name	Kirk Douglas
birth name	Issur Danielovitch
birth date	December 09, 1916
birth place	Amsterdam, New York, U.S.
nationality	American
occupation	Actor, producer, director, author
spouse	Diana Dill (1943–51; divorced)Anne Buydens (1954–present)
children	Michael DouglasJoel DouglasPeter DouglasEric Douglas (1958–2004)
relatives	Cameron Douglas (grandson)
years active	1942–present
education	St. Lawrence University
alma mater	American Academy of Dramatic Arts
other names	Izzy Demsky
religion	Conservative Judaism
signature	KirkDouglas.png }}

Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch, ; December 9, 1916) is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include ''Out of the Past'' (1947), ''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 No.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."

Early life

Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York, the son of Bryna "Bertha" (née Sanglel) and Herschel "Harry" Danielovitch, a businessman. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Gomel, Belarus. His father's brother, who emigrated earlier, used the surname Demsky, which Douglas's family adopted in the United States. In addition to their surname, his parents also changed their given names, to Harry and Bertha. Douglas grew up as Izzy Demsky, and legally changed his name to "Kirk Douglas" when entering the Navy during World War II.

Coming from a poor family, as a boy, Douglas sold snacks to mill workers to earn enough to buy milk and bread. Later, he delivered newspapers and worked at more than forty jobs before becoming an actor. He found living in a family of six sisters to be stifling, stating, "I was dying to get out. In a sense, it lit a fire under me." During high school, he acted in school plays, and discovered "The one thing in my life that I always knew, that was always constant, was that I wanted to be an actor."

Unable to afford tuition, Douglas talked his way into St. Lawrence University and received a loan, which he paid back by working part-time as a gardener and a janitor. He was a standout on the wrestling team, and wrestled one summer in a carnival to make money.

Douglas's acting talents were noticed at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and he received a special scholarship. One of his classmates was Betty Joan Perske (later to become better known as Lauren Bacall), who would play an important role in launching his film career. Another classmate was aspiring Bermudian actress Diana Dill. While doing summer stock theater during a college term break, he began using the name Kirk Douglas, which he later legally adopted. He earned his first money as an actor that summer. Upon graduating from drama school, Douglas made his Broadway debut as a singing telegraph boy in ''Spring Again''.

Douglas enlisted in the United States Navy in 1941, shortly after the United States entered World War II. He was medically discharged for war injuries in 1944. On May 3, 1943, Diana Dill, his former classmate, appeared on the cover of ''Life'' magazine. Seeing the photograph, Douglas told his fellow sailors that he was going to marry her. He did, on November 2, 1943. The couple had two sons together (Michael in 1944 and Joel in 1947) before they divorced in 1951.

After the war, Douglas returned to New York City and found work in radio, theatre and commercials. His stage break occurred in ''Kiss and Tell'', which led to other roles. Douglas had planned to remain a stage actor but Lauren Bacall helped him get his first screen role in the Hal B. Wallis film ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946), starring Barbara Stanwyck. Wallis was on his way to New York to look for new talent when Bacall suggested he visit Douglas, who was rehearsing a play called ''The Wind Is Ninety''. Douglas finished the play's run and with no follow-up work in sight, headed to Hollywood. He was immediately cast in one of the leading roles in Wallis' film, and made his film acting debut as a weak man dominated by a ruthless woman, unlike his later roles where he often played dominating characters.

Career

Douglas established his image as a tough guy in his eighth film, ''Champion'', playing a selfish boxer. From then on, he made a career of playing "sons of bitches." From that film on, he decided that to succeed as a star, he needed to ramp up his intensity, overcome his natural shyness, and choose stronger roles. He later stated, "I don’t think I’d be much of an actor without vanity. And I’m not interested in being a 'modest actor'." Early in his Hollywood career, he demonstrated his independent streak and broke his studio contracts to gain total control over his projects, forming his own movie company "Bryna Productions", named after his mother.

Douglas made his Broadway debut in 1949 in the Anton Chekhov play "The Three Sisters," produced by Katharine Cornell.

Douglas was a major box office star in the 1950s and 60s, playing opposite some of the leading actresses of that era. Among his various roles, he played a frontier peace officer in his first western ''Along the Great Divide'' (1951). He quickly became comfortable with riding horses and playing gunslingers, and appeared in many westerns. In ''Lonely Are the Brave'' (1962), his own favorite of his performances, Douglas plays a cowboy trying to live by his own code, much as he did in real life.

In ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), one of his three Oscar-nominated roles, Douglas plays Jonathan Shields, a hard-nosed film producer who manipulates and uses his actors, writers, and directors. In ''Young Man with a Horn'' (1950), Douglas portrays the rise and fall of a driven jazz musician, based on real-life horn player Bix Beiderbecke. Composer-pianist Hoagy Carmichael, playing the sidekick role, added realism to the film and gave Douglas insight into the role, being a friend of the real Beiderbecke. In 2011 he was the presenter at the Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, won by Melissa Leo.

In one of his early television appearances, Douglas was a musical guest (as himself) on ''The Jack Benny Program''. In the opening monologue, Benny reads the reviews of critics who liked his season premiere, while skipping the ones who did not. He then hurries home for his weekly jam session with Tony Martin (on clarinet), Fred MacMurray (saxophone), Dick Powell (trumpet), Dan Dailey (drums), and Douglas (four-string banjo). They avail themselves of the coin-operated vending machines in Benny's living room. The band plays ''Basin Street'' (Blues), but Douglas keeps going into ''Bye Bye Blues'', the only song he knows.

Douglas played many military men, with varying nuance, in ''Top Secret Affair'' (1957), ''Paths of Glory'' (1957) (his most famous role in that genre), ''Town Without Pity'' (1961), ''The Hook'' (1963), ''Seven Days in May'' (1964), ''Heroes of Telemark'' (1965), ''In Harm's Way'' (1965), ''Cast a Giant Shadow'' (1966), ''Is Paris Burning'' (1966), and ''The Final Countdown'' (1980).

His role as Vincent Van Gogh in ''Lust for Life'' (1956), filmed mostly on location in France, was noted not only for the veracity of his appearance but also for how he conveyed the painter’s internal turmoil. He won a Golden Globe award for his role. Director Vincente Minnelli stated, "Kirk Douglas achieved a moving and memorable portrait of the artist—a man of massive creative power, triggered by severe emotional stress, the fear and horror of madness. In my opinion, Kirk should have won the Academy Award." Douglas himself called his acting role as Van Gogh a "very painful experience." He writes, "Not only did I look like Van Gogh, I was the same age he was when he committed suicide."

Douglas played the lead with an all-star cast in ''Spartacus'' (1960). He was the executive producer as well, raising the $12 million production cost. He also played an important role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist by making sure that Dalton Trumbo's name was mentioned in the opening and ending credits of the film for the outstanding screenplay he did for the film. Douglas initially selected Anthony Mann to direct the movie, but dismissed him when he judged the initial shooting to be unsatisfactory. To replace Mann he chose Stanley Kubrick, who three years earlier had collaborated closely with Douglas in ''Paths of Glory'', where Douglas played one of his most notable roles as Colonel Dax, the commander of a French regiment during World War I. ''Spartacus'' was a huge success, but Kubrick, considering himself a mere employee of Douglas and since much of the footage (including Peter Ustinov's key scenes) was shot under Mann, did not consider it to be part of his own oeuvre.

In addition to serious, driven characters, Douglas was adept at roles requiring a comic touch, as in ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (1954), an adaptation of the Jules Verne novel, wherein he plays a happy-go-lucky sailor who is the opposite in every way of the brooding Captain Nemo (James Mason). The film was one of Walt Disney's most successful live-action movies and a major box-office hit. He manages a similar comic turn in the western ''Man Without a Star'' (1955) and in ''For Love or Money'' (1963).

Douglas made seven films over the decades with Burt Lancaster; ''I Walk Alone'' (1948), ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), ''The Devil's Disciple'' (1959), ''The List of Adrian Messenger'' (1963), ''Seven Days in May'' (1964), ''Victory at Entebbe'' (1976) and ''Tough Guys'' (1986), which fixed the notion of the pair as something of a team in the public imagination. Douglas was always second-billed under Lancaster in these movies but, with the exception of ''I Walk Alone'', in which Douglas played a villain, and ''The List of Adrian Messenger'', in which Lancaster played a brief part in disguise, their roles were more or less the same size. Both actors arrived in Hollywood at the same time, and first appeared together in the fourth film for each. They both became actor-producers who sought out independent Hollywood careers.

Douglas stated that the keys to acting success are determination and application, "You must know how to function and how to maintain yourself, and you must have a love of what you do. But an actor also needs great good luck. I have had that luck." Douglas had great vitality, "It takes a lot out of you to work in this business. Many people fall by the wayside because they don’t have the energy to sustain their talent." His intensity spilled over into all elements of his film-making. As an actor, he dove into every role, dissecting not only his own lines but all the parts in the script to measure the rightness of the role, and he was willing to fight with the director if he felt justified. According to his wife, he often brought home that intensity, "When he was doing ''Lust for Life'', he came home in that red beard of Van Gogh’s, wearing those big boots, stomping around the house—it was frightening." His distinctive acting style and delivery made him, like James Stewart, a favorite with impersonators, especially Frank Gorshin.

Unlike some actors such as Robert Mitchum, Douglas had a high opinion of actors, movies, and moviemaking, "To me it is the most important art form—it ''is'' an art, and it includes all the elements of the modern age." But he also stressed the entertainment value of films, "You can make a statement, you can say something, but it must be entertaining."

His first film as a director was ''Scalawag'' (1973). In his autobiography ''The Ragman’s Son'', he said "Since I was accused so often of trying to direct the films I was in, I thought I ought to really try my hand at directing." It was a difficult debut with many production problems, requiring his wife to act as producer. Douglas plays a charming scoundrel with one leg, a considerable challenge to his athleticism, and though he got credit for his role, the film received unimpressive reviews. Later in 1973, Douglas appeared in a made-for-TV musical version of ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''.

