If you're not a scroller, I posted two articles below, the second one a birthday message written by Kirk himself.
And click here to see how he celebrated Thanksgiving a few weeks ago:
http://www.abc4.com/enterta....4A04F34
Happy 90th Birthday, Kirk Douglas!
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Sonic Youth
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Sonic Youth
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- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:35 pm
- Location: USA
Captain Kirk
December 9, 2006
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
The essence of movie acting is restraint: the illusion of letting a camera embrace you, rather than the other way around. Don't tell Kirk Douglas , though. Douglas turns 90 today, and it's a wonder he didn't wear out half a century ago. Thrusting out that famously dimpled chin, he turned movie acting on its head. Then, having turned it on its head, he's given it a good whack upside that head in some 80 movies.
Restraint, ha! Why pretend to wait for a camera's embrace when you could go right ahead and just assault it. Such a direct approach may not have been orthodox. But it had several advantages: saving time, getting more close-ups, and, you can bet, being a lot more fun.
It's also gotten Kirk Douglas 58 years of screen time. His most recent movie, "Illusion, " came out two years ago. You just know that if the right part comes along -- if any part comes along -- Kirk'd be eager to make it 60 years.
In 1946, he made his debut, in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, " playing a bespectacled wimp. But that exception proved the rampageous rule. There followed crime bosses (that most sun-splashed of noirs, "Out of the Past, " 1947), prizefighters ("Champion," which got him his first Oscar nomination, in 1949), various cowboys and soldiers and pirates and Vikings and -- hey, why not -- Vincent Van Gogh (another nomination, in "Lust for Life, " 1955).
That lack of restraint helped Douglas survive seven films co-starring with Burt Lancaster , himself none too cinematically circumspect. Furthermore, it gave him the wherewithal to stand up not once but twice to the notoriously exacting direction of Stanley Kubrick . "Path of Glory " (1957) is among the handful of great anti war movies. "Spartacus" (1960) is second only to "Lawrence of Arabia " among thinking-man's screen epics. More important, it was the movie that broke the Hollywood blacklist, since Douglas insisted that blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo get script credit. For once, his lack of restraint was truly heroic.
Somehow, Kirk Douglas has always seemed to be acting with clenched teeth. Even his dimple looks clenched. Hands down, he's the most intense star in Hollywood history. With so much movie-star intensity, how could some of it not spill over. Thus movie-star father begat a movie-star son (Michael Douglas ) and even found himself with a movie-star daughter-in-law (Catherine Zeta-Jones ).
"Greed is good," Michael famously declares in "Wall Street." Well, intensity can be, too, given enough clenching.
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Kirk Douglas Editorial for His 90th Birthday, Saturday, December 9th
Friday December 8, 3:39 pm ET
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- My name is Kirk Douglas. You may know me. If you don't ... Google me. I was a movie star and I'm Michael Douglas's dad, Catherine Zeta-Jones' father-in-law, and the grandparents of their two children. Today I celebrate my 90th birthday.
I have a message to convey to America's young people. A 90th birthday is special. In my case, this birthday is not only special but miraculous. I survived World War II, a helicopter crash, a stroke, and two new knees.
It's a tradition that when a "birthday boy" stands over his cake he makes a silent wish for his life and then blows out the candles. I have followed that tradition for 89 years but on my 90th birthday, I have decided to rebel. Instead of making a silent wish for myself, I want to make a LOUD wish for THE WORLD.
Let's face it: THE WORLD IS IN A MESS and you are inheriting it. Generation Y, you are on the cusp. You are the group facing many problems: abject poverty, global warming, genocide, AIDS, and suicide bombers to name a few. These problems exist, and the world is silent. We have done very little to solve these problems. Now, we leave it to you. You have to fix it because the situation is intolerable.
You need to rebel, to speak up, write, vote, and care about people and the world you live in. We live in the best country in the world. I know. My parents were Russian immigrants. America is a country where EVERYONE, regardless of race, creed, or age has a chance. I had that chance. You are the generation that is most impacted and the generation that can make a difference.
I love this country because I came from a life of poverty. I was able to work my way through college and go into acting, the field that I love. There is no guarantee in this country that you will be successful. But you always have a chance. Nothing should interfere with it. You have to make sure that nothing stands in the way.
