Cast & creator
Kirk Douglas
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director and author. He grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II. During his career, Douglas appeared in more than 90 movies and was known for his explosive acting style. He became an international star for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), and Detective Story (1951), a film for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination. In 1955, Douglas established Bryna Productions, which produced films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). He took the lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit. In 1963 Douglas starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film. As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs. He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema. Kirk Douglas died at age 103.
Also known as: Issur Danielovitch, Issur Danielovitch Demsky, Isador Demsky, Izzy Demsky, Кёрк Дуглас
161
film credits
55
television credits
192
1944–2026 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (216)
Showing 216 of 216 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Simpsons
Chester J. Lampwick (voice)
1989
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975
The View
Self
1997
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Golden Globe Awards
Self
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Touched by an Angel
Ross Berger
1994
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Champs-Elysées
Self
1982Champs-Elysées
Self (archive footage)
1982
Wogan
Self
1982
Apostrophes
Self
1975
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self
1957
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
1975
Spécial cinéma
Self
1974
The Lucy Show
Kirk Douglas
1962
Tales from the Crypt
Gen. Kalthrob
1989
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950The Colgate Comedy Hour
Ulysses (archive footage)
1950Film '72
Self
1971
Parkinson
Self
1998
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Recipient
1956The Steve Allen Show
Self - Guest
1956
The Jack Benny Program
Kirk Douglas
1950
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self (uncredited)
1968
The Oscars
Self
1953
Basketball: A Love Story
Self (archive footage)
2018
This Is Your Life
Self
1952
Cinépanorama
Self
1956
People's Choice Awards
Self
1975
Brisant
Self
1994Goldene Kamera
Self
1984
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Verstehen Sie Spaß?
Self
1980The George Gobel Show
Self
1954Der große Preis
Self
1974V.I.P. Schaukel
Self
1971
The Johnny Cash Show
Self
1969
Cérémonie des César
Self - President
1976
Paths of Glory
Col. Dax
1957Paths of Glory
Producer
1957
Spartacus
Spartacus
1960Spartacus
Executive Producer
1960
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Ned Land
1954
Scene by Scene
Self
1997
The Final Countdown
Capt. Matthew Yelland
1980Clive Anderson All Talk
Self
1996
Kubrick by Kubrick
Self (archive footage)
2020
Out of the Past
Whit Sterling
1947
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
1957
The Vikings
Einar
1958The Vikings
Executive Producer
1958
Ulysses
Ulysses
1954
Pour le plaisir
Self
1964
Is Paris Burning?
General Patton
1966
Ace in the Hole
Charles Tatum
1951
Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers
Alex Vandervoort
1976
Seconds
Co-Executive Producer
1966
Saturn 3
Major Adam
1980
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Executive Producer
1983
Greedy
Uncle Joe
1994
The War Wagon
Lomax
1967
Last Train from Gun Hill
Marshal Matt Morgan
1959
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
1982
The Man from Snowy River
Harrison / Spur
1982
In Harm's Way
Commander Paul Eddington, Jr.
1965
Oscar
Eduardo Provolone
1991
Grand Prix
Executive Producer
1966Tales of the Vikings
Producer
1959
Cast a Giant Shadow
Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
1966
Lonely are the Brave
John W. "Jack" Burns
1962Lonely are the Brave
Executive Producer
1962
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
2012
Seven Days in May
Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey
1964Seven Days in May
Co-Executive Producer
1964
The Villain
Cactus Jack
1979
The Heroes of Telemark
Dr. Rolf Pedersen
1965
Clive James' Postcard from
Self
1989
The Bad and the Beautiful
Jonathan Shields
1952
Queenie
David Konig
1987
There Was a Crooked Man...
Paris Pitman, Jr.
