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Kirk Douglas $50 Million Man
What’s So Great About Kirk Douglas?
As of this week, there are 50 million more reasons to love Kirk Douglas.
* On July 29, according to the Los Angeles Times Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne said that through their Douglas Foundation, they are pledging $50 million to five different charities. They include the Anne Douglas Center for Women, the Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, the Sinai Temple in Westwood, St. Lawrence University in New York and the Harry’s Haven Alzheimer’s unit at the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills.
* At 95, he is still out and about, and as recently as July 11, Anne and Kirk Douglas attended Opening Night for the Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse. I’ve seen the couple at other events, too, including last year’s tribute to that comparative youngster, Hal David. The occasion was the songwriter’s 90th birthday celebration.
* Kirk Douglas is especially supportive of – not surprisingly – the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, and attends nearly every premiere. His presence in the front row, in fact, has sometimes startled the actors, as Gilles Marini told us after the play “This,” when he spotted the legendary actor watching him from the first row.
* Kirk Douglas pledged to give the Motion Picture & Television Fund 100% of the proceeds from his film, “Before I Forget,” which is based upon his autobiographical one-man show. Readers can find details in a Los Angeles Times story I wrote about that film’s 2010 premiere, attended by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Diane Nelson, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt and Kellan Lutz, among others. Aside from the photos on this page, more pictures from that event are here.
* Kirk Douglas has written ten novels and memoirs. And lest anyone wonder ‘Who is Spartacus?’ the big question in the 1960 blockbuster film, June marked the release of Kirk Douglas’ newest book, “I Am Spartacus! Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist!”
* On a personal note, Kirk Douglas turned 95 on Dec. 9, which just happens to be my birthday.
Top photo: Anne Douglas and Kirk Douglas, front row, center, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre for “This” the play in 2011
Center photo: from left, Kirk Douglas chats with Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt at the 2012 screening of “Before I Forget,” an event to raise awareness of the Motion Picture & Television Fund
Bottom photo: Kirk Douglas, left, chats with Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, after the 2010 screening of “Before I Forget”
ALSO IN SOCIETY NEWS L.A.:
Gilles Marini, Saffron Burrows and Kirk Douglas Go for THIS the Play at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
Kirk Douglas $50 Million Man
Published Aug. 1, 2012 – Ellen Olivier, Society News LA
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