Famed Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas celebrated his birthday on December 9, 2019; he is 103-years-old.
Below we will take a look at a little known Cold-War vignette involving him and
Radio Free Europe.
In 1950 Kirk
Douglas was on the national board of the Theater for Freedom (TF), formed
by another Hollywood great John Wayne. The purpose of the Theater for
Freedom was "to enlist the men and women of the entertainment world
on the side of America in the psychological war now raging, to use their
talents and mobilize resources in an all-out offensive against Communism."
Radio Moscow
on April 14, 1954, broadcast the following:
Once upon a time an Italian film producer invited
an American artist to play a part in a film based on Homer’s
„“Odyssey.“ In reply to this suggestion the artist said he was interested
in knowing whether Mr. Homer wrote any other film scripts. He did not know
who Homer was, but in our country fifth grade history books tell about Homer.
The 1954 film
was Ulysses; the producer was Dino de Laurentiis.
Kirk
Douglas, was born Issur Danielowich Demsky in Amsterdam, New York, on December 9,
1916, of Jewish immigrant parents from Gomel, Belorussia. His acting career
began in the 1930s, with the stage name Kirk Douglas. He then legally changed
his name to Kirk Douglas in 1941, when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.
The Crusade
for Freedom contacted Kirk Douglas, who on May 6, 1954, agreed to answer the
Radio Moscow program by speaking over Radio Free Europe, in the Russian
language. Douglas said, “Ordinarily I wouldn’t dignify any Communist propaganda
merchant with a reply, but this broadcast’s true purpose is to picture the
American people as a nation of ignoramuses, without education, breeding or
culture.“
He added that
he welcomed an opportunity to answer Radio Moscow because, “It did much more
than attack me, it uses me as an instrument. I shall use truth to beat
down Communist lies. I think any honest picture of our American way of life
will do just that.”
Newspapers
carried story with the headlines reading:
·
“Film Star Kirk Douglas has declared War on
Commies.“
·
“Reds Pick Out Wrong U.S. Actor to
Scorn.“
·
“Kirk Douglas to Answer Russ Slap in
Russian.“
·
“Actor to Answer Communist Insult, Radio Free
Europe to Carry Reply.“
A photograph
of Kirk Douglas reading a Russian grammar book accompanied the newspaper
articles and carried the caption: “Boning Up on Russian.“
Photo above of Kirk Douglas before the Radio Free Europe microphone with RFE's Hungarian legendary disc jockey Geza Ekecs courtesy of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
