Empire Australasia - 03.2020

(Ann) #1

So long to a true


Hollywood legend


No./ 5


The iconicKIRK DOUGLAS died last


month, aged 103. Back in 1994,Empire visited his Beverly


Hills home for a career-spanning chat — read an extract here


KIRK DOUGLAS HAS an over-friendly
Labrador. Your reporter knows this because
he is being pinned to the sofa by it. “Good dog,
Banshee. Nice dog,” chuckles its owner.
The stars of Old Hollywood, like their
pooches, are indeed a breed apart. On an
unassuming street in Beverly Hills, you’d be hard
pushed to believe that a movie star, let alone one
of the greatest ever to have graced the silver
screen, lives within. But all of a sudden, here he
comes, striding towards you, trusty pooch by his
side — tanned, fi t and dressed rather nattily. At
77 he carries it well: the silver non-receding
celebrity haircut, the clenched-teeth Colgate
grin, and there, sitting majestically in the middle
of his chin, that dimple — the kind it’d take at
least three cotton buds to get the fl uff out of.
You are, in short, in the presence of a legend.
“Hi,” says Mr Douglas in that throaty
drawl, pumping Empire’s hand in the fi nest
swashbuckling tradition. “I’m Kirk...”
Born Issur Danielovitch in December 1916
(there is some debate, due to his mother’s
confusion, as to the exact date), Kirk Douglas
grew up in upstate New York in a place called
Amsterdam, the son of illiterate Russian-Jewish
immigrants, slogging it to the top the hard way.
He found his niche on the stage, making his
Broadway debut as a singing telegram boy
in 1939’s Spring Again. War interrupted
proceedings and in 1942 Lieutenant Douglas set
sail to fi ght the Japanese; after, he returned to
the stage and within three years he’d bagged an
Oscar nomination for Champion.
The rest, as they say, is history — with
classics like The Vikings, Ace In The Hole,
Detective Story, The Big Sky and Paths Of Glory.
And then there’s Spartacus, arguably his
most famous role, and most intertwined with
him. An immigrant from humble origins breaks
from his chains, takes on the establishment and
fi ghts his way to national celebrity status. All
sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it? To what extent
is Kirk Douglas Spartacus?
Kirk laughs, ponders the question, and
declines to answer. Instead, he supplies
a legendary anecdote.
“I was doing Spartacus and it was a Friday
night. My co-producer Eddie Lewis said, ‘What
are you going to do this weekend?’ And I said,
‘I’m just gonna drive down to Palm Springs.’

[IN MEMORIAM]


PREVIEW

Free download pdf