Kirk Douglas turned 100 today. What and actor, and so much more.
Well, Cactus Jack Slade turned 100 years old! 
HB Kirk.
Check out LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962). Kirk’s personal favorite performance.
Low-key, brilliant Western, and a fine example of the “Individual Railing Against the Establishment” genre Douglas advocated, and which led him to acquire theatrical rights to ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST and play McMurphy on Broadway.
Damn shame he was too old for the part by the time it got filmed in 1975.
Also, ACE IN THE HOLE (1950). Billy Wilder, seriously downbeat. Kirk was never better.
Great role; it’s a toss up between that and The Bad and the Beautiful. And his turn playing a duplicitous gambler who hires Robert Mitchum’s private detective in Out of the Past. And of course Paths of Glory, The List of Adrian Messenger, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Town Without Pity, Seven Days in May, et cetera. Douglas practically defines movie stardom of the Golden Age of Cinema, and managed to stay relevant even past it.
Stranger
Happy Birthday, Kirk! And many more.
Turning 100 at the tail end of 2016!!! Now that’s balls.
If any celebrity had to stick around for a hundred years, I’m glad it was him.
Damn, even Kirk Douglas has seen the Cubs win the World Series only once!
Kirk is an occassional blogger on The Huffington Post. Here’s his latest blog from September, 2016.
Huh. I thought he’d died years ago. I guess I was thinking of someone else.
Abe Vigoda?
Abe may have seemed like he was near death for many, many years, but he only died this past January.
Kirk Douglas had a stroke in 1996, leading many people at the time to assume he would not be around much longer; perhaps that’s what **TBG **remembers?
Just to add, Kirk Douglas is one of my all-time favorite actors, not just for his formidable acting skills, which alone would justify my admiration, but also because by all accounts he’s just a super-nice guy. If anyone deserves to live a full century, assuming a good quality of life, it’s Kirk Douglas.
I read The Ragman’s Son and it totally changed my views of Kirk.
He grew up in extreme poverty and literally swept the floors to pay for his college education. Wrestled on his high school and college teams. Then military service in the Navy.
He lead quite a life even before becoming an actor.
I recently re-watched Douglas’ very first film, “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” from 1946. Damn, he was young then, and already a first-class actor.
What were your previous views of Kirk?
I used to think he was like his movie persona. Big ego, larger than life etc. He played that character quite often.
His book revealed a much different man.
Y’all should check out Tough Guys, from 1986 or so. Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster adjusting to life in the '80s after 50 years in prison. Fun movie.
Great movie. 
Great movie, and Kirk is amazing in it.
He gives another great performance in Seven Days in May, which offers a lot of topical interest, these days.
Saluting Kirk on getting to 100–a life well-lived!