Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood (Turner Classic Movies)

The late film icon and screen legend Kirk Douglas was married to Anne Buydens for more than six decades. Here they both look back on a life=time filled with drama both on and off the screen. Sharing priceless correspondence with each other as well as the celebrities and world leaders they called friends, Kirk and Anne is a candid portrayal of the pleasures and pitfalls of a Hollywood life lived in the public eye. Compiled from Anne's private archive of letters and photographs, this is an intimate glimpse into the Douglases' courtship and marriage set against the backdrop of Kirk's screen triumphs, including The Vikings,Lust For Life, Paths of Glory, and Spartacus. The letters themselves, as well as Kirk and Anne's vivid descriptions of their experiences, reveal remarkable insight and anecdotes about the legendary figures they knew so well, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, the Kennedys, and the Reagans. Filled with photos from film sets, private moments, and public events, Kirk and Anne detail the adventurous, oftentimes comic, and poignant reality behind the glamour of a Hollywood marriage.Kirk Douglas’s story of his rise to greatness in the Hollywood golden age with movies including Champion, Spartacus, Paths of Glory and Ace in the Hole is a compelling read, for the blistering energy (reproduced in his prose) with which he strove to get away from his former poverty, and his rage at himself for not having confronted the antisemites earlier in his life. Despite his 65-year marriage, Douglas was serially unfaithful, and the book is naive about sexual politics, but there are some ripe stories about his relationships with Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. While lovemaking on her rug, Crawford disconcertingly murmured to him: “You’re so clean. It’s wonderful that you shaved your armpits when you made Champion.” The late film icon and screen legend Kirk Douglas was married to Anne Buydens for more than six decades. Here they both look back on a lifetime filled with drama both on and off the screen. Sharing priceless correspondence with each other as well as the celebrities and world leaders they called friends, Kirk and Anne is a candid portrayal of the pleasures and pitfalls of a Hollywood life lived in the public eye. Compiled from Anne's private archive of letters and photographs, this is an intimate glimpse into the Douglases' courtship and marriage set against the backdrop of Kirk's screen triumphs, including The Vikings , Lust For Life , Paths of Glory , and Spartacus . The letters themselves, as well as Kirk and Anne's vivid descriptions of their experiences, reveal remarkable insight and anecdotes about the legendary figures they knew so well, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, the Kennedys, and the Reagans. Filled with photos from film sets, private moments, and public events, Kirk and Anne details the adventurous, oftentimes comic, and poignant reality behind the glamour of a Hollywood marriage. "Film legend Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne look back on a lifetime filled with love and drama both on and off the screen. Sharing priceless correspondence with each other as well as the celebrities and world leaders they called friends, Kirk and Anne is a candid portrayal of the pleasures and pitfalls of a Hollywood life. Compiled from Anne's private archive of letters and photographs, this is an intimate glimpse into the Douglases' courtship and marriage set against the backdrop of Kirk's screen triumphs, including The Vikings, Lust For Life, Paths of Glory, and Spartacus. The letters themselves, as well as Kirk and Anne's vivid descriptions of their experiences, reveal remarkable insight and anecdotes about the legendary figures they knew so well, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, the Kennedys, and the Reagans. Filled with photos from film sets, private moments, and public events, Kirk and Anne details the adventurous, oftentimes comic, and poignant reality behind the glamour of a Hollywood life--as only a couple of over six decades could tell it."--Jacket. Film legend Kirk Douglas and Anne Buydens, his wife of nearly sixty-three years, look back on a lifetime filled with drama both on and off the screen. Sharing priceless correspondence with each other as well as the celebrities and world leaders they called friends, Kirk and Anne is a candid portrayal of the pleasures and pitfalls of a Hollywood life lived in the public eye. Compiled from Anne's private archive of letters and photographs, this is an intimate glimpse into the Douglases' courtship and marriage set against the backdrop of Kirk's screen triumphs, including The Vikings , Lust For Life , Paths of Glory , and Spartacus . The letters themselves, as well as Kirk and Anne's vivid descriptions of their experiences, reveal remarkable insight and anecdotes about the legendary figures they knew so well, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, the Kennedys, and the Reagans. Filled with photos... When we were young Our complicated courtship 1954: our romance goes transatlantic Together at last Bryna's early years 1957: on location in Arizona, Germany, and Norway Facing difficulties at home Becoming Spartacus Our Hollywood life A life beyond Hollywood Friends in high places Friends and family Caring is sharing. Kirk Douglas Anne Douglas.