{"id":33343,"date":"2016-12-07T03:20:16","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T09:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=33343"},"modified":"2016-12-10T15:27:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-10T21:27:47","slug":"kirk-douglas-on-his-100th-birthday-looks-back-and-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/kirk-douglas-on-his-100th-birthday-looks-back-and-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Douglas, on his 100th birthday, looks back \u2014 and ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By TOM TUGEND<\/p>\n<p>LOS ANGELES (JTA) \u2013 Kirk Douglas \u2014 actor, director, producer, author, philanthropist and Torah student \u2014 is celebrating his 100th\u00a0birthday on Friday, and there is a special treat in store for the centenarian.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33349\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33349\" class=\"wp-image-33349 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 24: Actor Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens arrive at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Sunset Tower on February 24, 2013 in West Hollywood, California.  (Photo by Mark Sullivan\/WireImage)\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas-1024x654.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/192;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33349\" class=\"wp-image-33349 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 24: Actor Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens arrive at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Sunset Tower on February 24, 2013 in West Hollywood, California.  (Photo by Mark Sullivan\/WireImage)\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kirk-douglas-1024x654.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-33349\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kirk Douglas with wife Anne at Sunset Tower in West Hollywood, Calif., Feb. 24, 2013. (Mark Sullivan\/WireImage)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Douglas has been under strict medical orders to abstain from alcohol, but his cardiologist, Dr. P.K. Shah, promised the actor that if he made it to 100, he could have a glass of vodka. So at an afternoon tea party at an event space\u00a0in Beverly Hills, Shah will be in attendance to personally administer the medication.<\/p>\n<p>Some 150 other guests will fete Douglas, ranging from his extended family, including three sons and seven grandchildren, to old friends like director Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Don Rickles and other Hollywood luminaries.<\/p>\n<p>Also on hand will be Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in West Los Angeles, who has directed Douglas\u2019 weekly Torah studies for many years. Wolpe also officiated at the actor\u2019s second bar mitzvah, when Douglas \u2013 then only 83 \u2013 declared, \u201cToday, I am a man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hosting the event will be Kirk Douglas\u2019 son, Oscar winner Michael Douglas, and his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, who will also welcome leaders of numerous charities and institutions in the United States and Israel that have received approximately $118 million over the years from Douglas and his wife, Anne.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to give back,&#8221; Douglas once explained. &#8220;I came from abject poverty. I didn\u2019t dream of becoming a millionaire. So you have to pay back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Dec. 9, 1916, the future Kirk Douglas was born in the upstate New York town of Amsterdam as Issur Danielovitch, the son of an illiterate Russian-Jewish immigrant who supported his family of six daughters and one son as a rag picker and junkman. His rise to one of Hollywood\u2019s top male stars in the 1950s and \u201860s is the stuff of American legend.<\/p>\n<p>In most of his 87 movies, the blond, blue-eyed boy who once laid tefillin every morning was now cast as\u00a0 just about the toughest, roughest guy around. But this is only part of the story. Douglas is the author of 11 books, including <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2g78wJE\" target=\"_blank\">harsh childhood recollections<\/a>, explaining the Holocaust to children and love verses to his wife, as well as\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2g6ecbP\" target=\"_blank\">tracing his recovery<\/a> from a helicopter crash, stroke and attempted suicide.<\/p>\n<p>Douglas is now reading the proofs for his 12th book, co-authored with his wife and titled, <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2gNLsU2\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cKirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter and a Lifetime in Hollywood.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With all these accomplishments, ask Douglas about his proudest recollection and he will point to his act of moral courage in breaking the Hollywood blacklist of alleged communists during the McCarthy red-hunting era. He did so by insisting that the name of writer Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted for a decade, be publicly credited for the \u201cSpartacus\u201d screenplay, despite warnings that such a provocation would end Douglas\u2019 own Hollywood career.<\/p>\n<p>Most of his old friends who will attend the party are familiar with another of the actor\u2019s talents &#8212; for pithy observations on life, love and advice to future generations.<\/p>\n<p>On religious observance: \u201cI don\u2019t think God wants compliments. God wants you to do something with your life and to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the appeal of Torah study: \u201cThe Torah is the greatest screenplay ever written. It has passion, incest, murder, adultery, really everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his heyday, when Douglas was as famous for his egocentricity and womanizing as his screen roles, he spared little time and interest for his Jewish heritage. However, he observed, \u201cI always fasted on Yom Kippur. I still worked on the movie set, but I fasted. And let me tell you, it\u2019s not easy making love to Lana Turner on an empty stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_33351\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33351\" class=\"wp-image-33351 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Douglas grandson bar mitzvah pic\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33351\" class=\"wp-image-33351 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Douglas grandson bar mitzvah pic\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Kirk-Douglas-grandson-bar-mitzvah-pic-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-33351\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kirk Douglas, right, with son Michael and grandson Dylan at Dylan\u2019s bar mitzvah, May 2014. (Infinity Kornfeld Studios)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kirk was upstaged by his second and current wife at the celebration of their 50th\u00a0wedding anniversary in 2004. The former Anne Buydens startled the guests by announcing that she had converted to Judaism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKirk has been married to two shiksas,\u201d she declared. \u201cIt\u2019s about time he married a nice Jewish girl.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Douglas has always had a special spot in his heart for Israel. In \u201cThe Juggler,\u201d he starred in the first Hollywood feature to be shot in the Jewish state, returning later for \u201cRemembrance of Love\u201d and \u201cCast a Giant Shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shortly before his 100th birthday, Douglas recalled a blessing he first pronounced on his 9oth birthday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the Jewish tradition, a birthday gives a person special powers and if he issues a blessing, his blessing will come true,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI bless all the people in the land of Israel that the current conflicts resolve themselves, that no more people die or are hurt, and that you can continue your lives in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Kirk%20Douglas%2C%20on%20his%20100th%20birthday%2C%20looks%20back%20%E2%80%94%20and%20ahead\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7139],"tags":[8790,8795,6485,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33343"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33394,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33343\/revisions\/33394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}