Date of Birth: December 9, 1916

Born Issur Danielovitch to Russian immigrants, Kirk Douglas, waited tables to put himself through St. Lawrence University, where he was a top-notch wrestler. While there he also did a little work in theater. Later he became a professional wrestler and held various odd jobs to put himself through the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

In 1941 he debuted on Broadway, but had only two small roles before he enlisted in the Navy and served in World War II. After his discharge, Douglas returned to Broadway in 1945, where he began getting meatier roles. After being spotted and invited to Hollywood by producer Hal Wallis, he debuted onscreen in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), but did not emerge as a full-fledged star until his role as an unscrupulously ambitious boxer in Champion (1949); with this role he defined one of his main character-types as an actor, that of a cocky, selfish, intense, powerful man.

In 1955 he formed his own company, Bryna Productions, through which he produced both his own films and those of others, including two by Stanley Kubrick, Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960); later he also formed Joel Productions. In 1963 he appeared on Broadway in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but was never able to interest Hollywood in a film version of the work; he passed it along to his son Michael Douglas, who eventually brought it to the screen to great success. During the 1960s, he continued to play leading men and began directing some of his films in the early '70s.

He has received the American Cinema Award (1987), the German Golden Kamera Award (1988), and the National Board of Review's Career Achievement Award (1989) and has also published two novels: Dance with the Devil (1990) and The Secret (1992). He published his autobiography, The Ragman's Son, in 1988.

Filmography

It Runs in the Family (2003)
Diamonds (1999)
Greedy (1994)
Oscar (1991)
Veraz (1991)
Tough Guys (1986)
Eddie Macon's Run (1983)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) (uncredited) (archive footage)
Man from Snowy River, The (1982)
Final Countdown, The (1980)
Saturn 3 (1980)
Home Movies (1979)
Villain, The (1979)
Fury, The (1978)
Chosen, The (1978)
Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)
Posse (1975)
Scalawag (1973)
Hearts and Minds (1972)
Light at the Edge of the World, The (1971)
Gunfight, A (1971)
To Catch a Spy (1971)
There Was a Crooked Man (1970)
Arrangement, The (1969)
Lovely Way to Die, A (1968)
Brotherhood, The (1968)
Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968)
War Wagon, The (1967)
Way West, The (1967)
Is Paris Burning? (1966)
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
In Harm's Way (1965)
Heroes of Telemark, The (1965)
Seven Days in May (1964)
List of Adrian Messenger, The (1963)
Hook, The (1963)
For Love or Money (1963)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)
Last Sunset, The (1961)
Town Without Pity (1961)
Strangers When We Meet (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
Devil's Disciple, The (1959)
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
Vikings, The (1958)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Top Secret Affair (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Lust for Life (1956)
Racers, The (1955)
Indian Fighter, The (1955)
Man Without a Star (1955)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Ulysses (1954)
Story of Three Loves, The (1953)
Juggler, The (1953)
Act of Love (1953)
Big Trees, The (1952)
Bad and the Beautiful, The (1952)
Big Sky, The (1952)
Big Carnival, The (1951)
Along the Great Divide (1951)
Detective Story (1951)
Young Man with a Horn (1950)
Glass Menagerie, The (1950)
Champion (1949)
Letter to Three Wives, A (1949)
I Walk Alone (1948)
My Dear Secretary (1948)
Walls of Jericho, The (1948)
Out of the Past (1947)
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The (1946)