When I blow out my candles -- 90! ... it will take a long time ... but I'll be thinking of you.
December 9, 2006
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
The essence of movie acting is restraint: the illusion of letting a camera embrace you, rather than the other way around. Don't tell Kirk Douglas , though. Douglas turns 90 today, and it's a wonder he didn't wear out half a century ago. Thrusting out that famously dimpled chin, he turned movie acting on its head. Then, having turned it on its head, he's given it a good whack upside that head in some 80 movies.
Restraint, ha! Why pretend to wait for a camera's embrace when you could go right ahead and just assault it. Such a direct approach may not have been orthodox. But it had several advantages: saving time, getting more close-ups, and, you can bet, being a lot more fun.
It's also gotten Kirk Douglas 58 years of screen time. His most recent movie, "Illusion, " came out two years ago. You just know that if the right part comes along -- if any part comes along -- Kirk'd be eager to make it 60 years.
In 1946, he made his debut, in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, " playing a bespectacled wimp. But that exception proved the rampageous rule. There followed crime bosses (that most sun-splashed of noirs, "Out of the Past, " 1947), prizefighters ("Champion," which got him his first Oscar nomination, in 1949), various cowboys and soldiers and pirates and Vikings and -- hey, why not -- Vincent Van Gogh (another nomination, in "Lust for Life, " 1955).
That lack of restraint helped Douglas survive seven films co-starring with Burt Lancaster , himself none too cinematically circumspect. Furthermore, it gave him the wherewithal to stand up not once but twice to the notoriously exacting direction of Stanley Kubrick . "Path of Glory " (1957) is among the handful of great anti war movies. "Spartacus" (1960) is second only to "Lawrence of Arabia " among thinking-man's screen epics. More important, it was the movie that broke the Hollywood blacklist, since Douglas insisted that blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo get script credit. For once, his lack of restraint was truly heroic.
Somehow, Kirk Douglas has always seemed to be acting with clenched teeth. Even his dimple looks clenched. Hands down, he's the most intense star in Hollywood history. With so much movie-star intensity, how could some of it not spill over. Thus movie-star father begat a movie-star son (Michael Douglas ) and even found himself with a movie-star daughter-in-law (Catherine Zeta-Jones ).
"Greed is good," Michael famously declares in "Wall Street." Well, intensity can be, too, given enough clenching.
------------------------------------------
Kirk Douglas Editorial for His 90th Birthday, Saturday, December 9th
Friday December 8, 3:39 pm ET
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- My name is Kirk Douglas. You may know me. If you don't ... Google me. I was a movie star and I'm Michael Douglas's dad, Catherine Zeta-Jones' father-in-law, and the grandparents of their two children. Today I celebrate my 90th birthday.
I have a message to convey to America's young people. A 90th birthday is special. In my case, this birthday is not only special but miraculous. I survived World War II, a helicopter crash, a stroke, and two new knees.
It's a tradition that when a "birthday boy" stands over his cake he makes a silent wish for his life and then blows out the candles. I have followed that tradition for 89 years but on my 90th birthday, I have decided to rebel. Instead of making a silent wish for myself, I want to make a LOUD wish for THE WORLD.
Let's face it: THE WORLD IS IN A MESS and you are inheriting it. Generation Y, you are on the cusp. You are the group facing many problems: abject poverty, global warming, genocide, AIDS, and suicide bombers to name a few. These problems exist, and the world is silent. We have done very little to solve these problems. Now, we leave it to you. You have to fix it because the situation is intolerable.
You need to rebel, to speak up, write, vote, and care about people and the world you live in. We live in the best country in the world. I know. My parents were Russian immigrants. America is a country where EVERYONE, regardless of race, creed, or age has a chance. I had that chance. You are the generation that is most impacted and the generation that can make a difference.
I love this country because I came from a life of poverty. I was able to work my way through college and go into acting, the field that I love. There is no guarantee in this country that you will be successful. But you always have a chance. Nothing should interfere with it. You have to make sure that nothing stands in the way.
When I blow out my candles -- 90! ... it will take a long time ... but I'll be thinking of you.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler