Kirk Douglas
Known for Acting · 179 credits
- Born
- 1916-12-09
- Died
- 2020-02-05
- Place of birth
- Amsterdam, New York, USA
- Also known as
- Issur Danielovitch · Issur Danielovitch Demsky · Isador Demsky · Izzy Demsky · Кёрк Дуглас · Керк Даґлас
Biography
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II.
During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star 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. Other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), and Detective Story (1951), a film for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination.
In 1955, Douglas established Bryna Productions, which produced films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). He took the lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit. In 1963 Douglas starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film.
As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema.
Kirk Douglas died at age 103.
Known For
TV Shows (47)
The Simpsons
1989
as Chester J. Lampwick (voice)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
as Self
Saturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
The View
1997
as Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self / Self - Presenter
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
Wogan
1982
as Self
Touched by an Angel
1994
as Ross Berger
Champs-Elysées
1982
as Self / Self (archive footage)
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
as Self - Guest
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
The Lucy Show
1962
as Kirk Douglas
Tales from the Crypt
1989
as Gen. Kalthrob
Apostrophes
1975
as Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
Spécial cinéma
1974
as Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
as Self
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self / Ulysses (archive footage)
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self - Recipient / Self - Guest
People's Choice Awards
1975
as Self
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957
as Self
Goldene Kamera
1984
as Self
Basketball: A Love Story
2018
as Self (archive footage)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968
as Self (uncredited)
Parkinson
1998
as Self
Brisant
1994
as Self
This Is Your Life
1952
as Self
Cinépanorama
1956
as Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
as Self
The George Gobel Show
1954
as Self
Verstehen Sie Spaß?
1980
as Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
Der große Preis
1974
as Self
Scene by Scene
1997
as Self
The Johnny Cash Show
1969
as Self
Cérémonie des César
1976
as Self - President
Queenie
1987
as David Konig
Clive Anderson All Talk
1996
as Self
Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers
1976
as Alex Vandervoort
Clive James' Postcard from
1989
as Self
Once Upon a Wheel
1971
Movies (132)
Paths of Glory
1957
as Col. Dax
Spartacus
1960
as Spartacus
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
2012
as (archive footage)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
as Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1954
as Ned Land
Oscar
1991
as Eduardo Provolone
The Final Countdown
1980
as Capt. Matthew Yelland
Ulysses
1954
as Ulysses
The Vikings
1958
as Einar
The Fury
1978
as Peter Sandza
Saturn 3
1980
as Major Adam
Out of the Past
1947
as Whit Sterling
Greedy
1994
as Uncle Joe
In Harm's Way
1965
as Commander Paul Eddington, Jr.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
The Villain
1979
as Cactus Jack
Posse
1975
as Howard Nightingale
Lust for Life
1956
as Vincent van Gogh
Is Paris Burning?
1966
as General Patton
Ace in the Hole
1951
as Charles Tatum
Last Train from Gun Hill
1959
as Marshal Matt Morgan
The Story of Three Loves
1953
as Pierre Narval
The War Wagon
1967
as Lomax
The Bad and the Beautiful
1952
as Jonathan Shields
There Was a Crooked Man...
1970
as Paris Pitman, Jr.