Douglas was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in ''Champion'', ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' and ''Lust for Life''. He was especially disappointed for not winning for the latter film, "I really thought I had a chance." Douglas did not win any competitive Oscars, but received a Honorary Academy Award in 1996 for "50 years as a moral and creative force in the motion picture community".

For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Douglas has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Blvd. He is one of the few personalities (along with James Stewart, Gregory Peck, and Gene Autry) whose star has been stolen and later replaced. In 1984, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, and he received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1991.

In October 2004, the avenue Kirk Douglas Way in Palm Springs, California was named in his honor by the Palm Springs International Film Society and Film Festival. Popular at home and around the world, Douglas received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981, the French Legion of Honor in 1985, and the National Medal of the Arts in 2001.

In March 2009, Douglas starred in an autobiographical one man show titled ''Before I Forget'' at the Center Theater Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California. The four performances were filmed and turned into a documentary that was first screened in January 2010.

On February 27, 2011, Douglas appeared on the stage of the Kodak Theater for the 83rd Academy Awards to present the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Personal life

Douglas married twice, first to Diana Dill, on November 2, 1943. The couple had two sons, actor Michael Douglas and producer Joel Douglas. They divorced in 1951. He then married Anne Buydens on May 29, 1954. They had two sons, producer Peter Douglas and actor Eric Douglas. Eric Douglas died July 6, 2004 of a drug overdose.

In 1991, he survived a helicopter crash in which two people died. This sparked a search for meaning, which led him, after much study, to embrace the Judaism in which he was raised. He documented this spiritual journey in his book ''Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning'' (2001). In his earlier autobiography, ''The Ragman's Son'' (1988), he admits that "years back, I tried to forget that I was a Jew." However, in his later career, he notes that "coming to grips with what it means to be a Jew has been a theme in my life." In an interview in 2000, he explained this transition:

Judaism and I parted ways a long time ago, when I was a poor kid growing up in Amsterdam, N.Y. Back then, I was pretty good in cheder, so the Jews of our community thought they would do a wonderful thing and collect enough money to send me to a yeshiva to become a rabbi. Holy Moses! That scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to be a rabbi. I wanted to be an actor. Believe me, the members of the Sons of Israel were persistent. I had nightmares – wearing long payos and a black hat. I had to work very hard to get out of it. But it took me a long time to learn that you don't have to be a rabbi to be a Jew.

Douglas notes also that the underlying theme of some of his films, including ''The Juggler'' (1953), ''Cast a Giant Shadow'' (1966), and ''Remembrance of Love'' (1982), was about "a Jew who doesn't think of himself as one, and eventually finds his Jewishness." Although his children were only half Jewish, Douglas states that they were "aware culturally" of his "deep convictions," and he never tried to influence their own religious decisions. He notes, however, that Michael answered, "I'm a Jew," when once asked about what he was.

While Douglas has chosen to stay out of political affairs, he has on occasion written letters to politicians who were friends. He notes in his memoir, ''Let's Face It'' (2007), that he felt compelled to write former president Jimmy Carter in 2006 in order to stress that "Israel is the only successful democracy in the Middle East. . . . [and] has had to endure many wars against overwhelming odds. If Israel loses one war, they lose Israel."

In 1996, he suffered a stroke, partially impairing his ability to speak. On December 8, 2006, Douglas appeared on ''Entertainment Tonight'', where the entire staff wished him a happy 90th birthday the night before. His son and daughter-in-law Michael and Catherine Zeta-Jones, were among the many celebrities who attended his birthday celebration. On the show, he discussed the books he has written and the death of his son Eric. Douglas celebrated a second Bar-Mitzvah ceremony in 1999 at the age of eighty-three.

A portrait of Douglas, titled "The Great and the Beautiful," which encapsulated his film career, art collection, philanthropy and rehabilitation from the helicopter crash and the stroke, appeared in ''Palm Springs Life'' magazine in 1999. The article said "For years, this energetic performer could be seen jogging several miles to get his morning paper, playing tennis with locals or posing for snapshots and signing autographs for star-struck out-of-towners. He has been a veritable one-man tourist promotion over the past four decades, extolling the virtue of the city he loves to virtually anyone who'll listen".

Douglas blogs regularly on his Myspace account. At 94, he is the oldest celebrity blogger.

Family tree

Filmography

Films

''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946)

''Out of the Past'' (1947)

''Mourning Becomes Electra'' (1947)

''I Walk Alone'' (1948)

''The Walls of Jericho'' (1948)

''My Dear Secretary'' (1949)

''A Letter to Three Wives'' (1949)

''Champion'' (1949)

''Young Man with a Horn'' (1950)

''The Glass Menagerie'' (1950)

''Along the Great Divide'' (1951)

''Ace in the Hole'' (1951)

''Detective Story'' (1951)

''The Big Trees'' (1952)

''The Big Sky'' (1952)

''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952)

''The Story of Three Loves'' (1953)

''The Juggler'' (1953)

''Act of Love'' (1953)

''The Jack Benny Program'' (television, 1954)

''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (1954)

''The Racers'' (1955)

''Ulisse'' (U.S. title: ''Ulysses'', 1955)

''Man Without a Star'' (1955)

''The Indian Fighter'' (1955)

''Lust for Life'' (1956)

''Top Secret Affair'' (1957)

''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957)

''Paths of Glory'' (1957)

''The Vikings'' (1958)

''Last Train from Gun Hill'' (1959)

''The Devil's Disciple'' (1959)

''Strangers When We Meet'' (1960)

''Spartacus'' (1960)

''Town Without Pity'' (1961)

''The Last Sunset'' (1961)

''Lonely Are the Brave'' (1962)

''Two Weeks in Another Town'' (1962)

''The Hook'' (1963)

''The List of Adrian Messenger'' (1963)

''For Love or Money'' (1963)

''Seven Days in May'' (1964)

''In Harm's Way'' (1965)

''The Heroes of Telemark'' (1965)

''Cast a Giant Shadow'' (1966)

''Is Paris Burning?'' (1966)

''The Way West'' (1967)

''The War Wagon'' (1967)

''Once Upon a Wheel'' (documentary, 1968)

''A Lovely Way to Die'' (1968)

''The Brotherhood'' (1968)

''The Arrangement'' (1969)

''There Was a Crooked Man...'' (1970)

''To Catch a Spy'' (1971)

''The Light at the Edge of the World'' (1971)

''A Gunfight'' (1971)

''A Man to Respect'' (1972)

''The Master Touch'' (1972)

''Scalawag'' (1973)

''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1973)

''Posse'' (1975) Also director

''Once Is Not Enough'' (1975)

''Holocaust 2000'' (1977)

''The Fury'' (1978)

''The Villain'' (1979)

''Saturn 3'' (1980)

''Home Movies'' (1980)

''The Final Countdown'' (1980)

''The Man from Snowy River'' (1982)

''Remembrance of Love'' (1982)

''Eddie Macon's Run'' (1983)

''Draw!'' (1984)

''Amos'' (1985)

''Tough Guys'' (1986)

''Queenie'' (television, 1987)

''Inherit the Wind'' (1988)

''Oscar'' (1991)

''Veraz'' (1991)

''The Secret'' (television, 1992)

''A Century of Cinema'' (documentary, 1994)

''Greedy'' (1994)

''Diamonds'' (1999)

''It Runs in the Family'' (2003)

''Illusion'' (2004)

''Meurtres à l'Empire State Building'' (U.S. title: ''Empire State Building Murders'', 2008)

''Before I Forget'' (documentary, 2010)

Short subjects

''Van Gogh: Darkness Into Light'' (1956)

''Rowan & Martin at the Movies'' (1968)

Awards

Academy Awards

1996 Honorary Award for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community

1995 nominated for Honorary Awards

1956 ''Lust for Life'' nominated for Best Actor

1952 ''Bad & the Beautiful'' nominated for Best Actor

1949 ''Champion'' nominated for Best Actor

Berlin International Film Festival

1975 ''Posse'' nominated for Competing Film

New York Film Critics Circle Award

1956 ''Lust for Life'' won for Best Actor

1951 ''Detective Story'' nominated for Best Actor

Bibliography

''Wisdom of the Elders''. 1986.

''The Ragman's Son''. Simon & Shuster, 1988. ISBN 0-671-63717-7.

''Dance With the Devil''. Random House, 1990. ISBN 0-394-58237-3.

The Gift''">The Gift''. Warner Books, 1992. ISBN 0-446-51694-5.

''Last Tango in Brooklyn''. Century, 1994. ISBN 0-7126-4852-6.

''The Broken Mirror: A Novella''. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1997. ISBN 0-689-81493-3.

''Young Heroes of the Bible''. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-689-81491-7.

''Climbing The Mountain: My Search For Meaning''. Simon and Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-7432-1438-2.

''My Stroke of Luck''. HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN 0-06-001404-0.

''Let's Face It – 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning''. John Wiley & Sons, 2007. ISBN 0-470-08469-3.

See also

References

Further reading

Kress, Michael. ''Rabbis: Observations of 100 Leading and Influential Rabbis of the 21st Century''. (foreword by Kirk Douglas.) Universe, 2002. ISBN 978-0-7893-0804-7.

McBride, Joseph. ''Kirk Douglas''. Pyramid Publications, 1976. ISBN 0-515-04084-3.

Munn, Michael. ''Kirk Douglas''. St. Martin's Press, 1985. ISBN 0-312-45681-6.

Press, Skip. ''Michael and Kirk Douglas''. Silver Burdett Press, 1995. ISBN 0-382-24941-0.

