Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch December 9, 1916) is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. 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 O.K. Corral (1957) Spartacus (1960), and Lonely Are the Brave (1962).
He is #17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time. In 1996, he received the Academy Honorary Award "for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community".