There I was, in a ¾ full theatre, checking out Spartacus. 90 years old and still kickin’, determined to get in his jokes even if it may take a little more effort. Due to his stroke a few years back, he must speak more slowly, which he claims forces people to quiet down and pay attention to what he’s saying. I have a feeling they’d do that anyways for Kirk Douglas.
Mr. Douglas arrived a bit behind schedule (almost an hour late following a 3 hour trek from L.A.), didn’t stay quite as long as planned and only signed a handful of books (the entrance fee). But you know what? The fella’s 90, and he did his best to entertain. You could still see the actor’s gleam in his eye when he made the audience laugh or told a good story. But the audience was a little older, a little grumpier and demanded full service. Sometimes it just pays to treat people as you would your friends and enjoy their company while you can.
His long-time friend and associate George Englund interviewed him, looking tall and dashing in a blue and white seersucker jacket. 10 years Douglas’ junior, he actually seemed far more relaxed with the impatient audience before Douglas arrived, and a little more tense during the interview. As the radios announced Douglas’ arrival, Englund joked, “Let’s have a moment of silence; we need sobriety here.” But he still knew how to tease Douglas throughout the questioning, and it was obvious they had a rapport.
Douglas’ first joke involved his son Michael asking him how to stick a rating on his latest movie. Kirk replied, “Well, if the hero gets the girl, it’s G. If the villain gets the girl, it’s R. If everyone gets the girl, it’s X.” Ba-dum-dum.
Regarding the book for which the event surrounded (Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving & Learning
He encouraged everyone to write their own autobiography, whether they intended on having it published or not. “You realize where you came from, where you are and where you’re going,” Douglas proclaimed.
When Englund referred to Douglas’ role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist by using Dalton Trumbo’s real name in the Spartacus credits, Douglas remembered the time fondly as a moment of which he was truly proud. But after he delved into the details, he told Englund, “Stop me from patting myself on my back; bring me down to Earth.”
He touched on his deep love for his wife and their second wedding after 50 years together (“I’m a very romantic guy,” he gushed.) With foggy eyes he discussed his son Eric, who died of an overdose at 45 and lived a very troubled life with drugs. Douglas has a page in his book listing children of actors who have died from overdose or suicide, and his concern for that pattern.
In regard to his old age, he discussed preparing for death. “I won’t be buying any green bananas,” he chuckled. He stated that death is more a matter of preparing for loved ones, rather than your own concerns, and that folks shouldn’t be afraid of death. He risked having both knees replaced simultaneously, because “no one wants to see Spartacus in a wheelchair,” and he wanted a better quality of life in his final years. After his stroke, he couldn’t speak and had suicidal impulses, but his wife told him to “get [his] ass out of bed and work with a speech therapist.” She sounds like my kinda gal. This is the same woman that has renovated and beautified 360 L.A. playgrounds.
Despite his hour-long weekly sessions with his rabbi, Douglas stresses not to be too religious. What’s important is to choose a religion that makes you a better person who cares for others, rather than become fanatical and self-righteous.
The audience was allowed to nervously ply him for answers. Some just wanted to remind him they’d met long ago, to which Douglas often looked at them quizzically. One asked about his relationship with John Wayne, to which he stated that despite being politically on different sides of the fence, “He was a terrific guy and I loved him.” He was impressed when Wayne presented him the lead role in the Jewish film Cast a Giant Shadow, and took a smaller role for himself.
When asked about his most enjoyable film, he listed many that were good, but when it came to the ultimate title, he blanked. Apparently he had answered this question before, because some of the audience shouted out, “Lonely Are the Brave,” to which he nodded.
A fan noted that his characters seem to never give up and asked him where the fight comes from. He reminisced how he had wanted to play McMurphy in the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (which his son Michael later produced as a film), as he thought the character’s best line would make a great epitaph: “I tried, damn it, I tried.”
Regarding my newfound favorite, Paths of Glory, he said that no one wanted to do it, and Douglas told Kubrick that it wouldn’t make a nickel. Douglas believes it’s one of the best films Kubrick every made. When a follow-up questioner remarked how impressed he was with Douglas’ performance in the scene where he takes on the French general, Douglas perked up and said, “I was good, wasn’t I?” He sure was.