Veteran Hollywood Actor Kirk Douglas Dies At 103

Hollywood "golden age" star Kirk Douglas died on Wednesday. He was 103 years old.

What Happened

"It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103," Douglas's son Michael Douglas announced on social media.

"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," Douglas said.

"But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband." "Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son," the Academy Award-winning actor said of his father.

Douglas suffered a stroke in 1996 that severely impaired his ability to speak, but kept on acting, even if in minor roles.

The "Spartacus" actor had a career that lasted about seven decades. He rose to prominence with his role as a boxer in the movie "Champion" in 1949, which also got him his first Oscar nomination.

Douglas wrote for HuffPost in 2014 that "Lonely Are the Brave" was his favorite movie among the 90 odd feature films on which he worked. The centenarian described "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers," "Ace in the Hole," "The Bad and the Beautiful," "Act of Love," "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "The Indian Fighter," "Lust for Life," "Paths of Glory, and "Seven Days in May" as some of the other movies he enjoyed making, apart from Champion and Spartacus.

Reactions Pour In

"Kirk Douglas was one of the biggest stars of all time & a brilliant actor with an unforgettable, blazing charisma," Star Wars actor Mark Hamill said on Twitter. "He will also be remembered for putting his career on the line by defying the Hollywood Blacklist, hiring writer Dalton Trumbo for the classic Spartacus," he added, referring to the entertainment industry ban during early Cold War days, where anyone suspected of being a communist or sympathizer was denied employment.

"Bravo Kirk Douglas on an incredible life," actress Mitzi Gaynor, Douglas's co-star in "For Love or Money," said on his death. "The film we made together will always hold a special place in my heart."

Photo Credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia.