The Ragman's Son

Issur Danielovitch AKA Kirk Douglas, 1916 – 2020

February 6, 2020 by Robert J. Avrech 3 Comments

kirk douglas hs photo — Kirk Douglas as a high school senior.

In the beginning of his legendary career, Kirk Douglas b. Issur Danielovitch, was almost typecast as a well-meaning but ineffectual husband as in, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946, and A Letter to Three Wives, 1949. His performances in these two films are more than competent. But his career really took off when he played bitter, cynical men motivated by rage: Champion, 1949, Ace in the Hole, 1951, The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952, Paths of Glory, 1957, Spartacus, 1960, and his favorite film Lonely Are the Brave, 1962.

Douglas was never a conventional leading man. Though handsome as a fairy tale prince, he wielded his masculine beauty like a weapon. There was none of the gruff charm that made Gable the King of Hollywood; nor was Douglas an elegant, urbane gentleman like William Powell or Cary Grant.

He excelled at playing, in his own words, “sons of bitches.”

Hidden Hollywood: Issur Danielovitch AKA Kirk Douglas Can’t Get a Prom Date

February 6, 2017 by Robert J. Avrech 12 Comments

In the beginning of his legendary career, Kirk Douglas (1916 – ) b. Issur Danielovitch, was almost typecast as a well-meaning but ineffectual husband in two fine films, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946, and A Letter to Three Wives, 1949. But his career ascended into mega-stardom when he played cynical heroes motivated by rage: Champion, 1949, Ace in the Hole, 1951, The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952, Paths of Glory, 1957, Spartacus, 1960, and his favorite picture, Lonely Are the Brave, 1962,

Douglas was never a conventional leading man. Though handsome as a fairy tale prince, he wielded his masculine beauty like a weapon. There was none of the gruff, working class charm that made Gable the King. Douglas was not an urbane gentleman like William Powell, nor a witty charmer like Cary Grant.

Kirk Douglas excelled at playing, in his own words, “sons of bitches.”

Yom Kippur with Issur Danielovitch AKA Kirk Douglas

October 7, 2011 by Robert J. Avrech 11 Comments

Annex - Douglas, Kirk (Spartacus)_02 — Spartacus, 1960, Kirk Douglas as the leader of a slave revolt against the Roman empire.

…In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work … For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the L-RD.

—Leviticus 16:29-30

Raised in a traditional kosher home, Kirk Douglas (1916 – ) b. Issur Danielovitch, recalls his impoverished childhood, yet warmly remembers preparations for Shabbat: his beloved mother Bryna cooking traditional Jewish food, baking challah, Shabbat bread, and kindling the Shabbat candles.

Nevertheless, like so many Jews of his generation, Douglas was deeply conflicted about Judaism.

More than anything young Issur yearned to be a real American, and, like so many Jews of his generation, that meant rejecting Torah Judaism in favor of an all-consuming secular humanity. In fact, when Douglas first came to Hollywood he claimed to be half-Jewish. But as he matured as an actor and gained wisdom as a man Kirk Douglas reevaluated his relationship with Judaism.

In his compulsively readable memoir, The Ragman’s Son, Douglas reveals his sense of awe during Yom Kippur.

A Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Prom Night For Issur Danielovitch AKA Kirk Douglas

October 6, 2011 by Robert J. Avrech 18 Comments

In the beginning of his legendary career, Kirk Douglas (1916 – ) b. Issur Danielovitch, was almost typecast as a well-meaning but ineffectual husband as in, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946, and A Letter to Three Wives, 1949. But his career exploded into mega-stardom when he played bitter cynical heroes motivated by rage: Champion, 1949, Ace in the Hole, 1951, The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952, Paths of Glory, 1957, Spartacus, 1960, and his favorite film Lonely Are the Brave, 1962,

Douglas was never a conventional leading man. Though handsome as a fairy tale prince, he wielded his masculine beauty like a weapon. There was none of the gruff charm that made Gable the King of Hollywood, nor was Douglas an elegant, urbane gentleman like William Powell.

He excelled at playing, in his own words, “sons of bitches.”

Douglas always felt like an outsider. And his fine memoir, The Ragman’s Son, touchingly reveals a chronically damaged self-image. The only son of illiterate Jewish Russian immigrants, Douglas was terrified of Herschel, his distant, hard-drinking, often violent father. But, like so many Hollywood stars, Douglas was deeply attached to his gentle, long-suffering mother Bryna. In fact, Douglas named his film company Bryna Productions.

kirk douglas bryna — Young Issur Danielovitch with his beloved mother Bryna.

Raised in Amsterdam, New York, twenty-eight miles northwest of Albany, Douglas describes the city as “WASP town.” For traditional Jews from the Ukraine this new world was blessedly free, however anti-Semitism was widespread. And the rage that is at the heart of actor Kirk Douglas has its genesis in his difficult childhood.

In his senior year of high school, young Issur was looking forward to attending the school prom: