I know his birthday is not until Dec. 9. But, I wanted to try an experiment and I hope that all the Dopers here will not mind if I try this.
So many great acting and singing talents have been dying recently that I just wanted to try and pay tribute to one of the greatest while he is still alive.
I first became appreciative of his talent when I saw Spartacus (1960).
He has produced and acted in so many great films that younger people truly loved during the 1950s and 1960s. Some of my favorites are:
I’d like to honor the man now when it’s easier to talk about his great work and be happy about it. When he passes, it will be much more difficult to talk about him and maintain a happy mood.
I’d like to invite anyone who has some cherished memories about any of his films or plays to tell us about them here.
I was very impressed when I learned that he named his production company after his mother. His mother’s first name was Bryna and he named his company “Bryna Productions”. He produced some of his greatest films with that production company.
I also felt very proud of him when I learned that he joined the US Navy in 1941 and only returned to acting after hostilities had ceased. So, some of his roles in war movies (like In Harm’s Way) felt so realistic to me.
Does anyone have any favorite anecdotes they’d like to share about Kirk Douglas?
Funny you should post this now. I was battling insomnia Saturday night and switched on Channel 11 (Toronto), which often shows old movies after 2:00 am, just in time to catch Kirk in what must have been one of his earliest flicks, My Dear Secretary (1948, according to IMDB). Kind of a silly romantic comedy, but it’s available on YouTube and is definitely worth a watch!*
*A young Keenan Wynn and Irene Ryan (“Granny” on The Beverly Hillbillies) are in it as well.
My nephew is an UBER driver in Santa Barbara and he picked up one of his sons one night and he took a liking to my nephew. My nephew become his part time private driver and a few months ago they went down to L.A. and picked up Kirk and his wife and took them to a restaurant for lunch.
He sat in the front seat with my nephew and he told me when they came out from lunch people started recognizing him and saying hello.
I told my nephew he had a Hollywood icon sitting in his front seat.
It’s easy for people to take a liking to a service person. If you are just polite and respectful, that is often all it takes.
It amazes me how many taxi drivers and other service people seem to go out of their way to be obnoxious and condescending to the people who pay them for their service. Only about one in ten seem to be someone you would want to have as a private driver.
