MORE INFORMATION
- Kirk and Anne Douglas, a love story of almost 70 years
- Kirk Douglas, the last great actor of old Hollywood, dies at 103
- The secret of the Douglas to be eternal
Kirk Douglas, who died on February 5 at the age of 103, left most of his estimated assets at $ 90 million to the Douglas Foundation, the charity that co-founded almost six decades ago. The nonprofit organization benefits the Los Angeles Children's Hospital, the Kirk and Anne Douglas Children's Center and a grant from St. Lawrence University for disadvantaged students. The Foundation was created in 1964 by Douglas and his wife Anne Beydens Douglas; He also distributes money to the Westwood Sinai Temple and the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City, a restored place. All these projects will be distributed 80 million.
Anne Douglas, who was married to the acting legend for 65 years, is a nonprofit organization manager. "The main objective of the Douglas Foundation is to help those who otherwise cannot help themselves," says their website. "Its main focus is to improve education and health, promote well-being and, most importantly, develop new opportunities for the child who has our future in his hands."
It has not transcended who will get the rest of Kirk Douglas's money, about 10 million since in addition to Anne, he is survived by Joel Douglas, the couple's son, and Peter and Michael, the sons of the actor's first marriage. Joel is a film producer and Peter is a television producer. A fourth son, Eric, died of an accidental overdose in Manhattan in 2004. Michael is an actor and has an estimated fortune of 300 million. Anne's relationship with Douglas's first wife, Diana, was so good that they became friends. The actor said that Anne referred to Diana as "our first wife."
The marriage also had a crisis because of his flirting. In her book Kirk and Anne, she tells that she intentionally turned a blind eye to some infidelity of her husband, and that he was honest about it. "Kirk never tried to hide anything from me. As a European, I understood that it was not realistic to expect total fidelity in a marriage." Aware of their exciting story, the couple wrote the book Kirk and Anne: Love letters, laughs and a lifetime in Hollywood. "I was very lucky to find my soulmate and I believe that our wonderful marriage and our golden talks every night for an hour have helped me survive all things," Kirk explained. Of these adventures outside of marriage the actor spoke in his autobiography The son of the ragman with her permission. Names like Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Mia Farrow or Faye Dunaway, among others, were part of her infidelities to her first wife, Diana, who tired of them, left him. Not so Anne.
Michael Douglas and his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones have praised her father's solidarity when he announced his death this month. "Kirk's life was well lived and leaves a legacy in the cinema that will last for generations to come and a story like a renowned philanthropist who worked to help the public and bring peace to the planet," Michael said in a statement. And he added: "But for me and my brothers Joel and Peter, he was just dad. For Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, for his grandchildren and great grandson, his living grandfather, and for his wife, Anne, a wonderful husband."
Kirk Douglas was born in Amsterdam to Jewish immigrant parents from present-day Belarus. His acting career in the United States spanned seven decades. In addition to an Oscar in 1996, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, the Jefferson Prize for public service in 1983 and was named a member of the French Legion of Honor in 1985.