Seven Days in May
1964
as Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey
The Heroes of Telemark
1965
as Dr. Rolf Pedersen
Tough Guys
1986
as Archie Long
The Way West
1967
as Sen. William J. Tadlock
The Man from Snowy River
1982
as Harrison / Spur
Lonely are the Brave
1962
as John W. "Jack" Burns
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946
as Walter O'Neil
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
1999
as General Kalthrob
The Indian Fighter
1955
as Johnny Hawks
The Big Sky
1952
as Jim Deakins
The Brotherhood
1968
as Frank Ginetta
Champion
1949
as Midge Kelly
Illusion
2004
as Donald Baines
James Bond: The First 21 Years
1983
as Self
Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary
1986
as Self
The List of Adrian Messenger
1963
as George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson
Cast a Giant Shadow
1966
as Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
Holocaust 2000
1977
as Robert Caine
The Arrangement
1969
as Eddie Anderson
Detective Story
1951
as Det. James McLeod
Trumbo
2007
as Self - Interviewee
The Light at the Edge of the World
1971
as Will Denton
The Last Sunset
1961
as Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley
Once Is Not Enough
1975
as Mike Wayne
From Roger Moore with Love
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Inherit the Wind
1988
as Matthew Harrison Brady
Two-Fisted Tales
1992
as General Calthrop
Operation Undersea
1954
as Self
Strangers When We Meet
1960
as Larry Coe
It Runs in the Family
2003
as Mitchell Gromberg
The Universal Story
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010
as Self – Interviewee
Home Movies
1980
as Dr. Tuttle
I Walk Alone
1947
as Noll "Dink" Turner
Man Without a Star
1955
as Dempsey Rae
A Gunfight
1971
as Will Tenneray
The Special London Bridge Special
1972
as The Indian Fighter
The Hook
1963
as Sgt. P.J. Briscoe
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
as Self (archive footage)
Two Weeks in Another Town
1962
as Jack Andrus
The Devil's Disciple
1959
as Richard Dudgeon
Along the Great Divide
1951
as Marshal Len Merrick
Diamonds
1999
as Harry Agensky
A Lovely Way to Die
1968
as Jameson Schuyler
The Racers
1955
as Gino Borgesa
The Secret
1992
as Grandpa Mike Dunmore
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997
as Self (archive footage)
Morceaux de Cannes
2021
Draw!
1984
as Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland
A Letter to Three Wives
1949
as George Phipps
Victory at Entebbe
1976
as Herschel Vilnofsky
Young Man with a Horn
1950
as Rick Martin
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
2012
as Self
My Dear Secretary
1948
as Owen Waterbury
A Century of Cinema
1994
as Self
Eddie Macon's Run
1983
as Carl 'Buster' Marzack
Kubrick by Kubrick
2020
as Self (archive footage)
The Glass Menagerie
1950
as Jim O'Connor
Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices
2008
as Self
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2009
as Self
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
1968
as Self
The Juggler
1953
as Hans Muller
Catch Me a Spy
1971
as Andrej
Town Without Pity
1961
as Major Garrett
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
2019
as Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
The Big Trees
1952
as Jim Fallon
Mike Wallace Is Here
2019
as (archive footage)
The Walls of Jericho
1948
as Tucker Wedge
Top Secret Affair
1957
as Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin
Amos
1985
as Amos Lasher
Scalawag
1973
as Peg
Mousey
1974
as George Anderson
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
2017
as Self - Actor
Completely Cuckoo
1997
as Self
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
2020
as Self (archive footage)
The Lies Boys Tell
1994
as Ed Reese
Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick
1986
as Self
Act of Love
1953
as Robert Teller
Mourning Becomes Electra
1947
as Peter Niles
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
2017
as Self
The Disneyland Story
1954
as Self
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1973
as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Empire State Building Murders
2008
as Jim Kovalski
Hollywood au pied du terril
2014
as Self
A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2005
as Self
The Racing Experience
1988
as Self
Welcome to Veraz
1991
as Quentin
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003
Movie Tough Guys
1991
as Self (archive footage)
Johnny Cash: American Rebel
2015
as Self (archive photo)
For Love or Money
1963
as Deke Gentry
Let Poland Be Poland
1982
as Self
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
1990
as Ned Land (archive footage)
J'ai tout donné
1972
as Self
The Master Touch
1972
as Steve Wallace
About Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II. During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star 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. Ot… With 179 credits spanning from 1944 to 2024, Kirk Douglas has appeared in 132 films and 47 TV shows.
Fans searching for Kirk Douglas movies, Kirk Douglas filmography, or the latest projects starring Kirk Douglas can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Kirk Douglas Movies
- Paths of Glory (1957) — as Col. Dax
- Spartacus (1960) — as Spartacus
- Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen (2012) — as (archive footage)
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) — as Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) — as Ned Land
Where to Watch Kirk Douglas Films
Most Kirk Douglas movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Kirk Douglas, check our movies catalogue and browse page.