ANT KATZ

In an op-ed piece published today, entitled ARE YESHIVAS ONLY FOR RABBIS?, Rabbi Shmuel Bloch writes about how Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, was Jewish, and how his family had wanted him to go to a yeshiva – which he resisted.

So we went a-Googling…

Kirk Douglas was, in fact, born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York. He was the only son of Bryna “Bertha” (née Sanglel) and Herschel “Harry” Danielovitch, a businessman. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Chavusy, Mogilev Region, in the Russian Empire (now Belarus), and the family spoke Yiddish. His father’s brother, who emigrated earlier, used the surname Demsky, which Douglas’ family adopted in the United States. Douglas, therefore, grew up as Izzy Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the Navy during the Second World War.

In his 1988 autobiography “The Ragman’s Son” Douglas describes the hardships his family endured during their early years in America:

So my father, who had been a horse trader in Russia, got himself a horse and a small wagon, and became a ragman, buying old rags, pieces of metal, and junk for pennies, nickels, and dimes. . .. Even on Eagle Street, in the poorest section of town, where all the families were struggling, the ragman was on the lowest rung on the ladder. And I was the ragman’s son.

Living with 6 sisters was stifling him

Coming from a poor family, as a boy Douglas sold snacks to mill workers to earn enough to buy milk and bread. Later, he delivered newspapers and worked at more than 40 jobs before becoming an actor. He found living in a family of six sisters to be stifling, stating: “I was dying to get out. In a sense, it lit a fire under me.” During high school, he acted in school plays, and discovered: “The one thing in my life that I always knew, that was always constant, was that I wanted to be an actor.”

STORY CONTINUES BELOW PICTURE

Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, the slave who led a revolt against Rome

College graduation, 1939

Unable to afford tuition, Douglas talked his way into St Lawrence University and received a loan which he paid back by working part-time as a gardener and a janitor. He was a standout on the wrestling team, and wrestled one summer in a carnival to make money.

Douglas’ acting talents were noticed at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and he received a special scholarship. One of his classmates was Betty Joan Perske (later to become better known as Lauren Bacall), who would play an important role in launching his film career. Another classmate was aspiring Bermudian actress Diana Dill. While doing summer stock theatre during a college term break, he began using the name Kirk Douglas, which he later legally adopted. He earned his first money as an actor that summer. Upon graduating from drama school, Douglas made his Broadway debut as a singing telegraph boy in Spring Again.

Douglas enlisted in the United States Navy in 1941, shortly after the United States entered the Second World War. He was medically discharged for war injuries in 1944. On May 3, 1943, Diana Dill, his former classmate, appeared on the cover of Life magazine. Seeing the photograph, Douglas told his fellow sailors that he was going to marry her. He did on November 2, 1943. The couple had two sons (Michael in 1944 and Joel in 1947) before they divorced in 1951.

After the war, Douglas returned to New York City and found work in radio, theatre, and commercials. His stage break occurred in Kiss and Tell, which led to other roles. Douglas had planned to remain a stage actor but Lauren Bacall helped him get his first screen role in the Hal B Wallis film The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), starring Barbara Stanwyck.

Wallis was on his way to New York to look for new talent when Bacall suggested he visit Douglas, who was rehearsing a play called The Wind Is Ninety. Douglas finished the play’s run and, with no follow-up work in sight, headed to Hollywood. He was immediately cast in one of the leading roles in Wallis’ film and made his film acting debut as a weak man dominated by a ruthless woman, unlike his later roles where he often played dominating characters.

Coming home to Judaism

In “ARE YESHIVAS ONLY FOR RABBIS” Rabbi Bloch explains:

“In an interview with aish.com on his 83rd birthday, Kirk revealed that being blessed with a sharp mind, he did extremely well in his cheder studies. All the Jews of his community wanted to collect money to send him to a yeshiva to become a rabbi.

“This frightened and terrified Kirk immensely. He did not want to be a rabbi; He wanted to be an actor! The community was insistent. Kirk himself testified that he had to work extremely hard to not to go to yeshiva.

“With honesty and introspection, Kirk discusses how for well over 70 years he neglected his Jewish heritage. Kirk never entirely lost his connection to his Judaism, and rediscovered it almost 70 years later in the 1990s.  In another book of his, ‘Climbing the mountain’, he details his eventual renewal with his heritage and his affiliation to ‘Aish Hatorah’.”