External links

Guest of honor on "Dean Martin Show" Video, 3 min. (circa 1980)

Profile at Turner Classic Movies

An Interview with Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas, le champion de Hollywood

Kirk Douglas interviewed by Mike Wallace on ''The Mike Wallace Interview'' from November 2, 1957

Category:1916 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Actors from New York Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American television actors Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Category:Jewish actors Category:American Jews Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Légion d'honneur recipients Category:People from Montgomery County, New York Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:St. Lawrence University alumni Category:Stroke survivors Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:United States Navy sailors

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birth name	Michael Kirk Douglas
birth date	September 25, 1944
birth place	New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
spouse	Diandra Luker (1977–2000)Catherine Zeta-Jones(2000–present)
occupation	Actor, producer
years active	1966–present
parents	Kirk Douglas, Diana Dill
relatives	Joel (brother)Peter (half-brother)Eric (half-brother, deceased)
children	Cameron DouglasDylan Michael DouglasCarys Zeta Douglas }}

Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in ''Wall Street''. Douglas received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2009. He is the eldest of actor Kirk Douglas's four sons.

Early life

Douglas was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the first child of actor Kirk Douglas and Bermudian actress Diana Dill. His paternal grandparents, Harry Demsky (born Herschel Danielovitch) and Bryna Demsky (née Sanglel), were Jewish immigrants from Gomel in Belarus (at that time a part of the Russian Empire). His mother and maternal grandparents, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Melville Dill and Ruth Rapalje Neilson, were natives of Devonshire Parish, Bermuda. Thomas Dill served as Attorney General of Bermuda and was commanding officer of the Bermuda Militia Artillery. Douglas has a younger brother, Joel Douglas (born 1947), and two paternal half-brothers, Peter Douglas (born 1955) and Eric Douglas (1958–2004).

Education

Douglas attended The Choate prepatory school (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut. He received his B.A. in drama from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1968, where he was also the Honorary President of the UCSB Alumni Association. He studied acting with Wynn Handman at The American Place Theater in New York City.

Career

Early years

Douglas started his film career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing in little known films like ''Hail, Hero!'' and ''Summertree''. His first significant role came in the TV series ''The Streets of San Francisco'' from 1972 to 1976, where he starred alongside Karl Malden. Douglas later said that Malden became a "mentor" and someone he "admired and loved deeply". After Douglas left the show, he had a long association with his mentor until Malden's death on July 1, 2009. In 2004, Douglas presented Malden with the Monte Cristo Award of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center (named for the father of Bermuda-born Oona O'Neill) in Waterford, Connecticut, for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1975, Douglas received from his father, Kirk Douglas, the rights to the novel ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest''. Michael went on to produce the film of the same name with Saul Zaentz. Kirk Douglas considered playing the starring role himself, having starred in an earlier stage version, but chose against it, considering himself too old. The lead role went instead to a young Jack Nicholson, who would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Douglas won the Award for Best Picture for producing the film.

After leaving ''Streets of San Francisco'' in 1976, Douglas played a hospital doctor in the medical thriller ''Coma'' (1978), and in 1979 he played the role of a troubled marathon runner in ''Running''. In 1979, he both produced and starred in ''The China Syndrome'', a dramatic film co-starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon about a nuclear power plant accident (the Three Mile Island accident took place 12 days after the film's release). The film was considered "one of the most intelligent Hollywood films of the 1970s."

Success in Hollywood

Douglas' acting career was propelled to fame when he produced and starred in the 1984 romantic adventure comedy ''Romancing the Stone''. It also helped launch Kathleen Turner to stardom, reintroduced Douglas as a capable leading man, and gave director Bob Zemeckis his first box-office success. It was followed a year later by a sequel, ''The Jewel of the Nile'', which he also produced.

The year 1987 saw Douglas star in the thriller ''Fatal Attraction'' with Glenn Close. That same year he played tycoon Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's ''Wall Street'' for which he received an Academy Award as Best Actor. He reprised his role as Gekko in the sequel ''Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'' in 2010, also directed by Stone.

Douglas again paired with Kathleen Turner for the 1989 film ''The War of the Roses'', which also starred Danny DeVito. In 1989, he starred in Ridley Scott's international police crime drama ''Black Rain'' opposite Andy García and Kate Capshaw. The film was shot in Osaka, Japan.

In 1992, Douglas had another successful starring role when he appeared alongside Sharon Stone in the film ''Basic Instinct''. The movie was a box office hit, and sparked controversy over its depictions of bisexuality and lesbianism. In 1994, Douglas and Demi Moore starred in the hit movie ''Disclosure'' focusing on the topic of sexual harassment with Douglas playing a man harassed by his new female boss. Other popular films he starred during these decade were ''Falling Down'', ''The American President'', ''The Ghost and the Darkness'', ''The Game'' (directed by David Fincher), and a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic - ''Dial M for Murder'' - titled ''A Perfect Murder''. In 1998, Douglas received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

In 2000, Douglas starred in Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed film ''Traffic'', opposite Benicio del Toro and future wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. That same year, he also received critical acclaim for his role in ''Wonder Boys'' as a professor and novelist suffering from writer's block. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama as well as several other awards from critics.

Types of roles

According to film historian and critic David Thomson, Douglas was capable of playing characters who were "weak, culpable, morally indolent, compromised, and greedy for illicit sensation without losing that basic probity or potential for ethical character that we require of a hero." Critic and author Rob Edelman points out similarities in many of Douglas's roles, writing that in some of his leading films, he personified the "contemporary, Caucasian middle-to-upper-class American male who finds himself the brunt of female anger because of real or imagined sexual slights."

These themes of male victimization are seen in films such as ''Fatal Attraction'' (1987), with Glenn Close, ''War of the Roses'' (1989), with Kathleen Turner, ''Basic Instinct'' (1992), Sharon Stone, ''Falling Down'' (1993), and ''Disclosure'' (1994), with Demi Moore. For his characters in films such as these, "any kind of sexual contact with someone other than his mate and the mother of his children is destined to come at a costly price." Edelman describes his characters as the "Everyman who must contend with, and be victimized by, these women and their raging, psychotic sexuality."

Conversely, Douglas also played powerful characters with dominating personalities equally well: as Gordon Gekko, in both versions of ''Wall Street'', he acted the role of a "greedy yuppie personification of the Me generation," convinced that "greed is good;" in ''Romancing the Stone'' and ''The Jewel of the Nile,'' he played an idealistic soldier of fortune; in ''The Star Chamber'' (1983), he was a court judge fed up with an inadequate legal system, leading him to become involved with a vigilante group; and in Black Rain (1989), he proved he could also play a Stallone-like action hero as a New York City cop.

Actor and producer

Having become recognized as both a successful producer and actor, he describes himself as "an actor first and a producer second." He has explained why he enjoys both functions:

"I love the fact that on one side, with acting, you can be a child — acting is wonderful for its innocence and the fun. . . On the other side, producing is fun for all the adult kinds of things you do. You deal in business, you deal with the creative forces. As an adult who continues to get older, you like the adult risks. It's flying without a net, taking chances and learning. I was never good in economics or business — had no business background, you know, and I like it."

He has also offered reasons why he has become successful in both acting and producing:

"I think I'm a chameleon. I think it's something that I possibly inherited early on as a child going back and forth between two families. I know that whether it's right or wrong, I have an ability to sort of fit into a lot of different situations and make people feel relatively comfortable in a wide range without giving up all my moral values. I think that same chameleonlike quality can transfer into films. I think if you can remember the reason you got involved with it in the first place and try to keep that impulsive, instinctive feeling even when you're being beaten down or exhausted or waylaid, you'll be successful."

Recent years

In 2003, Douglas starred in ''It Runs in the Family'', which featured three generations of his family (his parents, Kirk and Diana, as well as his own son, Cameron). The film, although a labor of love, was not successful, critically or at the box office. Douglas starred in the solid commercial action flick ''Don't Say a Word'', then the poorly received action-thriller ''The Sentinel'' in 2006. During that time, he also guest-appeared on the episode, "Fagel Attraction", of the popular television sitcom ''Will and Grace'', as a gay cop attracted to Will Truman (Eric McCormack); the performance earned Douglas an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Show.

Douglas was approached for ''Basic Instinct 2'', but he declined to participate in the project. He said:

"Yes, they asked me to do it a while ago, I thought we had done it very effectively; [Paul] Verhoeven is a pretty good director. I haven't seen the sequel. I've only done one sequel in my life, ''The Jewel of the Nile'', from ''Romancing The Stone.'' Besides, there were age issues, you know? Sharon still looks fabulous. The script was pretty good. Good for her, she's in her late-40s, and there are not a lot of parts around. The first one was probably the best picture of her career—it certainly made her career and she was great in it".

Future engagements

Douglas was set to star in ''Tragic Indifference'', a courtroom thriller based on a landmark liability case against Ford Motor Company, according to ''Variety''. Douglas will play the attorney who took Ford to court on behalf of a single mother from Texas who was paralyzed and nearly died after an accident. The trial exposed the automaker's indifference to flaws in its Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV). The movie will be based on Adam Penenberg's 2003 book of the same name. Douglas will play Attorney Tab Turner, who represented Donna Bailey after the Ford Explorer SUV she was riding in rolled over following a Firestone tire failure.

On December 17, 2007 it was announced that Douglas would announce the introduction to ''NBC Nightly News'', some two years after Howard Reig, the previous announcer, retired.

Personal life

Family

After filming ''Summertree'' (1971), he began dating Brenda Vaccaro. The relationship lasted for about six years.

In March 1977, 33 year old Douglas married 19 year old Diandra Luker, the daughter of an Austrian diplomat. They had one son, Cameron, born in 1978. In 1997 Diandra filed for divorce

Dating since March 1999, Douglas married Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones on November 18, 2000. They were both born on September 25, though 25 years apart. Zeta-Jones says that when they met in Deauville, France, Douglas used the line "I want to father your children ". They have two children, Dylan Michael (born August 8, 2000) and Carys Zeta (born April 20, 2003).

They planned on renewing their wedding vows in 2010 as part of their 10th wedding anniversary. The idea was hers, and came after Douglas was found to have advanced stages of cancer. One report notes that "Michael was in tears when she suggested it to him," and he sees it as a “wonderful expression of love.”

Douglas, the son of a Jewish father and an Anglican mother, has declared no religious affiliation.

