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Actor Kirk Douglas dies at age 103

Renowned actor Kirk Douglas has died aged 103.

The father of Michael Douglas, whose career spanned over six decades, passed away on Wednesday in the US (local time).

"It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103," Michael said in an exclusive statement to People.

Pictured is actor Kirk Douglas. Source: AAP
Actor Kirk Douglas died on Wednesday at the age of 103. Source: AAP

"To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.

“But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.”

Mr Douglas has reportedly been in good health since suffering a stroke in 1996.

Mr Douglas was raised in Amsterdam, 48 kilometers northwest of Albany, in New York.

He graduated from St. Lawrence University in northern New York and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Actor Kirk Douglas, center, gets a kiss from his son Michael Douglas, left, and Michael's wife Catherine Zeta-Jones during his 100th birthday party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Source: AAP
Actor Kirk Douglas, center, gets a kiss from his son Michael Douglas, left, and Michael's wife Catherine Zeta-Jones during his 100th birthday party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Source: AAP

Mr Douglas made more than 90 movies over his career. Films such as Spartacus and The Vikings made him one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1950s and ‘60s.

He also played a major role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist - actors, directors and writers who were shunned professionally because of links to the communist movement in the 1950s. Douglas said he was more proud of that than any film he made.

In 2018, public officials and relatives of Mr Douglas unveiled a historic marker in his birthplace to honour the Hollywood legend on his 102nd birthday.

The sign is erected near the home where he was born as Issur Danielovitch to Russian Jewish parents on Dec. 9, 1916.

Michael's wife Catherine Zete-Jones posted this photo on her father-in-law's 103rd birthday. Source: Instagram
Michael's wife Catherine Zete-Jones posted this photo on her father-in-law's 103rd birthday. Source: Instagram

Mr Douglas was by his son’s side when he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018.

Eight weeks ago, Michael’s wife Catherine Zeta-Jones wished her father-in-law a happy 103rd birthday on her Instagram.

“This guy on my knee, is 103!!!!! Happy Birthday Pappy!!! I love you with all my heart,” she wrote alongside an image of the pair embracing.

After news broke of Mr Douglas’ passing, The Academy took to social media to say “goodbye to a Hollywood legend”.

“I wanted to be an actor ever since I was a kid in the second grade. I did a play, and my mother made a black apron, and I played a shoemaker. After the performance, [my father] gave me my first Oscar: an ice cream cone,” it quoted Mr Douglas.

The Golden Globe Awards also pay tribute to the 103 year old.

“Kirk Douglas, one of the most famous actors of all time and father to actor Michael Douglas, has died. He was 103. Rest in Peace,” it wrote on Twitter.

Five facts about Kirk Douglas. Source: Reuters
Five facts about Kirk Douglas. Source: Reuters

Iconic actor William Shatner also shared his “condolences to the family of Kirk Douglas. What an incredible icon he was in this industry!”

Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner said “Kirk Douglas will always be an icon in the pantheon of Hollywood. He put himself on the line to break the blacklist.”

Actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger called Mr Douglas an “icon and his real life hero”.

“It’s hard to put into words what it meant to me to work with this legend who I grew up watching in Westerns in our little theatre in Austria. He was larger than life to me - a real life hero.

“When we finally met on the set of The Villain, he couldn’t have been any sweeter to me. I was a new actor and he was the perfect mentor. He was already in his 60s but he was in unbelievable shape, and he could still jump off a trampoline into his horse’s saddle,” Mr Schwarzenegger said, adding that the pair often worked out together.

“He was the perfect role model and my career wouldn’t have been the same without him. I will miss him dearly and my thoughts are with his family.”

- with Reuters and AAP

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