Anne Buydens Douglas Is an actress, philanthropist and Belgian-American producer born in Germany. She is currently married to renowned actor Kirk Douglas with whom she has had a relationship of more than 60 years, one of the longest in the Hollywood film industry.
Its passage through the film and television industry has not been significant. He has dedicated his life to the philanthropic work of which he is champion in many causes. At the moment she professes the Judaism to which she turned thanks to her husband.
Buydens was born on 23 April 1919 as Hannelore Marx in Hannover, Germany. He was in his teens when his family, fleeing fascism and the ravages of World War II, emigrated to Belgium where he was to become a citizen.
Buydens continued his education there and in Switzerland before moving to Paris. Thanks to the knowledge of several languages (English, French, Italian and German), he continued working on subtitling films.
From there he continued to work on monitoring the protocol for the Cannes festival. He also participated in advertising campaigns for films that included the 1952 version of"Moulin Rouge"by filmmaker John Houston and"Ulysses"in 1954 (1).
Personal life
Buydens married actor Kirk Douglas on May 29, 1954 at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. The couple met after Douglas divorced his first wife of seven, Diana Dill and her first husband Albert (2).
Both crossed paths while working in Paris, she as an assistant and he starring in"Act of Love". Kirk Douglas narrated for an interview in the Los Angeles Times as the meeting occurred:"She came to help me with the press and translation during filming. I offered her a job, and she said: No, I can recommend it to someone else, but I will go to New York soon. Ok, I thought, I'll take this beautiful young woman to dinner at the most romantic restaurant in Paris, La Tour d'Argent."
The wedding was realized years later while the actor was realizing"20 thousand leagues of underwater trip"for Disney. Kirk left the studio one Saturday afternoon and picked up Anne, his lawyer and publicist for a flight to Nevada (3).
Upon her marriage, Anne became the stepmother of the actor's first two children: actor Michael Douglas and producer Joel Douglas. Anne and Diane maintained a very friendly relationship and even the latter said:"I think that after Kirk married Anne, she made everything much easier, because she cooperated a lot in terms of bedtime, that they could watch on television and That kind of thing"(4).
Kirk Douglas expressed in an interview the desire of Anne to become an American citizen. He added that she felt that the United States was a special country and wanted to repay her with her labors. Douglas named Buydens president of the company's production unit"The Byrna Co."and in 1973 it produced the film Scalawag.
Most recently she participated in the production of Deep River and Kirk Douglas: Before I forget, both in the year of 2009. As actress Anne only had a roll in the program of Jack Benny in 1962 (4).
The bond of this couple has remained for more than six decades despite several difficulties: Douglas admitted to being unfaithful to his wife, he suffered a stroke in 1966 that still affects his speech and Anne had to undergo a strong rehabilitation after a fracture Of your pelvis.
Kirk told L.A. Times talking about her:"Anne has saved my life sometimes. With a surprising intuition, she refused to let me go with Mike Todd on her tragic flight. We stopped talking about it until the next morning. Elizabeth Taylor is a widow now, but not my Anne. When I had my stroke 17 years ago, she drove me to the hospital like a Formula One car."(3). Kirk Douglas has also escaped death by surviving a helicopter crash.
Regarding his infidelity, which was referenced in his 2009 show, he argues that his wife chose not to pay attention to his wanderings and said:"A European woman has a different frame of reference." She says that after 60 years of marriage many obstacles are crossed"and all of them are beautiful"(5).
Product of this union, the pair has two children: Peter (born November 23, 1955 in Los Angeles, California) and Eric (born June 21, 1958 and died on July 6, 2004).
One of the hardest stages corresponds to the death of Eric due to a drug overdose. Eric pursued a career in the middle of the show, but could not get the same success as his father or brothers.
His career was overshadowed by his constant encounters with the law and his problems with alcohol and drugs. Weeks Before Her Death Anne and Kirk visited a rehabilitation center in New York State and tried to support him about their drug addiction.
They tried to put him in at about 20 different rehabilitation centers, but none could help him. On July 6, 2004, an employee found Douglas's body in his Manhattan apartment.
For his part, Peter Vincent (named after Vincent Van Gogh) is a producer for film and television and is married to Lisa Schroeder. Currently Anne is the proud grandmother of four grandchildren: Tyler, Ryan, Kelsey and Jason, all of their son Peter (6).
Buydens converted to Judaism when he renewed his marriage vows with Douglas in 2004, during his fiftieth anniversary at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills.
At the ceremony they performed rituals such as sipping the wine as a symbol of the sweet things they share and breaking a glass in a piece of linen as a symbol that marriage is not only happiness but also difficulty.
In this same celebration he sang a song written by himself called"Please stay in love with me"(7). Kirk Douglas responded to an interview for The Jewish Chronicle:"Now it is she who is in charge of performing the ritual every Friday to light the Sabbath candles. When we turn them on, we have a little service where we thank God for all we have"(8).