Citizenship

Douglas is a U.S. citizen by birth in the United States and has Bermudian Status through his mother's birth in Bermuda.

Skiing accident and rehab

In 1980, Douglas was involved in a serious skiing accident which sidelined his acting career for three years. In September 1992, the same year ''Basic Instinct'' came out, he underwent treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction at Sierra Tucson Center.

Legal problems

In 1997, New York caddy James Parker sued Douglas for $25 million. Parker accused Douglas of hitting him in the groin with an errant golf ball, causing Parker to lose a testicle and his job. The case was later settled out of court.

Stalking

In 2004, Douglas and Zeta-Jones took legal action against stalker Dawnette Knight, who was accused of sending violent letters to the couple that contained graphic threats on Zeta-Jones' life. Testifying, Zeta-Jones said the threats left her so shaken she feared a nervous breakdown. Knight claimed she had been in love with Douglas and admitted to the offences, which took place between October 2003 and May 2004. She was sentenced to three years in prison.

Health problems

It was announced on August 16, 2010, that Douglas was suffering from throat cancer and will undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment. On August 31, 2010 Douglas appeared on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and confirmed that the cancer was at an advanced stage IV. Douglas attributed the cancer to a combination of stress, his previous alcohol abuse, and years of heavy smoking.

In November 2010, Douglas was put on a special weight gain diet by his doctors due to the excessive weight loss leaving him weak. On January 11, 2011, he said in an interview that the tumor was gone. He admitted that the illness and aggressive treatment had caused him to lose 32 lbs in weight. He will have to have monthly screenings because there is a very high chance that the cancer could return over the course of the next two to three years. Although Douglas has described the cancer as throat cancer, many doctors believe he was actually diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer.

Activism

Political activities

Douglas and Zeta-Jones hosted the annual Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 2003. They acted as co-masters of ceremony in the concert celebrating the award given to Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi. In 2006, Douglas was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

He is an advocate of nuclear disarmament, a supporter of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and sits on the Board of Directors of the anti-war grantmaking foundation Ploughshares Fund. In 1998, he was appointed UN Messenger of Peace by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is a notable Democrat and has donated money to Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd, and Al Franken He has been a major supporter of gun control since John Lennon was murdered in 1980.

In 2006 he was a featured speaker in a public service campaign sponsored by a UN conference to focus attention on trade of illicit arms, especially of small arms and light weapons. Douglas made several appearances and offered his opinions: :"The conference is an opportunity for UN member states to build on the Program of Action and to encourage countries to strengthen their laws on the illicit trade, . . . an issue that affects us all . . .[and] while owning guns is a legal right in most countries, the illegal trade in guns continues to fuel conflict, crime and violence."

A few years earlier, in 2003, Douglas hosted a "powerful film" on child soldiers and the impact of combat on children in countries such as Sierra Leone. During the documentary film, Douglas interviewed children, and estimated that they were among 300,000 other children worldwide who have been conscripted or kidnapped and forced to fight. Of one such child he interviewed, Douglas stated, "After being kidnapped by a rebel group, he was tortured, drugged, and forced to commit atrocities." Douglas discussed his role as a Messenger Peace for the UN: :"I'm in an enviable position . . . When I talk about movies I can talk about messages of peace, and infuse them into the entertainment pages."

Humanitarian initiatives

In 2009 Douglas joined the project ''Soldiers of Peace'', a movie against all wars and for global peace.

Douglas lent his support for the campaign to release Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman, who after having been convicted of committing adultery, was given a sentence of death by stoning.

Filmography

+ Filmography
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1966	''Cast a Giant Shadow''	Jeep driver
1969	''Hail, Hero!''	Carl Dixon
1970	''Adam at Six A.M.''	Adam Gaines
1971	''Summertree''	Jerry
1972	''Napoleon and Samantha''	Danny
1975			Won As ProducerAcademy Award for Best PictureBAFTA Award for Best FilmGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
1978		Dr. Mark Bellows
1979		Michael Andropolis	Nominated — Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor
1979	''''	Richard Adams	Also ProducerNominated - BAFTA Award for Best FilmNominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
1980		Ben Lewin
1983	''''	Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin
1984	''Romancing the Stone''	Jack Colton	Also ProducerGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
1985	''''	Zach
1985	''''	Jack Colton	Also Producer
1987	''Fatal Attraction''	Dan Gallagher	Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1987		Gordon Gekko	Academy Award for Best ActorDavid di Donatello
1989	''''	Oliver Rose	Nominated — [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1989		Det. Sgt. Nick Conklin
1992	''Basic Instinct''	Nick Curran	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Sharon Stone
1992	''Shining Through''	Ed Leland
1992	''Oliver Stone: Inside Out''	Himself	Documentary
1993	''Falling Down''	William "D-Fens" Foster
1994		Tom Sanders
1995	''''		Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1996	''''	Charles Remington	Also Executive Producer
1997	''''	Nicholas Van Orton
1998	''''	Steven Taylor
1999	''One Day in September''	Narrator	Documentary
1999	''Get Bruce''	Himself	Documentary
2000		Professor Grady Tripp	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorSatellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedySEFCA Award for Best ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaNominated — LVFCS Award for Best Actor (also for ''Traffic)''Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
2000		Robert Wakefield
2001	''Don't Say a Word	Dr. Nathan R. Conrad
2001	''In Search of Peace''	Narrator	Documentary
2001	''One Night at McCool's''	Mr. Burmeister	Also Producer
2003	''''	Steve Tobias
2003		Alex Gromberg
2003	''Direct Order''	Narrator	Documentary
2003	''Tell Them Who You Are''	Himself	Documentary
2006	''You, Me and Dupree''	Mr. Thompson
2006	''''	Pete Garrison	Also Producer
2007	''King of California''	Charlie
2009	''Ghosts of Girlfriends Past''	Uncle Wayne
2009		Mark Hunter
2009		Ben Kalmen	Nominated — Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
2010	''Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps''	Gordon Gekko	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
2012		TBA	''Post-production''

References

External links

"The Films of Michael Douglas", video compilation of film clips, 5 minutes

Category:1944 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:American anti–nuclear weapons activists Category:American film actors Category:American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Bermudian descent Category:American people of British descent Category:American television actors Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:California Democrats Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Category:Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Category:Living people Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Category:United Nations Messengers of Peace Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Category:Cancer survivors Category:People from Majorca

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birth name	Betty Joan Perske
birth date	September 16, 1924
birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actress
spouse
children	Stephen BogartLeslie BogartSam Robards
relatives	Shimon Peres (cousin)
years active	1944–present
signature	LaurenBacall.png }}

Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske, September 16, 1924) is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.

She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film "To Have And Have Not" (1944) and continued on in the film noir genre, including appearances in ''The Big Sleep'' (1946) and ''Dark Passage'' (1947), as well as a comedienne in ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' (1953) and ''Designing Woman'' (1957). Bacall has also worked in the Broadway musical, gaining Tony Awards for ''Applause'' in 1970 and ''Woman of the Year'' in 1981. Her performance in the movie ''The Mirror Has Two Faces'' (1996) earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.

In 1999, Bacall was ranked #20 of the 25 actresses on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list by the American Film Institute. In 2009, she was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Academy Honorary Award at the inaugural Governors Awards.

Early life

Born Betty Joan Perske in New York City, Bacall was the only child of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a secretary who later legally changed her surname to Bacall, and William Perske, who worked in sales. Her parents were Jewish immigrants, their families having come from Poland, Romania, and Germany. She is first cousin to Shimon Peres, current President and former Prime Minister of Israel. Her parents divorced when she was five, and she took her mother's last name, Bacall. Bacall no longer saw her father and formed a close bond with her mother, whom she took with her to California when she became a movie star.

Career

Bacall took lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. During this time, she became a theatre usher and worked as a fashion model. As Betty Bacall, she made her acting debut, at age 17, on Broadway in 1942, as a walk-on in ''Johnny 2 X 4''. According to her autobiography, she met her idol Bette Davis at Davis' hotel. Years later, Davis visited Bacall backstage to congratulate her on her performance in ''Applause'', a musical based on Davis' turn in ''All About Eve''.

Bacall became a part-time fashion model. Howard Hawks' wife Nancy spotted her on the March 1943 cover of ''Harper's Bazaar'' and urged Hawks to have her take a screen test for ''To Have and Have Not.'' Hawks invited her to Hollywood for the audition. He signed her up to a seven-year personal contract, brought her to Hollywood, gave her $100 a week, and began to manage her career. Hawks changed her name to Lauren Bacall. Nancy Hawks took Bacall under her wing. She dressed the newcomer stylishly, and guided her in matters of elegance, manners and taste. Bacall's voice was trained to be lower, more masculine and sexier, which resulted in one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood. In the movie, Bacall takes on Nancy's nickname “Slim”.

Breakthrough

During screen tests for ''To Have and Have Not'' (1944), Bacall was nervous. To minimize her quivering, she pressed her chin against her chest and to face the camera, tilted her eyes upward. This effect became known as "The Look", Bacall's trademark.

On the set, Humphrey Bogart, who was married to Mayo Methot, initiated a relationship with Bacall some weeks into shooting and they began seeing each other.

On a visit to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on February 10, 1945, Bacall's press agent, chief of publicity at Warner Bros. Charlie Enfield, asked the 20-year-old Bacall to sit on the piano which was being played by Vice-President of the United States Harry S. Truman. The photos caused controversy and made worldwide headlines.

After ''To Have and Have Not'', Bacall was seen opposite Charles Boyer in the critically panned ''Confidential Agent'' (1945). Bacall would state in her autobiography that her career never fully recovered from this film, and that studio boss Jack Warner did not care about quality. She then appeared with Bogart in the film noir ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), the thriller ''Dark Passage'' (1947) and John Huston's melodramatic suspense film ''Key Largo'' (1948). She was cast with Gary Cooper in the period drama ''Bright Leaf'' (1950).

