Kirk Douglas is an American actor, producer, director, and author from the film industry's Golden Age, who debuted opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the film 'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers' (1946). With his explosive acting style, he became a lead box-office star, acting in successful films like 'Champion' (1949), 'Young Man with a Horn' (1950), 'Ace in the Hole' (1951), 'Detective Story' (1951), 'The Bad and the Beautiful' (1952), and 'Lust for Life' (1956).
Establishing Bryna Productions in 1955, he collaborated with emerging director Stanley Kubrick in critically acclaimed films such as 'Paths of Glory' (1957) and 'Spartacus' (1960). He then produced and starred in one of his best films, the cult classic 'Lonely Are the Brave' (1962), as well as the political-thriller 'Seven Days in May' (1964). In 1963, he starred in the Broadway play 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel, and subsequently purchased rights for a film adaptation, which his son Michael Douglas turned into an 'Oscar'-winning film.
His directorial ventures, Scalawag (1973) and Posse (1975), were failures. Some of the best films he worked on before his career ended are 'The Man from Snowy River' (1982) and 'Tough Guys' (1986).