Every year, the Vanity Fair magazine publishes the guide of the most stylish personalities and the vanguard of fashion in the world from which Anne Buydens has been able to stop being a part. She has been a member of the International Best Dress List since 1970 (9).
Filmography
Producer
| TITLE | POSITION | YEAR |
| Scalawag | Producer (as Anne Buydens) | 1973 |
| Possession | Producer (uncredited) | 1975 |
| Deep river | Executive producer | 2009 |
| Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget (Documentary) | Executive Co-Producer | 2009 |
Actress
| TITLE | ROLE | YEAR |
| The Jack Benny Program | Anne (as Mrs. of Kirk Douglas) | 1962 |
Like herself
| TITLE | YEAR | |
| This is your Life | TV series | 1958-1960 |
| Person to person | TV documentary | 1960 |
| What's my line | TV series | 1966 |
| French Lunch | Short documentary | 1968 |
| ... A Father... A Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Television documentary | 2005 |
| Brisant | Television documentary | 2013 |
Others
| TITLE | YEAR | |
| The Life and Times of Kirk Douglas | Short documentary. Special thanks. | 2000 |
| Moulin Rouge | Publicist. See more » | 1952 |
| The Indian Fighter | Casting Supervisor. | 1955 |
Social work
For years the couple have traveled the world as ambassadors of good cause representing the United States Department of State and the Information Agency of the same country.
Although the couple established their charitable foundation early, it was not until the early 1990s that they began their greatest philanthropic efforts. The couple obtained financing thanks to the liquidation of the collection of Impressionist art that they housed.
Anne's publicist, Marcia Newberger, once mentioned how the couple observed these paintings on their walls when they felt it was time for them to bring benefits to others (1).
One of the first forays into philanthropy came after recovering from breast cancer. Buydens, along with six other survivors, established"Research for Women's Cancer,"a foundation that raised millions to help fund a research center at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She has been part of the women's guild of this center for over 38 years (1).
Both Buyden and Douglas were behind the construction of Harry's Haven, a unit for Alzheimer's disease at Motion Picture & Television Fund Home in Woodland Hills, California. It was named in honor of Kirk's father and today this center serves about 40 patients suffering from this disease.
The couple is known for their work to rebuild playgrounds for children in the Los Angeles Unified School District. This began as an initiative after Anne read in a newspaper about the precarious conditions of these sites that did not allow children to go out and play.
His publicist also referred to this work by saying that Buydens' belief was that these sites are the primary place where young people learn to socialize and come to experience democracy in action.
Her husband tells how he thought she was out of the loop, but tells how it all started with a call to then-Mayor Richard Riordan. To date, around 401 playgrounds have been rebuilt (3).
Similarly, the couple has financed the construction of four parks in Israel. The couple said their dream is that Arab and Jewish children can play together, and that these sites are a meeting point and understanding between the two cultures. They say that although"it has not worked that way, idealism is there."(1)
The generosity of both is reflected even when they travel near their place of residence. On a visit to the downtown Los Angeles mission, Anne asked what actions were being taken in support of the woman there.
The president of the Los Angeles mission said:"We had a small facility with only a few beds for women, with only one sheet separating them from men's beds." In 1992, the Anne Douglas Women's Center opened to provide care and recovery for homeless women who have fallen into depression, substance abuse and who are victims of family problems.
Douglas permanently makes visits to this center in search of hearing the stories to these women and obtains many gratifications to make the recovery possible.
They are also part of the Douglas Foundation, through which they recently donated close to millions of dollars to the retirement home of the Film and Television Fund. Anne Douglas was awarded the prestigious Jefferson Award, joining a long list of honors given to her.
For her the most satisfactory recognition is the impact of her social work:"they have no idea how it makes me feel when the children embrace and thank me. I just hope this makes a difference for children and when they grow up, remember that and have the impulse to help themselves"(1).
References
- The Douglas Archives. Anne Douglas. [Online] 2016. [Quoted on: December 16, 2016.] From douglashistory.co.uk.
- AOL Entertainment. Kirk and Anne Douglas open up about their 60-year marriage. [Online] 2015. [Quoted on: December 16, 2016.] From aol.com.
- Los Angeles Times. THE. Affairs Kirk Douglas looks back at 60 years of marriage. [Online] 2014. [Quoted on: December 12, 2016.] From latimes.com
- Daily Entertainment News. Anne Buydens Douglas Kirk Douglas's Wife. [Online] 2016. [Quoted on: December 12, 2016.] From dailyentertainmentnews.com.
- Mail Online. 'After 60 years I still love her': Spartacus star Kirk Douglas, 98, reveals how he kept his marriage to Anne, 84, thriving amid affairs and a stroke 2015. [Quoted on: December 16, 2016. ] From dailymail.co.uk.
- The Times of Israel. Kirk Douglas at 100, still in love with soulmate Anne. [Online] 2016. [Quoted on: December 12, 2016.] From timesofisrael.com.
- The Jewish Chronicle. Hollywood gladiator Kirk Douglas has his eyes on a third barmitzvah. [Online] 2012. [Quoted on: December 16, 2016.] From thejc.com.