1950s

Bacall turned down scripts she did not find interesting and thereby earned a reputation for being difficult. Yet, for her leads in a string of films, she received favorable reviews. In ''Young Man with a Horn'' (1950), co-starring Doris Day and Kirk Douglas, Bacall played a two-faced femme fatale. This movie is often considered the first big-budget jazz film. During 1951-52, Bacall co-starred with Bogart in the syndicated action-adventure radio series ''Bold Venture''.

Bacall starred in the CinemaScope comedy ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' (1953), a runaway hit that saw her teaming up with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable. Bacall got positive notices for her turn as the witty gold-digger, Schatze Page. According to her autobiography, Bacall refused to press her hand- and footprints in the cemented forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre at the Los Angeles premiere of the film.

''Written on the Wind'', directed by Douglas Sirk in 1956, is now considered a classic tear-jerker. Appearing with Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack, Bacall played a determined woman. Bacall states in her autobiography that she did not think much of the role. While struggling at home with Bogart's severe illness (cancer of the esophagus), Bacall starred with Gregory Peck in the screwball comedy ''Designing Woman'' and gained rave reviews. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and released in New York City on May 16, 1957, four months after Bogart succumbed to cancer on January 14.

1960s and 1970s

Bacall's movie career waned in the 1960s, and she was only seen in a handful of films. On Broadway she starred in ''Goodbye, Charlie'' (1959), ''Cactus Flower'' (1965), ''Applause'' (1970) and ''Woman of the Year'' (1981). She won Tony Awards for her performances in the latter two. The few movies Bacall shot during this period were all-star vehicles such as ''Sex and the Single Girl'' (1964) with Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, ''Harper'' (1966) with Paul Newman, Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, Robert Wagner and Janet Leigh, and ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), with Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney and Sean Connery. In 1964, she appeared in two acclaimed episodes of Craig Stevens's CBS drama, ''Mr. Broadway'': first in "Take a Walk Through a Cemetery", with then husband Jason Robards, Jr. and Jill St. John, and then as Barbara Lake in "Something to Sing About", with Martin Balsam as Nate Bannerman.

For her work in the Chicago theatre, Bacall won the Sarah Siddons Award in 1972 and again in 1984. In 1976, she co-starred with John Wayne in his last picture, ''The Shootist''. The two became friends, despite significant political differences between them. They had previously been cast together in 1955's ''Blood Alley''.

Later career

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Bacall appeared in the poorly received star vehicle ''The Fan'' (1981), as well as some star-studded features such as Robert Altman's ''Health'' (1980), Michael Winner's ''Appointment with Death'' (1988), and Rob Reiner's ''Misery'' (1990). In 1997, Bacall was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in ''The Mirror Has Two Faces'' (1996), her first nomination after a career span of more than fifty years. She had already won a Golden Globe and was widely expected to win the Oscar, which went to Juliette Binoche for ''The English Patient.''

Bacall received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997. In 1999, she was voted one of the 25 most significant female movie stars in history by the American Film Institute. Since then, her movie career has seen a new renaissance and she has attracted respectful notices for her performances in high-profile projects such as ''Dogville'' (2003) and ''Birth'' (2004), both with Nicole Kidman. She is one of the leading actors in Paul Schrader's 2007 movie ''The Walker.''

In March 2006, Bacall was seen at the 78th Annual Academy Awards introducing a film montage dedicated to film noir. She also made a cameo appearance as herself on ''The Sopranos'', in the April 2006 episode, "Luxury Lounge", during which she was punched and robbed by a masked Christopher Moltisanti.

In September 2006, Bacall was awarded the first Katharine Hepburn Medal, which recognizes "women whose lives, work and contributions embody the intelligence, drive and independence of the four-time-Oscar-winning actress", by Bryn Mawr College's Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. She gave an address at the memorial service of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr at the Reform Club in London in June 2007.

Bacall is the spokesperson for the Tuesday Morning discount chain. Commercials show her in a limousine waiting for the store to open at the beginning of one of their sales events. She is currently producing a jewelry line with the company, Weinman Brothers. She previously was a celebrity spokesperson for High Point (coffee) and Fancy Feast cat food.

Bacall was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Honorary Academy Award. The award was presented at the inaugural Governors Awards on November 14, 2009.

Personal life

Relationships and family

On May 21, 1945, Bacall married Humphrey Bogart. Their wedding and honeymoon took place at Malabar Farm, Lucas, Ohio. It was the country home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield, a close friend of Bogart. The wedding was held in the Big House. Bacall was 20 and Bogart was 45. They remained married until Bogart's death from esophageal cancer in 1957. Bogart usually called Bacall "Baby," even when referring to her in conversations with other people. During the filming of ''The African Queen'' (1951), Bacall and Bogart became friends of Bogart's co-star Katharine Hepburn and her partner Spencer Tracy. Bacall also began to mix in non-acting circles, becoming friends with the historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and the journalist Alistair Cooke. In 1952, she gave campaign speeches for Democratic Presidential contender Adlai Stevenson. Along with other Hollywood figures, Bacall was a staunch opponent of McCarthyism.

Shortly after Bogart's death in 1957, Bacall had a relationship with singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She told Robert Osborne, of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), in an interview that she had ended the romance. However, in her autobiography, she wrote that Sinatra abruptly ended the relationship, having become angry that the story of his proposal to Bacall had reached the press. Bacall and her friend Swifty Lazar had run into the gossip columnist Louella Parsons, to whom Lazar had spilled the beans. Sinatra then cut Bacall off and went to Las Vegas.

Bacall was married to actor Jason Robards from 1961 to 1969. According to Bacall's autobiography, she divorced Robards mainly because of his alcoholism. In her autobiography ''Now'', she recalls having a relationship with Len Cariou, her co-star in ''Applause''.

Bacall had a son and daughter with Bogart and a son with Robards. Her children with Bogart are her son Stephen Humphrey Bogart (born January 6, 1949), a news producer, documentary film maker and author; and her daughter Leslie Bogart (born August 23, 1952), a yoga instructor. Sam Robards (born December 16, 1961), her son with Robards, is an actor.

Bacall has written two autobiographies, ''Lauren Bacall By Myself'' (1978) and ''Now'' (1994). In 2005, the first volume was updated with an extra chapter: "By Myself and Then Some".

Political views

Bacall is a staunch liberal Democrat. She has proclaimed her political views on numerous occasions.

She appeared alongside Humphrey Bogart in a photograph printed at the end of an article he wrote, titled "I'm No Communist", in the May 1948 edition of ''Photoplay'' magazine, written to counteract negative publicity resulting from his appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Bogart and Bacall specifically distanced themselves from the Hollywood Ten and were quoted as saying: "We're about as much in favor of Communism as J. Edgar Hoover." In October 1947, Bacall and Bogart traveled to Washington, DC along with other Hollywood stars, in a group that called itself the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA).

She campaigned for Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 Presidential election and for Robert Kennedy in his 1964 run for Senate.

In a 2005 interview with Larry King, Bacall described herself as "anti-Republican... A liberal. The L word." She went on to say that "being a liberal is the best thing on earth you can be. You are welcoming to everyone when you're a liberal. You do not have a small mind."

Dramatization

On screen and in literature

In 1980, Kathryn Harrold played Bacall in the TV movie ''Bogie'', which was directed by Vincent Sherman and based on the novel by Joe Hymans. Kevin O'Connor played Bogart. The movie focused primarily upon the disintegration of Bogart's third marriage to Mayo Methot, played by Ann Wedgeworth, when Bogart met Bacall and began an affair with her.

In music

Bacall is referenced in the song, "Rainbow High", from the musical Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice

Bacall is referenced in the song "Car Jamming" by 70's punk band The Clash.

Bacall is also referenced in the song "Key Largo" by Bertie Higgins.

She is also referenced in the song "Freeze Tag" by Suzanne Vega.

She is referenced in the song "Mersey" by Pavlov's Dog

She is referenced in Madonna's "Vogue".

She is referenced in the song "Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars" by Bon Jovi

In fashion

Bacall is paid tribute in "Ariege", one of the latest collections by luxury handbag designer Marcela Calvet

In popular culture

In the last scene of the 1947 Warner Bros. cartoon ''Slick Hare'', a caricature of Bacall is shown sitting at a dinner table as Bugs Bunny wolf whistles at her.

Work

Filmography

Features

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1944		Marie 'Slim' Browning
1945	''Confidential Agent''	Rose Cullen
1946	''''	Vivian Sternwood Rutledge
1946	''Two Guys from Milwaukee''	Herself	uncredited cameo
1947		Irene Jansen
1948		Nora Temple
1950		Amy North
1950	''Bright Leaf''	Sonia Kovac
1953	''How to Marry a Millionaire''	Schatze Page
1954		Elizabeth Burns
1955	''''	Meg Faversen Rinehart
1955	''Blood Alley''	Cathy Grainger
1956		Lobby lady near elevators	uncredited
1956	''Written on the Wind''	Lucy Moore Hadley
1957	''Designing Woman''	Marilla Brown Hagen
1958	''''	Julie Beck
1959		Catherine Wyatt
1964		Dr. Edwina Beighley
1964		Sylvia Broderick
1966		Elaine Sampson
1973	''Applause''	Margo Channing
1974		Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard
1976	''''	Bond Rogers	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1978	''Perfect Gentleman''	Mrs. Lizzie Martin
1980		Esther Brill
1981	''''	Sally Ross
1988		Lady Westholme
1988	''Mr. North''	Mrs. Cranston
1989	''John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick''		documentary
1989	''''	Marsha Archdale
1989	''Dinner at Eight''	Carlotta Vance
1990		Marcia Sindell
1991	''A Star for Two''
1991		Lillian Brooks
1993	''''	Fanny Church
1993	''''
1993	''''	Lisa
1994		Slim Chrysler	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
1995	''From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler''	Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
1996	''''	Hannah Morgan	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion PictureSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActressScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting RoleNominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1996	''My Fellow Americans''	Margaret Kramer
1997	''Day and Night''	Sonia
1999	''Get Bruce''		documentary
1999	''Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke''	Doris Duke (elderly)
1999	''Madeline: Lost in Paris''	Madame Lacroque	voice
1999	''''	Countess Camilla Volta
1999	''Presence of Mind''	Mado Remei
1999		Sin-Dee
1999	''''		documentary
2003	'''' (aka. ''Gone Dark'')	May Markham
2003	''Dogville''	Ma Ginger
2004		Witch of the Waste	voice
2004		Eleanor
2005	''Manderlay''	Mam
2006	''These Foolish Things''	Dame Lydia
2007	''''	Natalie Van Miter
2008		Grandma
2008	''Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King''	The Grand Witch	voice
2009	''Wide Blue Yonder''	May	post-production
2010	''Firedog''	Posche	voice
2010			post- production

