RIP Kirk Douglas.

Passed today at the age of 103.

We should all be so blessed to live a life so fully.

Wow, wondered how much longer he would be around.

Very few Golden Age stars left now.

My favorite performances of his are Paths of Glory and The Bad and the Beautiful.

For me the role I will always associate him with is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Simply because my grandparents got me a VHS of it when I was in grade school, and I wore it out.

Along with the classics Gordon mentioned, I will never forget him in as the self-serving jerk in Ace in the Hole. Hard to believe he had a film breakthrough way back in 1947 with Out of the Past and was still on this earth in 2020. So many classic movies. RIP to a true Hollywood icon.

Godspeed Mr Douglas, the first film I ever saw of his was Paths of Glory.

I am Spartacus!

The Chin died at 103. Wow, he must have been the oldest famous actor.

He had a great ride. RIP.

Wow. Born in 1916. What a life.

Legend!

Olivia de Havilland is also 103 and still with us. (She was in the 1938 Robin Hood.)

I had a girl crush on him for… so long. I am sad, but man 103 is a good run.

Here they are together at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. :)

Kirk Douglas (then known as Isador Demsky) was good buds with my grandfather when they attended St. Lawrence University together. Somewhere around here I have some pictures of them together.

Today I learned about the Natalie Wood accusation. Yikes.

A rumor. Propagated by someone who wasn’t born yet when it allegedly happened.

Unfortunately Wood drown on Robert Wagner’s yacht so we’ll never have the full story.

The first film I ever saw him in was the 1946 noir powerhouse, The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (IMDb). Great performances all around. This was my introduction to my love affair with noir.

RIP.

My faves:

Out of the Past, one of the all-time classic film noirs.
Ace in the Hole, Billy Wilder’s … I was going to say satire on the media, but it was pretty much an accurate foretelling of the future.
The Big Sky, a great Howard Hawks western
Spartacus (I am Spartacussss!) and Paths of Glory, both Kubrick
…and sentimental faves 20,000 Leagues and The Vikings.

You should find them and digitize them. People would be interested.

Heh. I loved that movie. Probably doesn’t hold up but I always watched it when it came on TV way back in the day.

I also liked him as Doc Holliday in Gunfight at the OK Corral and in some John Wayne westerns like War Wagon.

One thing I think is a bit odd is that he didn’t do a lot of Hollywood work as he got near 70. He did some TV stuff and he did do Tough Guys with Burt Lancaster in 1986 but really not too much. Nowadays we see iconic actors working into their 70s and beyond.

Just think, if Douglas had lived he could have been cast in a role in Indiana Jones 5!

(Too soon?)

RIP.

Another great noir I love is Wm. Wyler’s Detective Story. Oddly, it was also the inspiration for Barney Miller.