1970
The Devil's Disciple
Richard Dudgeon
1959
Man Without a Star
Dempsey Rae
1955
The Story of Three Loves
Pierre Narval
1953
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Walter O'Neil
1946
Young Man with a Horn
Rick Martin
1950
The Indian Fighter
Johnny Hawks
1955The Indian Fighter
Executive Producer
1955
The Fury
Peter Sandza
1978
The Last Sunset
Brendan 'Bren' O'Malley
1961The Last Sunset
Executive Producer
1961
A Letter to Three Wives
George Phipps
1949
Lust for Life
Vincent van Gogh
1956
Home Movies
Dr. Tuttle
1980
The Arrangement
Eddie Anderson
1969
The Way West
Sen. William J. Tadlock
1967
The List of Adrian Messenger
George Brougham / Vicar Atlee / Mr. Pythian / Arthur Henderson
1963The List of Adrian Messenger
Executive Producer
1963
Tough Guys
Archie Long
1986
Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary
Self
1986
Along the Great Divide
Marshal Len Merrick
1951
Once Upon a Wheel
1971
It Runs in the Family
Mitchell Gromberg
2003
For Love or Money
Deke Gentry
1963
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self – Interviewee
2010
Eddie Macon's Run
Carl 'Buster' Marzack
1983
I Walk Alone
Noll "Dink" Turner
1947
Illusion
Donald Baines
2004
Detective Story
Det. James McLeod
1951
Strangers When We Meet
Larry Coe
1960Strangers When We Meet
Executive Producer
1960
Posse
Howard Nightingale
1975Posse
Director
1975Posse
Producer
1975
From Roger Moore with Love
Self (archive footage)
2024
Completely Cuckoo
Self
1997
Two Weeks in Another Town
Jack Andrus
1962
A Lovely Way to Die
Jameson Schuyler
1968
The Light at the Edge of the World
Will Denton
1971The Light at the Edge of the World
Producer
1971
My Dear Secretary
Owen Waterbury
1948
Champion
Midge Kelly
1949
Once Is Not Enough
Mike Wayne
1975
The Brotherhood
Frank Ginetta
1968The Brotherhood
Producer
1968
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
Self (archive footage)
2020
Mike Wallace Is Here
(archive footage)
2019
James Bond: The First 21 Years
Self
1983
A Gunfight
Will Tenneray
1971A Gunfight
Executive Producer
1971
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
Self
2017
A Century of Cinema
Self
1994
Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices
Self
2008
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Self (archive footage)
1985
The Untameable Kirk Douglas
Self - Actor
2017My Life As Roger Moore
Self (Archivfilmmaterial)
2026
Victory at Entebbe
Herschel Vilnofsky
1976
Two-Fisted Tales
General Calthrop
1992
Act of Love
Robert Teller
1953
Morceaux de Cannes
Self (archive footage)
2021
Top Secret Affair
Maj. Gen. Melville A. Goodwin
1957
The Big Trees
Jim Fallon
1952
Catch Me a Spy
Andrej
1971
J'ai tout donné
Self
1972
The Big Sky
Jim Deakins
1952
A Father… A Son… Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Self
2005All-Time Movie Greats
Self (archive footage)
1988The Making of A Movie
Self
1965
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009
Inherit the Wind
Matthew Harrison Brady
1988
Summertree
Producer
1971
The Walls of Jericho
Tucker Wedge
1948
Rowan & Martin at the Movies
Self
1968
Scalawag
Peg
1973Scalawag
Director
1973Scalawag
Writer
1973
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Self (archive footage)
1997
Monsters of the Deep
Himself
Ride Out for Revenge
Executive Producer
1957
Let Poland Be Poland
Self
1982
The Juggler
Hans Muller
1953
Lizzie
Executive Producer
1957
Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick
Self
1986Salute to Lady Liberty
1984
Town Without Pity
Major Garrett
1961
Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Self
2009
Mourning Becomes Electra
Peter Niles
1947
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
General Kalthrob
1999Stanley Kubrick in Focus
Self
2012
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
1973
Johnny Cash: American Rebel
Self (archive photo)
2015
Trumbo
Self - Interviewee
2007One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: The Shocking Truth
Self
2018
The Racers
Gino Borgesa
1955
The Hook
Sgt. P.J. Briscoe
1963I Am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas
Self - Interviewee
2015
The Special London Bridge Special
The Indian Fighter
1972
Holocaust 2000
Robert Caine
1977
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
Ned Land (archive footage)
1990
Diamonds
Harry Agensky
1999
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
Vincent van Gogh (archive footage)
2019
The Master Touch
Steve Wallace
1972
Walt Disney's Where Do the Stories Come From?
Self
1956
The Lies Boys Tell
Ed Reese
1994
Discovering: Robert Mitchum
Self (archive footage)
2014
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003
Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget
Self
2009
Draw!
Harry H. Holland aka Handsome Harry Holland
1984Empire State Building Murders
Jim Kovalski
2008
The Glass Menagerie
Jim O'Connor
1950
Kirk Douglas
Himself
1972
Mousey
George Anderson
1974
Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir
Self
2001
The Secret
Grandpa Mike Dunmore
1992Van Gogh: Darkness into Light
Self
1957
The Universal Story
Self (archive footage)
1996
Amos
Amos Lasher
1985Amos
Executive Producer
1985The Racing Experience
Self
1988
Movie Tough Guys
Self (archive footage)
1991
Remembrance Of Love
Joe Rabin
1982
Operation Undersea
Self
1954
Welcome to Veraz
Quentin
1991
The Disneyland Story
Self
1954Hollywood au pied du terril
Self
2014A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape
Narrator
1984
Kirk Douglas
Self
1966FBI contre Hollywood
Self
2001