Kirk Douglas clawed his way up from poverty to become one of Hollywood's leading stars.
His only Oscar was an honorary award but Kirk Douglas became a Hollywood icon, with a film career spanning seven decades.
Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovich Demsky to penniless Jewish immigrants in the city of Amsterdam, New York state, in 1916. His father had fled Russia to escape conscription into the Tsar's army. He began using the name Kirk Douglas while acting during the college break and made his first Broadway appearance under his new name in a small part in a musical.
Douglas successfully tested for the lead role, playing opposite Barbara Stanwyck, already an established star. Several of his most famous roles were as villains, such as the ruthless journalist in Ace In The Hole in 1951, who refuses to let sentiment or morality get in the way of a good story. In 1957 Douglas set up his own production company Byrna, named after his mother, in a bid to escape the grip of the big studios, which hired and fired at whim.
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