(KTLA) — Kirk Douglas, the legendary Oscar-nominated actor who starred in dozens of movies, including “Spartacus,” has died, People reported on Wednesday afternoon. He was 103 years old.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son, actor Michael Douglas, said in a statement obtained by the entertainment publication. “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 was born Issur Danielovitch Demsky, the son of Jewish immigrants from Belarus, in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916.
After performing on the stage for years, Douglas made his screen debut in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” with Barbara Stanwyck, followed by the films “I Walk Alone” and “Champion,” according to IMDB.
The actor, known for his chiseled jaw and cleft chin, went on to star in such classics as “The Bad and the Beautiful,” “Paths of Glory,” “Spartacus” and “In Harm’s Way,” according to IMDB.
During his career as one of Hollywood’s most-celebrated leading men, Douglas starred in over 40 films and received three Oscar nominations.
Off screen, Douglas was a celebrated philanthropist.
He served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.S. State Department, for which he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981.
Despite suffering a stroke in 1996, Douglas remained active in local charities in Southern California, including funding the restoration of more than 400 aging playgrounds at L.A. schools, according to the Los Angeles Unified School District.
And, in March 2015, Douglas and his wife donated $2.3 million to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
