December 9, 1916 – Kirk Douglas, the archetypal Hollywood movie star of the postwar era, was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York on this day. A veteran of over 80 films, Douglas was also one of the first A-list actors to start his own production company, helping to end the 1950s practice of blacklisting Hollywood talent suspected of communist ties by insisting on crediting famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for his “Spartacus” (1960) ... more 

December 9, 1916 – Kirk Douglas, the archetypal Hollywood movie star of the postwar era, was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York on this day. A veteran of over 80 films, Douglas was also one of the first A-list actors to start his own production company, helping to end the 1950s practice of blacklisting Hollywood talent suspected of communist ties by insisting on crediting famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for his “Spartacus” (1960) script. less