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40 Insights into the Lives of Famous War Veterans

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2019 26 min

32. Kirk Douglas was a WWII Navy Vet

Aged 102 at the time of this writing in 2019, actor, producer, writer, and philanthropist Kirk Douglas (1916 – ) is one of the last surviving Hollywood Golden Age stars. He made his Hollywood debut in 1946’s Strange Love of Martha Ivers, became a breakout star in 1949 with Champion, and cemented his place in movie history with 1960’s Spartacus, which he produced and starred in. Along the way he accumulated 3 Oscar nomination, won an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, and was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Before the fame, however, Douglas had fought in the US Navy during WWII.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.