KIRK DOUGLAS- FAREWELL TO A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND

The world lost one of the final survivors of the golden age of movies when Kirk passed away at the age of 103 last week

- Phillip Koch

He was the original Hollywood gladiator with the chiselled looks and muscular body to match, forever immortalised for his role as the leader of a slave rebellion in the 1960 epic Spartacus, but Kirk Douglas was an even bigger champion of the repressed in real life.

The film won four Academy Awards, but Kirk put his own career on the line by hiring writer Dalton Trumbo, who was at the time blacklisted in paranoid post-WWII Hollywood for suspected Communist sympathies, helping end the McCarthy era of exclusion.

MORE THAN A STAR

It was just one of many brave moves Kirk made throughout his illustrious career – he was nominated for three Oscars in the 10 years after he made his film debut in 1946 – both on and off the big screen.

He campaigned with his second wife Anne to build 400 playgrounds in Los Angeles and established the Anne Douglas Center for homeless women, the Kirk Douglas High School to help troubled students finish their education and the Kirk Douglas Theatre to nurture young actors. He also donated $15 million to help build the Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion.