“For the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of film, who lived well into his golden years,” says the message on Instagram. But for him and his brothers Joel and Peter, he was “just dad”.
The message ended Michael Douglas in the words that he said to his father on his last birthday, “and that will always be true”: “Dad, I love you so much and I am so proud to be his son.”
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Kirk Douglas was born on December 9, 1916. Especially in the 1950s and 1960s, he was considered one of the most prominent Hollywood stars. He played the radiant hero and heartbreaker in dozens of roles: he painted as van Gogh (“Vincent van Gogh – A Life in Passion”, 1956), fought as Spartacus in the arena (“Spartacus”, 1960) and traveled aboard the Nautilus the bottom of the sea (“20,000 miles under the sea”, 1954).
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Three times Douglas was for one Oscar nominated for best actor, but did not win the award. In 1996 the US Film Academy awarded him an honorary Oscar for his life’s work.
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Douglas married twice, he had four children; however, one son died in 2004.
Shortly before his 90th birthday in 2006, Douglas said he often thought of dying. “Death comes to everyone. Many of my friends like Burt Lancaster, Jack Lemmon or Walter Matthau have died. It makes me sad because I am one of the last.” His gravestone should say “Damn it, I really tried.”
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