Anne Douglas, Kirk Douglas’ Widow and Publicist, Dies at 102

Anne Douglas, the widow of Kirk Douglas and a former movie publicist, has died on the age of 102.

She died in her Beverly Hills residence on Thursday, based on The Hollywood Reporter.

“She brought out the best in all of us, especially our father,” stepson Michael Douglas mentioned in a press release to THR. “Dad would never have had the career he did without Anne’s support and partnership. Catherine and I and the children adored her; she will always be in our hearts.”

Kirk Douglas died on Feb. 5, 2020 on the age of 103. Anne and Kirk Douglas met on the sett of “Act of Love” in 1953 in Paris, and obtained married a 12 months later.

Douglas labored for director John Huston as a location scout and assistant on 1952’s “Moulin Rouge,” after which served as the pinnacle of protocol on the Cannes Film Festival from 1953 to 1956. She served as a publicist on Kirk Douglas’ “Ulysses” (1954) and obtained a producer credit score on “Peg Leg, Musket & Sabre” (1973) and “Posse” (1975), which have been each directed by and starred her husband.

Born on April 23, 1919 in Hanover, Germany, Douglas attended boarding college in Switzerland following her mother and father’ divorce. She met and married a Belgian man named Albert Buydens, and through World War II, the 2 fled to Belgium and moved to Paris. There, she obtained a job writing German subtitles for movies, and was employed in 1948 to provide a program for NBC titled “Paris Cavalcade of Fashion.”

She met Douglas when she was nonetheless married to Buydens, and Douglas, who was only recently divorced from actress Diana Dill, provided her a job as her assistant, which she initially declined.

Douglas was at all times philanthropic: she established the Research for Women’s Cancers, which raised tens of millions of {dollars} to assist finance a analysis facility at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In 2012, Anne and Kirk Douglas additionally pledged $50 million to provide non-profit organizations,  together with the Motion Picture & Television Fund, by means of their Douglas Foundation. In 2015, the pair donated $15 million to the MPTF residence.

Anne and Kirk Douglas had two kids: Peter and Eric Douglas, the latter of who died in 2004.