The man had quite a long life and quite a remarkable career; nearly everyone is eulogizing him as the star of the 1960 film Spartacus; he's also the father of Michael Douglas, who remains a popular actor. I'm personally very fond of Kirk Douglas' performance in Paths of Glory from 1957.
But I'm eulogizing him today because he was also one of the stars of Suspense, one of my favourite old-time radio programs. Way back when Douglas began his career, he and Burt Lancaster were two of the hot-ticket post-World War II actors who brought a new intensity to film acting; he and Lancaster wound up making 7 films together and both men appeared on Suspense during those post-war years when the prestige (and ratings) of Suspense made it one of the biggest shows on the radio.
Douglas' first appearance was on April 10, 1947 in the episode "Community Property". Douglas is a long-suffering heir who finally comes in to inherit the family fortune - but as he despises his wife, he decides to murder her before she can divorce him!
- You can download "Community Property" from archive.org here
Later that same year Douglas returned on October 2nd, 1947 to star in "The Story of Markham's Death", in which he played a hack writer who stumbles upon a lost manuscript by Edgar Allan Poe; he decides to pass it off as his own work.
- You can download "The Story of Markham's Death" from archive.org here
About 3 years later Douglas made his final Suspense performance on February 9, 1950, and BOY! he delivered! The story was called "The Butcher's Wife" and Douglas plays yet another heel, this time a grocery store employee who can't help but notice the store's butcher has a very lovely wife. But that butcher is insanely jealous! This episode has particularly excellent sound effects!
- You can download "The Butcher's Wife" from archive.org here
Rest in peace, Mr. Douglas.
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