Kirk Douglas 1916 - 2020

Appeared in some really great films, Paths of Glory is still one of my favourite (anti) war films. How he didn't win an Oscar during his career is a strange one, maybe he ruffled the wrong feathers.

True Legend. RIP.

One of Hollywood's greatest actors and the man who broke the Blacklist. A rare breed, an actor who was willing to work with Kubrick twice! A genuine legend in a time when that word is abused daily.

When I was 17 in 1991 I read his autobiography The Ragman's Son. Remember thinking how old he was at the time and how he would soon be gone. Almost was as he was in a helicopter crash around that time also and lucky to survive. How he dealt with his stroke a few years later was inspirational.

As for movies. There Was a Crooked Man will always have a special place in my heart as our first ever VCR (which my Dad bought at a Garda auction in 1984) came with three VHS tapes. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Outland and There Was a Crooked Man.

One thing that stuck out from the Ragman's Son was how much he wanted to play RP McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. He had played the lead on Broadway, bought the film rights to the book, and then spent almost a decade trying to get it made but couldn't for one reason or another. When he felt he was too old to play the role he sold the rights to Michael who of course then went on to win an Oscar for producing it a couple of years later. Hard to know what he would have been like in it had he managed to have got it made in the 60's, but sure would have liked to seen him in it on Broadway that's for sure. How epic that would have been.

Anyway, a screen legend if ever there was one. RIP.

Im too young perhaps, I havent seen any of his films, but now Im curious.

RIP

The worlds a hella of a different place since 1916, guy lived a life RIP.

Fun Fact:Kirk Douglas was older then JFK.

Here's a brief clip of him talking about One Flew Over ..