"Kirk Douglas's talent begins in the soles of his feet and ends in the spirit that can vault beyond the stars."
    These words of tribute from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts sum up the essense of the man. A lifetime of achievement -- which includes 82 films, nine plays, four books, and a host of other contributions to his art, his country, and his fellow men -- speaks for itself.
    Born December 9, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York, the son of illiterate Jewish-Russian immigrants, Issur Danielovitch, who would become Kirk Douglas, was driven to leave behind the poverty of his home town. He won a wrestling scholarship to Saint Lawrence University and worked as a janitor to meet school expenses. A second scholarship, from the Academy of Dramatic Arts, put him on the road to Broadway. He made his Broadway debut as a singing Western Union boy in Spring Again, but interrupted his budding stage career in 1942 to enlist in the U.S. Navy, where he served as a communications officer in anti-submarine warfare.
    After the war he returned to Broadway as the ghost soldier in The Wind Is Ninety; his widely praised performance caught the attention of Hollywood, and he was cast opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
    Three years later, in 1949, his role as one of the screen's early anti-heroes, the cynical boxer in Stanley Kramer's Champion, won him both stardom and an Academy Award nomination. He received his second nomination in 1952 for playing an opportunistic movie mogul in The Bad and the Beautiful, and his third in 1956 for his portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life, for which he won the New York Film Critics' Best Actor Award.
    In 1955, Mr. Douglas formed one of Hollywood's first independent film companies, Bryna, named for his mother, and managed by his wife, Anne. The Bryna Company produced many memorable films, including Paths of Glory, The Vikings, Spartacus, Lonely Are the Brave, and Seven Days in May.
    Shortly after forming Bryna, Mr. Douglas also established the Douglas Foundation in order to make more significant and meaningful contributions to civic and charitable causes. The Douglas Foundation has supported both large organizations (such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center) and small ones (such as the Access Theater for the Handicapped). In recent years, the Douglas Foundation has targeted the Los Angeles Mission for the Homeless, which has opened the Anne Douglas Center for Women, and the Motion Picture Relief Home's Alzheimer's Unit, which has been named "Harry's Haven" after Mr. Douglas's father. The Douglas Foundation is currently restoring the playgrounds of schools in poor neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and also building a series of playgrounds in Israel. The Foundation has also committed $2 million to building a theater directly opposite the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem with the goal of helping tourists of all faiths better understand the meaning of Judaism.
    In 1958, Mr. Douglas broke the notorious Hollywood blacklist when he gave screen credit to blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo for the Spartacus screenplay. Mr. Douglas was widely condemned for his decision at the time. It was not until 30 years later that the American Civil Liberties Union and the Writers Guild of America recognized his act as courageous.
    In 1963, he bought the dramatic rights to Ken Kesey's book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and starred in it on Broadway. For the next 10 years he tried unsuccessfully to make the play into a motion picture. Finally, in 1975, his son Michael produced the movie, which collected five Oscars, including best picture.
    In 1981, President Carter presented Mr. Douglas with the Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award in recognition of the many trips he had made at his own expense, speaking to audiences all over the world about why democracy works and what freedom means. In addition to visiting more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, Mr. Douglas has also visited the war zones of Beirut, Lebanon, and Red Cross hospitals and Afghan refugee camps near the Khyber Pass, delivering the same message.
    In 1996, the Academy of Motion Pictures honored Mr. Douglas with a Special Oscar for "50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community." In presenting the award, Steven Spielberg lauded Mr. Douglas for his courage and his conscience. "Whether he's dealing with a character on screen, or with the all-too-real effects of a recent stroke, courage remains Kirk Douglas's personal and professional hallmark," Mr. Spielberg said, adding, "There is a single thread drawing all the characters he has played together. It's called conscience."
    Kirk Douglas's conscience has often found an outlet in his movies. For example, through the TV movie Amos, which earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, Mr. Douglas tried to focus public attention on the issue of abuse of the elderly. His efforts have also included editorials and letters to newspapers, appearances on national television, and testimony before Congressman Claude D. Pepper's Select Sub-Committee on Aging.
    In 1992, through the TV movie The Secret, he attacked the social stigma associated with dyslexia. His performance was singled out as the year's best by the Los Angeles Times' critics, and earned him the Einstein Award from the National Dyslexia Research Foundation.
    Kirk Douglas movie projects are often family affairs. Amos was produced by his son Peter, as were Final Countdown and Inherit the Wind, which won an Emmy award for best film. Mr. Douglas has also co-starred with his son Eric in Yellow, a segment in HBO's Tales of the Crypt series, which earned him a second Emmy nomination. His son Joel has served as production manager on the Douglas-directed movie Posse, and the long-awaited Kirk Douglas-Michael Douglas picture is currently in development.
    His last feature film was Greedy and co-starred Michael J. Fox. It was released in the spring of 1994 by Universal Studios. And his latest TV movie, Take Me Home Again, co-starring Craig T. Nelson, aired in the winter of 1994 on NBC.
    Mr. Douglas has been honored by many governments and organizations, including France, Italy, and Portugal. Among the top international awards he received was his appointment, in 1990, as Officier de la Legion d'Honneur for distinguished services to France in arts and letters.
    In 1991, the American Film Institute singled him out for its prestigious Life Achievement Award. In its tribute, the AFI noted that "no other leading actor has been more ready to tap the dark desperate side of the soul and thus reveal the complexity of human nature," and lauded him for his "sense of depth and defiance." In 1995, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts distinguished him with its award "for contributions to U.S. cultural life."
    When not acting, Mr. Douglas occupies his time writing. His autobiography, The Ragman's Son, published in 1988, received rave reviews and became an international best-seller. It was on the New York Times' best-seller list for a total of 34 weeks. He followed it up with three novels: Dance with the Devil in 1990, The Gift in 1992, and Last Tango in Brooklyn in 1994. The novels also became international best-sellers (having been translated into more than a dozen languages) and have earned top marks from distinguished reviewers, the New York Times and the Washington Post foremost among them.
    Most recently, Mr. Douglas has completed two books, both to be published in September of 1997 by Simon and Schuster. One is a children's book with a Holocaust theme entitled The Broken Mirror. The other is a sequel to his autobiography entitled Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning. In it he focuses on events since his helicopter crash in which two people died and which left him with an obligation to share with others his struggle to find and understand the deeper truths of life. He also discusses the hard work of recovery from his stroke and his religious awakening in later life, which led to his becoming an ardent student of the Torah.
    Mr. Douglas has been married to his wife, Anne, for 43 years and is the father of four sons from two marriages: Michael, Joel, Peter, and Eric. All four sons are active in the entertainment industry. He divides his time between residences in Beverly Hills and Palm Springs.