Kirk Douglas was one of the most well-known movie stars in the world, with a granite jaw, dimpled chin, and piercing eyes. He made up to three films a year in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in war pictures, epics, biopics, and westerns. Ironically, though, Kirk’s most contented and happy times in life occurred away from the camera in his later years.
Kirk was forced to change his ways and dedicate his life to family, faith, and charity as a result of three horrific incidents: a deadly helicopter crash, a crippling stroke, and the passing of a son. In his biography Let’s Face It from 2007, Kirk stated, “I feel that every brush I had with mortality transformed me and made me a better person.” “I started to think more about other people and less about myself.”
Kirk, who grew up with a stern, unloving father and experienced extreme poverty, had to be unwavering in his pursuit of his objectives like so many others who have achieved great success. Before he was able to support himself through acting, he guessed that he had to work more than 40 odd jobs. But success had a cost. Not long after Champion made Kirk a star in 1949, Kirk and his first wife, Diana Dill, the mother of kids Michael and Joel, got divorced.
According to an insider, “He was wild in those years.” After the divorce, Diana relocated to New York with the boys, and in-demand Kirk spent less time with his children. The insider claims that although he wasn’t always around, “he remained a very strong presence in his boys’ life.” He was quite busy.
Even after getting married to Anne Buydens, the mother of Peter and Eric, in 1954, Kirk continued to be busy in other areas. According to the insider, “He was a typical Hollywood ladies’ man, sleeping with actresses like Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford.” Anne did her best to put up with it. The German-born businesswoman claimed in Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood published in 2017 that “Kirk never tried to hide his dalliances from me.” I realized it was ridiculous to demand complete fidelity in a marriage because I am European.
Kirk escaped a helicopter crash in 1991 that claimed the lives of two people. A stroke a few years later left the actor with permanent speech impairment and sent him into a deep depression. According to a close acquaintance, Rabbi David Wolpe, “He literally took a rifle and put it in his mouth.” Anne intervened with tough love to save the day.
Get out of bed and start on your speech therapy, as Anne would advise. That was beneficial, according to Kirk, who also started weekly Torah studies with Wolpe to help him better grasp the religion he was born into: Judaism.
When Kirk’s youngest son with Anne, Eric, died of an accidental overdose in 2004 at the age of 46, his increasing faith was put to the ultimate test. Kirk noted that Anne’s initial response was guilt. But I thought I was entirely to blame. Although the tragedy brought the couple closer than ever, they would never be able to get over Eric’s loss.
Charity had a higher priority than love and family. Kirk and Anne generously donated $188 million through their foundation to deserving charities. According to an insider of the actor who passed away in 2020 at the age of 103, “Kirk mellowed in his later years, and that allowed him to be a better person.” He lived a full life and passed away a very appreciative man.
