Catherine Zeta-Jones led well-wishers on Sunday as tributes flooded in for Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas as the acting veteran celebrated his 102nd birthday.
The Spartacus star turned another year older on December 9 and his family paid homage to the patriarch, with daughter-in-law Catherine describing him as “the most beautiful man”.
Catherine, who married Kirk’s son Michael in 2000, shared a moving black and white video on Instagram which featured the couple’s daughter Carys playing the piano and singing Christina Aguilera’s hit song ‘Beautiful’.
The video clip features a number of photos of Kirk, both from his personal life and throughout his incredible career, including a sweet bit of footage showing Kirk dancing with his grandson Dylan.
“Happy 102nd birthday to the most beautiful man. We love you Kirk,” the 49-year-old actress wrote on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrKtvz9hU-w/
Kirk’s grandson Cameron Douglas – who is Michael’s son from his first marriage to Diandra Douglas – also shared a sweet message to mark his grandfather’s monumental birthday.
Posting the message alongside a photo of his baby daughter Lua Izzy alongside her great-grandfather, the 39-year-old wrote: “Happy Birthday to a gentleman’s gentleman, with a true heart of gold. We love you Pappy!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrLOYwAB0wp/
Douglas is one of the biggest names in Hollywood, having enjoyed a lengthy career, but his life began much more humbly as the star was born Issur Danielovitch Demsky to Jewish immigrant parents living in Amsterdam, NY.
He made his movie debut in 1946’s The Strange Love of Martha Ivers opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin, before teaming up with Burt Lancaster for the first of eight times in I Walk Alone. However he is arguably best known for his leading role in 1960 movie Spartacus.
In December last year Cameron Douglas revealed he had named his first child, with partner Viviane Thibes, in honour of his famous grandfather. The happy couple gave their little girl the middle name ‘Izzy’ after Douglas’ birth name Issur.