When was kirk douglas stroke

As well as Michael and Joel, the children from his first marriage, he had two more sons, who also followed him into the world of movies. Eric became an actor and Peter became a producer but only his eldest child, Michael, came close to equalling his father's fame. Eric died in after an overdose of alcohol and prescription drugs, in what authorities in New York ruled was an accidental death.

Douglas, who was given a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute in , suffered a stroke in March which paralysed one side of his face. But despite the stroke affecting his ability to speak, he was able to give the acceptance speech at the Academy Awards when he received a special award for "50 years as a moral and creative force in the motion picture community". He continued to work, and appeared in films including Diamonds, in which he appeared with his old friend, Lauren Bacall, and It Runs in the Family in , which co-starred his son Michael, grandson Cameron and ex-wife Diana.

Kirk Douglas was one of the last great Hollywood stars who began their climb to fame at the end of World War Two and certainly one of the most defiant. Nobody's my boss. Nobody's ever been my boss. Kirk Douglas: A life in pictures. Internet Movie Database. Kirk Douglas right and his son actor Michael Douglas. Photo: November Image source, Ronald Grant.

Ace in the Hole saw him play an immoral journalist. He won much acclaim for his portrayal of Vincent van Gogh. You can't stop an actor. Douglas recalled the stroke's happening suddenly while he was enjoying a manicure in his home. It felt as if a pointed object drew a line from his right temple down to his cheek. When he tried to describe the strange sensation, gibberish came out. He could not speak. Doctors reassured Douglas that the stroke was minor, yet the recovery process felt arduous. He was devastated and angry, wondering why he, an on-screen tough guy, had been sidelined so unceremoniously.

After all, he had survived a helicopter crash several years earlier. More than , people in the U. About 87 percent of strokes are caused when blood flow to the brain is blocked.

Douglas struggled with regaining his verbal communication. He dreaded the daily speech therapy sessions necessary to relearn what had once came so easily — using his tongue and lips, forming words using the combination of the two. In addition to starring in iconic roles in movies like "Spartacus" and "Lust for Life," the beloved leading man was known for something else entirely: having survived a stroke.

He fought his way back from the experience in and wrote about it in his memoir, "My Stroke of Luck. You can't stop an actor. Douglas recalled the stroke's happening suddenly while he was enjoying a manicure in his home. It felt as if a pointed object drew a line from his right temple down to his cheek.

When he tried to describe the strange sensation, gibberish came out. He could not speak. Doctors reassured Douglas that the stroke was minor, yet the recovery process felt arduous.