Actor Kirk Douglas, a fixture of cinema for six decades, has died aged 103.
The stage and screen actor was well-known for a range of roles, including the 1960 classic Spartacus, in which he played the titular character.
Born in New York in 1916, he rose to prominence during Hollywood’s “golden age”, earning his first Oscar nomination for the 1949 boxing story Champion.
He was also the father of Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas.
Michael said in a statement: “It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today.
“To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies… but to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad,” it read in part.
“Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad – I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son.”
Michael’s wife and Kirk’s daughter-in-law, Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones, posted a photo of the two together, writing: “I shall love you for the rest of my life. I miss you already.”
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The BBC reports that Douglas was prolific as a film actor, with more than 90 credits to his name – ranging over seven decades from the 1940s to the 2000s.
He is perhaps best-known for Spartacus, a Stanley Kubrick film which won four Oscars and was so popular that its iconic “I am Spartacus” scene entered the pop cultural lexicon.
Douglas was himself nominated for an Oscar three times – for Champion (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Lust for Life (1956). He eventually won the honorary award in 1996 in recognition of his 50 years in the industry.
World-famous director Steven Spielberg, who knew Douglas personally, told the Hollywood Reporter that he made a “breathtaking body of work”.
“Kirk retained his movie star charisma right to the end of his wonderful life and I’m honoured to have been a small part of his last 45 years,” Spielberg said.
After the news of his death broke, fans gathered at his star set in the ground on the Hollywood walk of fame.
“He was one of the last Hollywood legends of the golden era. That’s it. Not a superstar, a legend,” one man, Gregg Donovan, told news agency AFP.
“It’s devastating. I mean, I know he lived to 103, God bless him, but you just don’t think he’s going to leave us and it’s such a sad day in Hollywood, I’ll tell you.”
