RIP – Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas died today at the age of 103.  His son, Michael Douglas posted (in part):

“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” son Michael Douglas wrote on his Instagram account. “To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the Golden Age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.”

Kirk Douglas was an actor, a director, a producer and writer.  He was always the coolest guy in the room.  Douglas made movies that he believed in, not always taking the roles that paid the most or had the best chance for box-office appeal.  It didn’t matter if Douglas played a hero or villain, he had audience appeal.  Douglas was a three-time Oscar nominee for Best Actor and received an Honorary Oscar in 1996.

Some of my favorite Kirk Douglas movies include: Spartacus; Out of the Past; Detective Story; Along the Great Divide; The War Wagon (thanks to memories of watching it with my Grandpa) and Oscar (with Sly Stallone.  Years earlier, Douglas was set to star as Col. Troutman in First Blood but it didn’t work out.).

Kirk Douglas was indeed a living legend.  103 years is a long life and Douglas lived it to the fullest.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his friends and his fans.