Short subjects

''1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration'' (1955)

''Amália Traída'' (''Amália Betrayed'') (2004)

Selected stage appearances

''January Two by Four'' (1942)

''Goodbye Charlie'' (1959)

''Cactus Flower'' (1965)

''Applause'' (1970)

''V.I.P. Night on Broadway'' (1979) (benefit concert)

''Woman of the Year'' (1981)

''Angela Lansbury: A Celebration'' (1996) (benefit concert)

''Waiting in the Wings'' (1999)

Television work

''What's My Line'' (1953)

''The Petrified Forest'' on ''Producers' Showcase'' (1956)

''Ford Star Jubilee'' (1956, 1 episode)

''Applause'' (1973)

''Perfect Gentlemen'' (1978)

''Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs (Rockford Files)'' (1979)

''Dinner at Eight'' (1989)

''A Little Piece of Sunshine'' (1990)

''The Portrait'' (1993)

''The Parallax Garden'' (1993)

''It's All in the Game (Columbo)'' (1993)

''From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler'' (1995)

''6th PBS ident'' (1996) as announcer

''7th PBS ident'' (1998) as announcer; older woman in red shirt

''Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke'' (1999)

''The Sopranos'' (2006)

''Wonder Pets'' (2009) special guest voice

Radio

''Bold Venture'' (1951-52); with Humphrey Bogart. Exact number of episodes recorded is unknown, but upwards of 50.

Books

''By Myself'' (1978)

''Now'' (1994)

''By Myself and Then Some'' (2005)

Awards and nominations

1970 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical – ''Applause''

1972 Sarah Siddons Award

1980 National Book Award for Best Non-Fiction Book – ''By Myself''

1981 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical – ''Woman of the Year''

1984 Sarah Siddons Award

1990 George Eastman Award (given by George Eastman House)

1992 Premio Donostia [Honorary Award]

1993 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award

1997 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – ''The Mirror Has Two Faces''

1997 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – ''The Mirror Has Two Faces''

1997 Kennedy Center Honors

2000 Stockholm Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

2007 Norwegian International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

2008 Bette Davis Medal of Honor (from the Bette Davis Foundation)

2009 Academy Honorary Award

;Nominations

1977 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role – ''The Shootist''

1997 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – ''The Mirror Has Two Faces''

1997 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – ''The Mirror Has Two Faces''

Bacall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street.

See also

Humphrey Bogart: the Bogart and Bacall section

Bogart-Bacall syndrome

References

External links

Interview with Larry King on CNN

"Rat Pack"">Article about the "origin" of the "Rat Pack" taken mainly from her book ''"Lauren Bacall, By Myself"'', (New York: Knopf, 1978)

Literature on Lauren Bacall

Category:1924 births Category:Living people Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Category:American female models Category:American film actors Category:American stage actors Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:American Jews Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Jewish actors Category:New York Democrats Category:People from New York City Category:Tony Award winners Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients

ar:لورين باكال bg:Лорън Бекол ca:Lauren Bacall da:Lauren Bacall de:Lauren Bacall el:Λορίν Μπακόλ es:Lauren Bacall eo:Lauren Bacall eu:Lauren Bacall fr:Lauren Bacall gl:Lauren Bacall ko:로렌 바콜 hr:Lauren Bacall id:Lauren Bacall it:Lauren Bacall he:לורן באקול ka:ლორენ ბეკოლი la:Lauren Bacall hu:Lauren Bacall nl:Lauren Bacall ja:ローレン・バコール no:Lauren Bacall pl:Lauren Bacall pt:Lauren Bacall ro:Lauren Bacall ru:Лорин Бэколл simple:Lauren Bacall sr:Лорен Бакол sh:Lauren Bacall fi:Lauren Bacall sv:Lauren Bacall tl:Lauren Bacall tr:Lauren Bacall uk:Лорен Беколл vi:Lauren Bacall zh:羅蘭·比歌

name	Paul Newman
birth name	Paul Leonard Newman
birth date	January 26, 1925
birth place	Shaker Heights, Ohio, U.S.
death date	September 26, 2008
death place	Westport, Connecticut, U.S.
death cause	Lung cancer
nationality	American
occupation	Actor, director, entrepreneur
education	Shaker Heights High School
alma mater	Ohio University
party	Democrat
years active	1952–2008
spouse	(divorced) (his death)
children	Scott (1950-78) (deceased)Susan (1953)StephanieNell (1959)Melissa (1961)Claire (1965)
parents	Theresa (nee Fetzer or Fetsko),Arthur Samuel Newman }}

Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the 1986 Martin Scorsese film ''The Color of Money'' and eight other nominations, three Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy award, and many honorary awards. He also won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several championships in open wheel IndyCar racing.

Newman was a co-founder of Newman's Own, a food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. As of July 2011, these donations exceeded $300 million.

Early life

Newman was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). He was the son of Theresa (née Fetzer or Fetsko; ) and Arthur Sigmund Newman, who ran a profitable sporting goods store. His father was Jewish (Paul's paternal grandparents, Simon Newman and Hannah Cohn, were immigrants from Hungary and Poland). His mother, who practiced Christian Science, was born to a Slovak Roman Catholic family at Homonna, Ptičie (formerly Pticsie) in the former Kingdom of Hungary, Austria–Hungary (now in Slovakia). Newman had no religion as an adult, but described himself as a Jew, stating that "it's more of a challenge". Newman's mother worked in his father's store, while raising Paul and his brother, Arthur, who later became a producer and production manager.

Newman showed an early interest in the theater, which his mother encouraged. At the age of seven, he made his acting debut, playing the court jester in a school production of ''Robin Hood''. Graduating from Shaker Heights High School in 1943, he briefly attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he was initiated into the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.

Military service

Newman served in the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific theater. Newman enrolled in the Navy V-12 program at Ohio University, hoping to be accepted for pilot training, but was dropped when it was discovered he was color blind. He was sent instead to boot camp and then received further training as a radioman and gunner. Qualifying as a rear-seat radioman and gunner in torpedo bombers, in 1944, Aviation Radioman Third Class Newman was sent to Barber's Point, Hawaii. He was subsequently assigned to Pacific-based replacement torpedo squadrons (VT-98, VT-99, and VT-100). These torpedo squadrons were responsible primarily for training replacement pilots and combat air crewmen, placing particular importance on carrier landings.

He later flew from aircraft carriers as a turret gunner in an Avenger torpedo bomber. As a radioman-gunner, he served aboard the ''USS Bunker Hill'' during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. He was ordered to the ship with a draft of replacements shortly before the Okinawa campaign, but his life was spared because he was held back after his pilot developed an ear infection. The men who remained in his detail were killed in action.

After the war, he completed his degree in English and Speech (which encompassed the drama department) at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, graduating in 1949. Newman later studied Drama at Yale University, graduating in 1954, and later studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York City.

Oscar Levant wrote that Newman initially was hesitant to leave New York for Hollywood: "Too close to the cake," he reported him saying, "Also, no place to study."

Career

Early work and mainstream success

Newman arrived in New York City in 1951 with his first wife Jackie Witte, taking up residence in the St. George section of Staten Island. He made his Broadway theater debut in the original production of William Inge's ''Picnic'' with Kim Stanley in 1953 and appeared in the original Broadway production of ''The Desperate Hours'' in 1955. In 1959, he was in the original Broadway production of ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' with Geraldine Page and three years later starred with Page in the film version.

During this time Newman started acting in television. He had his first credited TV or film appearance with a small but notable part in a 1952 episode of the science fiction TV series ''Tales of Tomorrow'' entitled "Ice from Space". In the mid-1950s, he appeared twice on CBS's ''Appointment with Adventure'' anthology series.

In February 1954, Newman appeared in a screen test with James Dean, directed by Gjon Mili, for ''East of Eden'' (1955). Newman was testing for the role of Aron Trask, Dean for the role of Aron's fraternal twin brother Cal. Dean won his part, but Newman lost out to Richard Davalos. In the same year, Newman co-starred with Eva Marie Saint and Frank Sinatra in a live —and color —television broadcast of ''Our Town'', a musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's stage play. Newman was a last-minute replacement for James Dean. In 2003, Newman acted in a remake of ''Our Town'', this time in the role of the stage manager.

His first movie for Hollywood was ''The Silver Chalice'' (1954). The film was a box office failure and the actor would later acknowledge his disdain for it. In 1956, Newman garnered much attention and acclaim with ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' as boxer Rocky Graziano. By 1958, he was one of the hottest new stars in Hollywood. Later that year, he starred in ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1958), opposite Elizabeth Taylor. The film was a box office smash and Newman garnered his first Academy Award nomination. Also in 1958, Newman starred in ''The Long, Hot Summer'' with Joanne Woodward, whom he met on the set. He won best actor at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival for this film.

Major films

Newman was one of the few actors who successfully made the transition from 1950s cinema to that of the 1960s and 1970s. His rebellious persona translated well to a subsequent generation. Newman starred in ''Exodus'' (1960), ''The Hustler'' (1961), ''Hud'' (1963), ''Harper'' (1966), ''Hombre'' (1967), ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974), ''Slap Shot'' (1977), and ''The Verdict'' (1982). He teamed with fellow actor Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill for ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973).

