
"The Indian Fighter"(1955)
"Lust for Life"(1956)
"Top Secret Affair"(1957)
"Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"(1957)
"Paths of Glory"(1957)
"The Vikings"(1958)
"Last Train from Gun Hill"(1959)
"The Devil's Disciple"(1959)
"Strangers When We Meet"(1960)
"Spartacus"(1960)
"Town Without Pity"(1961)
"The Last Sunset"(1961)
"Lonely Are the Brave"(1962)
"Two Weeks in Another Town"(1962)
"The Hook"(1963)
"The List of Adrian Messenger"(1963)
"For Love or Money"(1963)
"Seven Days in May"(1964)
"In Harm's Way"(1965)
"The Heroes of Telemark"(1965)
"Cast a Giant Shadow"(1966)
"Is Paris Burning?"(1966)
"The Way West"(1967)
"The War Wagon"(1967)
"A Lovely Way to Die"(1968)
"The Brotherhood"(1968)
"The Arrangement"(1969)
"There Was a Crooked Man..."(1970)
"To Catch a Spy"(1971)
"The Light at the Edge of the World"(1971)
"A Gunfight"(1971)
"The Master Touch"(1972)
"Scalawag"(1973)
"Mousey"(1974)
"Posse"(1975)
"Once Is Not Enough"(1975)
"Victory at Entebbe"(1976)
"Holocaust 2000"(1977)
"The Fury"(1978)
"The Villain"(1979)
"Saturn 3"(1980)
"Home Movies"(1980)
"The Final Countdown"(1980)
"The Man from Snowy River"(1982)
"Remembrance of Love"(1982)
"Eddie Macon's Run"(1983)
"Draw!"(1984)
"Tough Guys"(1986)
"Oscar"(1991)
"Greedy"(1994)
"Diamonds"(1999)
"It Runs in the Family"(2003)
"Illusion"(2004)