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Kirk Douglas TLS Regarding the Movie "In Harms Way"

KIRK DOUGLAS (1916-2020). Famous American Actor, producer, director, philanthropist, and writer.

February 27, 1964-Dated, Typed Letter Signed, "Kirk Douglas", 8.5" x 11", Beverly Hills, California, Choice Crisp Extremely Fine. Titled: Headed, "Douglas Guaranty", this letter explains the agreement between Sigma Productions and Joel Productions for the services of Kirk Douglas in the iconic award winning movie "In Harms Way." This Letter reads in part: "Reference is hereby made to the agreement dated February 27, 1964 (herein called the 'lending agreement) between Joel Productions, Inc. (herein called 'Employer') and you covering the lending of the services of the undersigned by Employer to you ... I agree that, only insofar as the photoplay now entitled IN HARMS WAY is concerned, if there are any inconsistencies between the multiple picture agreement entered into between Employer and me and/or any other agreement entered into between Employer and me and the terms and provisions of the lending agreement, the lending agreement shall prevail..." There are two standard binder punch holes at top, boldly typed on clean paper with a blue ink signature "Kirk Douglas" at the conclusion measuring 2" long.

IMPORTANT NOTE EXPLAINING "DOUGLAS GUARANTY"

Otto Preminger was President of Sigma Productions. In Harms Way was produced and directed by Otto Preminger. Starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, it was released April 6, 1965. Kirk Douglas founded Bryna Productions, named after his mother Bryna Demsky. Joel Productions was a Bryna Productions subsidiary. Joel Douglas is the second son of Kirk Douglas.

In 1995, an Honorary Oscar was presented "To Kirk Douglas, for fifty years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community." He had been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1949 for the role of Midge Kelly in Champion, in 1952 for the role of Jonathan Shields in The Bad and the Beautiful, and in 1956 for the role of Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life.

Best known for his portrayals of resolute, emotionally charged heroes and antiheroes, Kirk Douglas maintained his status as a top box-office draw with such classic films as Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Devil's Disciple (1959), Lonely Are the Brave (1962), Seven Days in May (1964), and In Harm's Way (1965).

Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 " February 5, 2020) was an American actor, producer, director, philanthropist, and writer. After an impoverished childhood with immigrant parents and six sisters, he made his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck.

Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films. During his career, he appeared in more than 90 films. Douglas was known for his explosive acting style, which he displayed as a criminal defense attorney in Town Without Pity (1961).

Douglas became an international star through positive reception for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion (1949), which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

His other early films include Young Man with a Horn (1950), playing opposite Lauren Bacall and Doris Day, Ace in the Hole opposite Jan Sterling (1951), and Detective Story (1951), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actor in a Drama. He received a second Oscar nomination for his dramatic role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), opposite Lana Turner, and his third Oscar nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), which landed him a second Golden Globe nomination.

In 1955, he established Bryna Productions, which began producing films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). In those two films, he collaborated with the then-relatively-unknown director Stanley Kubrick, taking lead roles in both films. Douglas has been praised for helping to break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit.

He produced and starred in Lonely Are the Brave (1962), considered a classic, and Seven Days in May (1964), opposite Burt Lancaster, with whom he made seven films. In 1963, he starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story that he purchased and later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film.

As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas received three Academy Award nominations, an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he wrote ten novels and memoirs.

He is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema, the highest-ranked living person on the list until his death. After barely surviving a helicopter crash in 1991 and then suffering a stroke in 1996, he focused on renewing his spiritual and religious life.

He lived with his second wife (of 66 years), Anne Buydens, a producer, until his death on February 5, 2020, aged 103. A centenarian, he was one of the last surviving stars of the film industry's Golden Age.[

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