He appeared with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the feature films ''The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), ''Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!'', (1958), ''From the Terrace'' (1960), ''Paris Blues'' (1961), ''A New Kind of Love'' (1963), ''Winning'' (1969), ''WUSA'' (1970), ''The Drowning Pool'' (1975), ''Harry & Son'' (1984), and ''Mr. and Mrs. Bridge'' (1990). They both also starred in the HBO miniseries ''Empire Falls'', but did not have any scenes together.

In addition to starring in and directing ''Harry & Son'', Newman also directed four feature films (in which he did not act) starring Woodward. They were ''Rachel, Rachel'' (1968), based on Margaret Laurence's ''A Jest of God'', the screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' (1972), the television screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''The Shadow Box'' (1980), and a screen version of Tennessee Williams' ''The Glass Menagerie'' (1987).

Twenty-five years after ''The Hustler'', Newman reprised his role of "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese-directed ''The Color of Money'' (1986), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He told a television interviewer that winning an Oscar at the age of 62 deprived him of his fantasy of formally being presented with it in extreme old age.

Last works

In 2003, he appeared in a Broadway revival of Wilder's ''Our Town'', receiving his first Tony Award nomination for his performance. PBS and the cable network Showtime aired a taping of the production, and Newman was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie.

His last screen appearance was as a conflicted mob boss in the 2002 film ''Road to Perdition'' opposite Tom Hanks, although he continued to provide voice work for films.

In 2005 at age 80, Newman was profiled alongside Robert Redford as part of the Sundance Channel's TV series ''Iconoclasts''.

In keeping with his strong interest in car racing, he provided the voice of Doc Hudson, a retired race car in Disney/Pixar's ''Cars''. Similarly, he served as narrator for the 2007 film ''Dale'', about the life of the legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, which turned out to be Newman's final film performance in any form. Newman also provided the narration for the film documentary ''The Meerkats'', which was released in 2008.

Retirement from acting

Newman announced that he would entirely retire from acting on May 25, 2007. He stated that he did not feel he could continue acting at the level he wanted to. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."

Philanthropy

With writer A.E. Hotchner, Newman founded Newman's Own, a line of food products, in 1982. The brand started with salad dressing, and has expanded to include pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa, and wine, among other things. Newman established a policy that all proceeds, after taxes, would be donated to charity. As of 2010, the franchise has donated in excess of $300 million. He co-wrote a memoir about the subject with Hotchner, ''Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good''. Among other awards, Newman's Own co-sponsors the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, a $25,000 reward designed to recognize those who protect the First Amendment as it applies to the written word.

One beneficiary of his philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential summer camp for seriously ill children, which is located in Ashford, Connecticut. Newman co-founded the camp in 1988; it was named after the gang in his film ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969). Newman's college fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, adopted Hole in the Wall as their "national philanthropy" in 1995. One camp has expanded to become several Hole in the Wall Camps in the U.S., Ireland, France, and Israel. The camps serve 13,000 children every year, free of charge.

In June 1999, Newman donated $250,000 to Catholic Relief Services to aid refugees in Kosovo.

On June 1, 2007, Kenyon College announced that Newman had donated $10 million to the school to establish a scholarship fund as part of the college's current $230 million fund-raising campaign. Newman and Woodward were honorary co-chairs of a previous campaign.

Newman was one of the founders of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), a membership organization of CEOs and corporate chairpersons committed to raising the level and quality of global corporate philanthropy. Founded in 1999 by Newman and a few leading CEOs, CECP has grown to include more than 175 members and, through annual executive convenings, extensive benchmarking research, and best practice publications, leads the business community in developing sustainable and strategic community partnerships through philanthropy.

Newman was named the Most Generous Celebrity of 2008 by Givingback.org. He contributed $20,857,000 for the year of 2008 to the Newman's Own Foundation, which distributes funds to a variety of charities.

Upon Newman's death, the Italian newspaper (a "semi-official" paper of the Holy See) ''L'Osservatore Romano'' published a notice lauding Newman's philanthropy. It also commented that "Newman was a generous heart, an actor of a dignity and style rare in Hollywood quarters."

Marriages and family

Newman was married to Jackie Witte from 1949 to 1958. They had a son, Scott (1950–1978), and two daughters, Susan Kendall (1953) and Stephanie . Scott, who died in November 1978 from a drug overdose, appeared in the films ''Breakheart Pass'', ''The Towering Inferno'', and the 1977 film ''Fraternity Row''. Paul Newman started the Scott Newman Center for drug abuse prevention in memory of his son. Susan is a documentary filmmaker and philanthropist and has Broadway and screen credits, including a starring role as one of four Beatles fans in ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' (1978), and also a small role opposite her father in ''Slap Shot''. She also received an Emmy nomination as co-producer of his telefilm, ''The Shadow Box''.

Newman met actress Joanne Woodward in 1953, shortly after filming ''The Long, Hot Summer'' in 1957. He divorced Witte and married Woodward early in 1958. They remained married for fifty years until his death in 2008. They had three daughters: Elinor "Nell" Teresa (b. 1959), Melissa "Lissy" Stewart (b. 1961), and Claire "Clea" Olivia (b. 1965). Newman directed Nell (using the stage name Nell Potts) alongside her mother in the films ''Rachel Rachel'' and ''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds''.

The Newmans lived away from the Hollywood environment, making their home in Westport, Connecticut. Newman was well known for his devotion to his wife and family. When asked once about infidelity, he famously quipped, "Why go out for a hamburger when you have steak at home?"

Political activism

For his support of Eugene McCarthy in 1968 (and effective use of television commercials in California) and his opposition to the War in Vietnam, Newman was placed nineteenth on Richard Nixon's enemies list, which he claimed was his greatest accomplishment.

Consistent with his work for liberal causes, Newman publicly supported Ned Lamont's candidacy in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic Primary against Senator Joe Lieberman, and was even rumored as a candidate himself, until Lamont emerged as a credible alternative. He donated to Chris Dodd's presidential campaign.

He attended the first Earth Day event in Manhattan on April 22, 1970. Newman was also a vocal supporter of gay rights, including same-sex marriage.

Newman was concerned over global warming and supported nuclear energy development as a solution.

Auto racing

Newman was an avid auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in motorsports ("the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in") while training at the Watkins Glen Racing School for the filming of ''Winning'', a 1969 film. Because of his love and passion for racing, Newman agreed in 1971 to star in and to host his first television special, ''Once Upon a Wheel,'' on the history of auto racing. It was produced and directed by David Winters, who co-owned a number of racing cars with Newman. Newman's first professional event as a racer was in 1972, in Thompson, Connecticut, and he was a frequent competitor in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events for the rest of the decade, eventually winning four national championships. He later drove in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in Dick Barbour's Porsche 935 and finished in second place. Newman reunited with Barbour in 2000 to compete in the Petit Le Mans.

{{infobox le mans driver | name	| Image | Nationality | Years 1979| Team(s) Dick Barbour Racing | Best Finish 2nd (1979) | Class Wins 1 (1979) | }}

From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Datsuns (later rebranded as Nissans) in the Trans-Am Series. He became closely associated with the brand during the 1980s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 years and 8 days, he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, winning in his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona. Among his last races were the Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.

Newman initially owned his own racing team, which competed in the Can-Am series, but later co-founded Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, a Champ Car team, in 1983. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the IMAX film ''Super Speedway'', which Newman narrated. He was also a partner in the Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing. Newman owned a NASCAR Winston Cup car, before selling it to Penske Racing, where it now serves as the #12 car.

Newman was posthumously inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame at the national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 21, 2009.

Illness and death

Newman was scheduled to make his professional stage directing debut with the Westport Country Playhouse's 2008 production of John Steinbeck's ''Of Mice and Men'', but he stepped down on May 23, 2008, citing health issues.

In June 2008, it was widely reported that Newman, a former chain smoker, had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was receiving treatment at Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York City. Photographs taken of Newman in May and June showed him looking gaunt. Writer A.E. Hotchner, who partnered with Newman to start the Newman's Own company in the 1980s, told the Associated Press that Newman told him about the disease about eighteen months prior to the interview. Newman's spokesman told the press that the star was "doing nicely," but neither confirmed nor denied that he had cancer. In August, after reportedly finishing chemotherapy, Newman told his family he wished to die at home.

Newman died on September 26, 2008, aged 83, surrounded by his family and close friends. His remains were cremated after a private funeral service near his home in Westport.

Filmography, awards, and nominations

As actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1954		Basil
1955		George Gibbs
		Rocky Graziano
	Capt. Edward W. Hall Jr.
	''The Helen Morgan Story''	Larry Maddux
''Until They Sail''	Capt. Jack Harding
	''The Long, Hot Summer''	Ben Quick	Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)
''The Left Handed Gun''	Billy the Kid
	Brick Pollitt	Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
	Harry Bannerman
1959	''The Young Philadelphians''	Anthony Judson Lawrence
	''From the Terrace''	David Alfred Eaton
	Ari Ben Canaan
		Eddie Felson
''Paris Blues''	Ram Bowen
	''Sweet Bird of Youth''	Chance Wayne	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
''Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man''	Ad Francis, 'The Battler'	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
		Hud Bannon	Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
''A New Kind of Love''	Steve Sherman
	Andrew Craig
	''What a Way to Go!''	Larry Flint
''The Outrage''	Juan Carrasco
1965	''Lady L''	Armand Denis
		Lew Harper
''Torn Curtain''	Prof. Michael Armstrong	directed by Alfred Hitchcock
		John Russell
''Cool Hand Luke''	Luke Jackson	Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
1968	''The Secret War of Harry Frigg''	Pvt. Harry Frigg
	''Winning''	Frank Capua
''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''	Butch Cassidy	Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1970		Rheinhardt
		Hank Stamper
''Once Upon a Wheel (1971 TV program)''	Himself	Winner: World Television Festival Award,	Winner: Best International Sports Documentary
	''Pocket Money''	Jim Kane
''The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean''
	''The Mackintosh Man''	Joseph Rearden
''The Sting''	Henry Gondorff
1974	''The Towering Inferno''	Doug Roberts
1975		Lew Harper
	''Silent Movie''	Himself
''Buffalo Bill and the Indians''
1977		Reggie "Reg" Dunlop
1979		Essex
1980	''When Time Ran Out...''	Hank Anderson
	''Fort Apache, The Bronx''	Murphy
''Absence of Malice''	Michael Colin Gallagher	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
	''Come Along with Me''		TV
''The Verdict''	Frank Galvin
1984	''Harry & Son''	Harry Keach
1986	''The Color of Money''	Fast Eddie Felson	Academy Award for Best ActorNational Board of Review Award for Best ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
	''Fat Man and Little Boy''
1990	''Mr. and Mrs. Bridge''	Walter Bridge
1993	''La Classe américaine''	Dave	in redubbed archive footage only
	''The Hudsucker Proxy''	Sidney J. Mussburger
	Donald J. "Sully" Sullivan
1998		Harry Ross
1999		Dodge Blake
2000	''Where the Money Is''	Henry Manning
2001	''The Blunder Years'' (''The Simpsons'' episode)	Himself	voice
2002	''Road to Perdition''	John Rooney	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureNominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
2003		Stage Manager	Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a MovieNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
		Max Roby	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a MovieGolden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
''Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D''	Dave Scott	voice
2006		Doc Hudson/Hudson Hornet	voice
2007		Narrator	voice
2008	''The Meerkats''	Narrator	voice

