Kirk Douglas at 100: The last of Hollywood's golden age

Issur Danielovitch was born a week before the Battle of Verdun ended on the Western Front and the same month the famous Sopwith Camel took its maiden flight.

Danielovitch is better known by his subsequent name – Kirk Douglas – and tomorrow he turns 100. The son of Jewish immigrants who arrived in the United States from Russia, Douglas is one of the very last surviving stars from Hollywood’s so-called “golden age”.

During an illustrious career spanning 70 years he’s starred alongside such legends of the silver screen as Laurence Olivier, John Wayne, James Mason and Doris Day, while his film credits include classics like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Paths of Glory (1957) and, most famously of all, Spartacus (1960).

As well as being famous for his on screen roles he also helped confront one of the darkest chapters in Hollywood’s history. Yorkshire-based film writer and broadcaster Tony Earnshaw says Douglas helped challenge the anti-communist blacklist in the US during the late 1940s and early 50s. “Kirk Douglas is an important figure because he helped break the McCarthy witch-hunts and helped rehabilitate some very important figures in the industry.”

Among these was screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, the focus of the 2015 biopic Trumbo, whose screenwriting credits include Roman Holiday, Exodus and Spartacus.

Trumbo was one of the so-called Hollywood Ten who were jailed or blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during its investigation into Communist influences in the film industry and was forced to work clandestinely producing scripts under pseudonyms.

But it was Douglas who helped restore his name. “Trumbo’s career was destroyed by the House on Un-American Activities Committee and like other people he was seen as a ‘red’ and was forced to write under different names. But Douglas said he wanted Trumbo to write Spartacus,” says Earnshaw.

“One of the demands he made of the studio was that Dalton Trumbo’s name appeared on screen – and it did. He brought Dalton Trumbo in from the cold.”

In doing this he paved the way for others to follow suit. It was a brave move and he was only able to do it because of his standing in the movie business. He was one of a number of liberals who stood up to a Hollywood that had been cowed by politicians. “The industry was definitely split over this and a lot of people were very frightened. But Douglas had sufficient clout to make a stance,” says Earnshaw.

“Douglas had an enormous ego and he could be difficult to work with, but he had the confidence in himself, and the power in the industry, to do the right thing.”

He had a reputation for portraying macho characters on the big screen but as Earnshaw points out, he wasn’t your average action hero. “He’s much more versatile a performer than he gets credit for. He didn’t just play tough guys and cowboys. If you look at films like Lust For Life and Lonely Are the Brave he played interesting, flawed characters.”

As well establishing himself as one of the biggest names in Hollywood he’s also spawned an acting dynasty through his son Michael who is married to Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In later life Douglas had a number of close shaves with death. In 1991 he survived a helicopter crash that killed two other people, before later suffering a stroke.

He’s received countless awards over the years and tomorrow he reaches another big milestone. “He’s the ultimate survivor and in terms of his status and his place in movie history that is more than assured.”