Kirk Douglas presented an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress

Kirk Douglas presented an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress - but he took his time and had fun with it - along with the winner Melissa Leo and the viewer Hugh Jackman.

Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch (Russian); December 9, 1916) was an American stage and film actor, film director and writer. His popular films include Champion (1949), Ace in the Hole (1951), the Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Lust for Life (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957), "Spartacus" (1960), and lonely Is Brave (1962).
He is # 17 in the American Film Institute list of greatest men of the American screen legends of all time. In 1996 he received an honorary Academy Award "for 50 years of creative and moral force in society, Picture Motion".
Douglas married twice, first to Diana Dill, Nov. 2, 1943. They had two sons, actor Michael Douglas and producer Joel Douglas. They divorced in 1951. He then married Anne Buydens May 29, 1954. They had two sons, Peter Douglas, producer and actor Eric Douglas. Eric Douglas, died July 6, 2004 from a drug overdose.
In 1991 he survived a helicopter crash in which two people were killed. This caused the search for meaning that led him, after much research, to Judaism, in which he was raised. He documented a spiritual journey in his book "Climbing the mountain: My Search for Meaning (2001).." Coming to grips with what it means to be Jewish was a theme in my life "in his autobiography, The Ragman Son, he wrote that In an interview in 2000, he explained, this transition:
Judaism and I parted ways long ago, when I was a poor kid growing up in Amsterdam, NY At the time I was very good in Cheder, as Jews in our community think that they will do wonderful things and raise enough money to send me to the yeshiva to become a rabbi. Holy Moses! It's frightening the hell out of me. I do not want to be a rabbi. I wanted to be an actor. Believe me, the members of the children of Israel have been steadfast. I have nightmares - wearing long payos and black hat. I had to work very hard to get out of it. But it took me a long time to find out what you should not be a rabbi to be a Jew.
In 1996 he suffered a stroke, partially impairing his ability to speak. December 8, 2006 Douglas has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, where all the staff wished him a happy 90 th anniversary of the day before. His son and daughter-in-law of Michael and Catherine Zeta-Jones, were among the many celebrities who attended his birthday celebration. On the show, he discussed the books that he wrote and the death of his son, Eric. In accordance with Jewish custom, Douglas notes a second bar mitzvah ceremony in 1999 at the age of eighty-three years.
Portrait of Douglas, called "The Great and Wonderful," which encapsulates his career in film, art collections, charity and rehabilitation of the helicopter crash and a stroke, came to Palm Springs Life magazine in 1999. The article says, "For many years, this vibrant performer can be seen jogging several miles to get his morning newspaper, to play tennis with the locals or posing for pictures and autographs for star-struck outside visitors. He was a real one man promotion tourism product for the past four decades, extolling virtue of the city he loves, to almost everyone who will listen. "

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Out of the Past (1947)
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947), I Walk Alone (1948), The Walls of Jericho (1948), My Dear Secretary (1949), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), Champion (1949)
Young Man with a Horn (1950), The Glass Menagerie (1950), Along the Great Divide (1951) Ace in the Hole (1951) Detective Story (1951) The Big Trees (1952) The Big Sky (1952) The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) The Story of Three Loves (1953) The Juggler (1953) Act of Love (1953) The Jack Benny Program (television, 1954) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Racers (1955), Ulisse (U.S. title: Ulysses, 1955)
Man Without a Star (1955), The Indian Fighter (1955), Lust for Life (1956), Top Secret Affair (1957)Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) Paths of Glory (1957) The Vikings (1958)Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)The Devil's Disciple (1959)Strangers When We Meet (1960) Spartacus (1960)Town Without Pity (1961) The Last Sunset (1961)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), The Hook (1963), The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), For Love or Money (1963), Seven Days in May (1964)
In Harm's Way (1965), The Heroes of Telemark (1965), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) Is Paris Burning? (1966)The Way West (1967) The War Wagon (1967) Once Upon a Wheel (documentary, 1968) A Lovely Way to Die (1968)The Brotherhood (1968)The Arrangement (1969)There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)To Catch a Spy (1971)The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)A Gunfight (1971) A Man to Respect (1972)The Master Touch (1972)
Scalawag (1973) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1973) Posse (1975) Also director, Once Is Not Enough (1975), Holocaust 2000 (1977), The Fury (1978)
Awards
Academy Awards
* 1995 nominated for Honorary Awards
* 1956 Lust for Life nominated for Best Actor
* 1952 Bad & the Beautiful nominated for Best Actor
* 1949 Champion nominated for Best Actor
Berlin International Film Festival
* 1975 Posse nominated for Competing Film
New York Film Critics Circle Award
* 1956 Lust for Life won for Best Actor
* 1951 Detective Story nominated for Best Actor
* The Villain (1979)
* Saturn 3 (1980)
* Home Movies (1980)
* The Final Countdown (1980)
* The Man from Snowy River (1982)
* Remembrance of Love (1982)
* Eddie Macon's Run (1983)
* Draw! (1984)
* Amos (1985)
* Tough Guys (1986)
* Queenie (television, 1987)
* Inherit the Wind (1988)
* Oscar (1991)
* Veraz (1991)
* The Secret (television, 1992)
* A Century of Cinema (documentary, 1994)
* Greedy (1994)
* Diamonds (1999)
* It Runs in the Family (2003)
* Illusion (2004)
* Meurtres à l'Empire State Building (U.S. title: Empire State Building Murders, 2008)
* Before I Forget (documentary, 2010)