Kirk Douglas was an American actor, producer, director, and author. After an impoverished childhood with immigrant parents and six sisters, he made his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers with Barbara Stanwyck.

Kirk Douglas, one of the last surviving movie stars from Hollywood's golden age, whose rugged good looks and muscular intensity made him a commanding presence in celebrated films like `Lust for Life,` `Spartacus` and `Paths of Glory.`

Mr. Douglas had made a long and difficult recovery from the effects of a severe stroke he suffered in 1996. In 2011, cane in hand, he came onstage at the Academy Awards ceremony, good-naturedly flirted with the co-host Anne Hathaway and jokingly stretched out his presentation of the Oscar for best supporting actress.

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Hollywood icon and legend #KirkDouglas has passed away at the age of 103. Rest in Peace to the star of 'Spartacus,' '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' and countless other films.

A post shared by Rotten Tomatoes (@rottentomatoes) on Feb 5, 2020 at 3:46pm PST

By then, and even more so as he approached 100 and largely dropped out of sight, he was one of the last flickering stars in a Hollywood firmament that few in Hollywood's Kodak Theater on that Oscars evening could have known except through viewings of old movies now called classics.

His son the actor Michael Douglas announced the death in a statement on his Facebook page.