Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase: Kirk Douglas Sings and Dances "A Whale of a Tale" 72 Years Ago

Kirk Douglas was 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 and was known for his explosive acting style. He was named by the American Film Institute the 17th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema.  

Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York, the son of Bryna "Bertha" and Herschel "Harry" Danielovitch. His parents were Jewish immigrants from what is now Belarus, and the family spoke Yiddish at home.

His father's brother, who emigrated earlier, used the surname Demsky, which Douglas' family adopted in the United States. Douglas grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II.

But serious dramas were not his only acting roles. Douglas sang and danced a popular tune, A Whale of a Tale, in Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a 1954 American science fiction adventure film. Adapted from Jules Verne's 1870 novel, the film also starred James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre. Photographed in Technicolor, the film was one of the first feature-length motion pictures to be filmed in CinemaScope. It was also the first feature-length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a critical and commercial success, being especially remembered for the fight with a giant squid, as well as Mason's definitive performance as the charismatic anti-hero Captain Nemo. The film won two Academy Awards for its art direction and special effects.

Here is a video of Kirk Douglas singing A Whale of a Tale from the movie. The full movie is available to watch on YouTube. Enjoy!  

 

   #Throwback Thursday, #TBT

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Norm Crosby Roasts Kirk Douglas in 1973

Norm Crosby, a Jewish comedian from Boston, was known mainly as a master of malaprops that he integrated into his comedy routines. 

Crosby became a frequent guest on TV talk and variety shows, including Dean Martin’s, and subsequently was a perfect choice as a regular roaster on the hugely popular Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts of the ‘70s, writing lines like: “Wilt Chamberlain is an insulation to young people all over the world. Wherever he appears, after every game the kids give him a standing ovulation.”

In this video clip from a 1973 roast of Kirk Douglas, Crosby delivers a steady stream of malapropisms while praising Douglas for his achievements as an actor.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

When Kirk Douglas Sang "Mein Yiddishe Meideleh" at an Awards Ceremony

 

In 2002, during a celebration of 100 years of the Folksbiene Yiddish theatre, New York Governor George Pataki presented a lifetime achievement award from the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York to actor Kirk Douglas.

At the celebration, Douglas (who died on February 5 at the age of 103) was 85 years old and recovering from a severe stroke in 1996. When he received the award, he reflected on his two Bar Mitzvahs (at 13 and 83) and reminisced about delivering his first Bar Mitzvah speech in Yiddish.

He then launched into a Yiddish song, Mein Yiddishe Meideleh, to the delight of the audience.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Remembering Kirk Douglas as Col. Mickey Marcus in "Cast a Giant Shadow"

Kirk Douglas as Colonel Mickey Marcus in "Cast a Giant Shadow"

On this Throwback Thursday we remember renowned actor, producer, and director Kirk Douglas, who died yesterday at the age of 103.

Most of the newspaper obituaries and YouTube videos are focusing on his famous roles in Champion, Spartacus, Lust for Life, and Paths of Glory, and on his role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist of writers who were suspected of Communist sympathies.

But our most vivid recollection of Douglas (born Issur Danielovich to Russian Jewish immigrants) is his role in the 1966 movie Cast a Giant Shadow about the life of American Colonel Mickey Marcus, who assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and who became Israel's first modern general.

Here is a scene from Cast a Giant Shadow, which also starred Yul Brynner, John Wayne, and Frank Sinatra.  

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.



#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Wishing Mazal Tov to Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovich) on His 100th Birthday

Today is the 100th birthday of Kirk Douglas, one of the most famous and accomplished actors of our time. After barely surviving a helicopter crash in 1991 and then suffering a stroke in 1996, he has focused on renewing his spiritual and religious life. We wish him a happy birthday ad meah v'esrim (until 120).

Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York, the son of Bryna "Bertha" and Herschel "Harry" Danielovitch. His parents were Jewish immigrants from what is now Belarus, and the family spoke Yiddish at home.

His father's brother, who emigrated earlier, used the surname Demsky, which Douglas' family adopted in the United States. Douglas grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the United States Navy during World War II.

In his 1988 autobiography, The Ragman's Son, Douglas notes the hardships that he, along with six sisters and his parents, endured during their early years in Amsterdam, New York:

My father, who had been a horse trader in Russia, got himself a horse and a small wagon, and became a ragman, buying old rags, pieces of metal, and junk for pennies, nickels, and dimes. ... Even on Eagle Street, in the poorest section of town, where all the families were struggling, the ragman was on the lowest rung on the ladder. And I was the ragman's son.

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.

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). He received a second Oscar nomination for his dramatic role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), opposite Lana Turner, and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956). He is among the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

In 1955, he established Bryna Productions (named for his mother), which began producing films as varied as Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960). In those two films, he starred and collaborated with then relatively unknown director, Stanley Kubrick. Douglas helped break the Hollywood blacklist by having Dalton Trumbo write Spartacus with an official on-screen credit, although Trumbo's family claims he overstated his role. He produced and starred in Lonely Are the Brave (1962), considered a cult 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 he purchased, which he later gave to his son Michael Douglas, who turned it into an Oscar-winning film.

As an actor and philanthropist, Douglas has received three Academy Award nominations, an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As an author, he has written ten novels and memoirs. Currently, he is No. 17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema, and the highest-ranked living person on the list.

Douglas starred as American soldier Mickey Marcus in the film Cast a Giant Shadow, with John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Yul Brynner. Marcus commanded units of the fledgling Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Here is a video clip from the film, followed by a video interview that Douglas gave to a Spanish language TV show in which he discussed his difficulties growing up Jewish amid anti-semitism.

Happy Birthday, Kirk! 

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)