As director or producer

Year	Film	Notes
1968	''Rachel, Rachel''	Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureNominated – Academy Award for Best PictureNew York Film Critics Circle Award (best director)
	''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''	Co-executive producer (uncredited)
''Winning''	Co-executive producer (uncredited)
1970		Co-producer
		Director and co-executive producer
	producer
		Director and producer
''The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean''	Co-executive producer (uncredited)
1980	''The Shadow Box''
1984	''Harry & Son''	Director and producer
1987
2005		Producer, Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries

Additional awards and honors

In addition to the awards Newman won for specific roles, he received an honorary Academy Award in 1986 for his "many and memorable and compelling screen performances" and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his charity work in 1994.

He received the Golden Globe ''New Star of the Year — Actor'' award for ''The Silver Chalice (1957), the Henrietta Award World Film Favorite — Male in 1964 and 1966 and the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1984.

Newman won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for ''The Long, Hot Summer'' and the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for ''Nobody's Fool''.

In 1968, Newman was named "Man of the Year" by Harvard University's performance group, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Newman Day has been celebrated at Kenyon College, Bates College, Princeton University, and other American colleges since the 1970s. In 2004, Newman requested that Princeton University disassociate the event from his name, due to the fact that he did not endorse the behaviors, citing his creation of the Scott Newman Centre in 1980, which is "dedicated to the prevention of substance abuse through education".

Posthumously, Newman was inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame, and was honored with a nature preserve in Westport named in his honor. He was also honored by the United States House of Representatives following his death.

Published work

Newman, Paul; Hotchner, A.E. ''Newman's Own Cookbook''. Simon & Schuster, 1998. ISBN 0684848325.

Newman, Paul; Hotchner, A.E. ''Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good''. Doubleday Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0385508026.

See also

List of select Jewish racing drivers

Notes

References

Demers, Jenifer. ''Paul Newman: the Dream has Ended!''. Createspace, 2008. ISBN 1440433232

Lax, Eric. ''Paul Newman: a Biography''. Turner Publishing, Incorporated, 1999. ISBN 1-57036-286-6.

Morella, Joe; Epstein, Edward Z. ''Paul and Joanne: A Biography of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward''. Delacorte Press, 1988. ISBN 0440500044.

O'Brien, Daniel. ''Paul Newman''. Faber & Faber, Limited, 2005. ISBN 057121987X.

Oumano, Elena. ''Paul Newman''. St. Martin's Press, 1990. ISBN 0-517-05934-7.

Quirk, Lawrence J. ''The Films of Paul Newman''. Taylor Pub., 1986. ISBN 0-8065-0385-8.

Thomson, Kenneth. ''The Films of Paul Newman''. 1978. ISBN 0-912616-87-3.

Further reading

External links

Newman's Own

Newman's Own Foundation

Paul Newman bio at h2g2

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title	Ben Gazzara
birthname	Biagio Anthony Gazzara
birth date	August 28, 1930
birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
occupation	Actor
yearsactive	1953-present
spouse	1 child }}

Ben Gazzara (born August 28, 1930) is an American actor.

Early life

Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina (née Cusumano) and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at Madison Square Boys and Girls Club located across the street. He later attended New York City's famed Stuyvesant High School. He found relief from his bleak surroundings by joining a theater company at a very young age. Years later, he said that the discovery of his love for acting saved him from a life of crime during his teen years. Despite his obvious talent, he went to City College of New York to study electrical engineering. After two years, he relented. He took classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator and afterward joined the Actors Studio.

Career

In the 1950s, Gazzara starred in various Broadway productions, most notably Tennessee Williams' ''Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'', directed by Elia Kazan. However, he lost out on the film role to Paul Newman. He was nominated three times for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play—in 1956 for ''A Hatful of Rain'', in 1975 for the paired short plays ''Hughie'' and ''Duet'', and in 1977 for a revival of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' opposite Colleen Dewhurst.

Gazzara has had a long and varied acting career, with spells as an accomplished director, mostly in television. He directed ''Columbo'' episodes A Friend in Deed and Troubled Waters. He joined other Actors Studio members in the 1957 film ''The Strange One''. Then came a high-profile performance as a soldier on trial for avenging his wife's rape in Otto Preminger's 1959 classic courtroom drama ''Anatomy of a Murder''.

Subsequent screen credits included ''The Young Doctors'' (1961), ''A Rage to Live'' (1965), ''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969), ''Capone'' (1975), ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), and ''High Velocity'' (1976).

In 1954, Gazzara made several appearances on NBC's legal drama ''Justice'', based on case studies from the Legal Aid Society of New York. Gazzara became well-known in several television series, beginning with ''Arrest and Trial'', which ran from 1963 to 1964 on ABC, and the more-successful series ''Run for Your Life'' from 1965 to 1968 on NBC, in which he played a terminally ill man trying to get the most out of the last two years of his life. For his work in the series, Gazzara received two Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" and three Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama."

Some of the actor's most-formidable characters were those he created with his friend John Cassavetes in the 1970s. They collaborated for the first time on Cassavetes's film ''Husbands'' (1970), in which he appeared alongside Peter Falk and Cassavetes himself. In ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'', Gazzara took the leading role of the hapless strip-joint owner, Cosmo Vitelli. A year later, Gazzara starred in yet another Cassavetes-directed movie, ''Opening Night'', as stage director Manny Victor, who struggles with the mentally unstable star of his show, played by Cassavetes's wife Gena Rowlands. In 1974, he co-starred with Anthony Hopkins in the acclaimed TV mini-series ''QB VII''. In 1979, Gazzara starred in the movie "Saint Jack".

In the 1980s, Gazzara appeared in a variety of movies, such as '''They All Laughed'' (directed by Peter Bogdanovich), and in a villainous role in the oft-televised Patrick Swayze film ''Road House,'' which the actor jokingly says is probably his most-watched performance. He starred with Rowlands in a controversial and critically acclaimed AIDS-themed TV movie ''An Early Frost'' (1985), for which he received his third Emmy nomination.

Very much in demand for supporting parts, Gazzara appeared in thirty-eight films—many for TV—in the 1990s. He worked with a number of renowned directors, such as the Coen brothers (''The Big Lebowski''), Spike Lee (''Summer of Sam''), David Mamet (''The Spanish Prisoner''), Walter Hugo Khouri (''Forever''), Todd Solondz (''Happiness''), John Turturro (''Illuminata''), and John McTiernan (''The Thomas Crown Affair'').

In his eighties, Gazzara continues to be active. In 2003, he was in the ensemble cast of the experimental film ''Dogville'', directed by Lars von Trier of Denmark and starring Nicole Kidman, as well as the television film ''Hysterical Blindness'' (he received his first Emmy Award for his role). Several other projects have recently been completed or are currently in production. In 2005, he played Agostino Casaroli in the TV miniseries ''Pope John Paul II.''

Personal life

Gazzara was featured in a 1994 article in Cigar Aficionado; he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999. He lost more than 40 pounds during treatment.

He has been married three times, first to Louise Erickson (1951–1957), then actress Janice Rule (1961–1979), and finally, German model Elke Krivat (sometimes known as Elke Stuckmann) since 1982.

In his 2004 autobiography the actor recounts his love affair with actress Audrey Hepburn. They co-starred in two of her final films, "Bloodline" (1979) and "They All Laughed" (1981).

He is a friend of Robert Vaughn, who played Napoleon Solo on ''The Man From U.N.C.L.E.''. During on location filming of the big-budget war movie ''The Bridge at Remagen'' with co-stars Vaughn, Bradford Dillman and George Segal, the U.S.S.R. led an invasion of Czechoslovakia. Filming was halted temporarily, and the cast and crew were detained. They were later allowed to leave, and filming was completed in West Germany. During their departure Gazzara and Vaughn planned and executed the daring escape of a Czech waitress whom they had befriended. As recounted in Gazzara's autobiography, Vaughn and Gazzara smuggled her to Austria in their car, being waved through a border crossing that had not yet been taken over by the Soviet army.

Further reading

"Broadway: The Golden Age - by the Legends Who Were there," a film by Rick McKay Films, etc. Broadcast on KCET, Ch.28 (PBS in Los Angeles, December 16, 2006. Gazzara speaks openly about getting off of 29th St.

Harris, Irving (2009), ''Madison Square Memoir: The Magic and History of Madison Square Boys and Girls Club'' (visit www.madisonsquare.org); Gazzara wrote the introduction.

Sutton, Imre, 2008. ''Back to E.29th Street: Where Fact and Fiction Revisit Kips Bay, N. Y.'' (Fullerton, CA: Americo Publications)

References

External links

Category:1930 births Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from New York City Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni

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