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Tag: Kirk Douglas

  • Kirk Douglas finances new Motion Picture & TV Fund facility

    Kirk Douglas finances new Motion Picture & TV Fund facility

    MUMBAI: In celebration of legendary actor Kirk Douglas’ 99th birthday, Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) has announced plans to build a $35 million state-of-the-art care facility, to be named the Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion (KDCP), on its Woodland Hills campus.

     

    MPTF Foundation chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg said, “We are grateful to Kirk and Anne for making this leadership gift of $15 million. It will kick the design and planning of this incredible new facility into high gear.”

     

    Katzenberg added, “It is in keeping with Kirk’s philosophy of giving back to the entertainment community that he is the one giving us the gift on his birthday instead of us lavishing one on him. And with their recent commitment to MPTF, Kirk and Anne Douglas are some of the largest donors in the history of MPTF giving, with over $40 million of lifetime philanthropy. We will never be able to thank them enough for all that they have done.”

     

    Douglas said, “Anne and I created Harry’s Haven in 1992 because we wanted to help families in the entertainment community struggling to care for and comfort their loved ones who have Alzheimer’s. What MPTF has done at Harry’s Haven over the past 25 years never ceases to amaze me. We wanted visitors as well as patients to experience a warm and loving environment, and MPTF has fulfilled our wishes admirably. He added: When Jeffrey Katzenberg explained the urgency of enlarging the current facility to accommodate more patients, we had to say yes! Jeffrey knows it is our philosophy to provide funding where it is needed most. The Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion is going to help a lot of families in our community.”

     

    “The KDCP will allow MPTF to expand its care to more industry members with Alzheimer’s and those needing skilled nursing care,” said MPTF president and CEO Bob Beitcher. “The first floor of the KDCP will be the new home of Harry’s Haven, our nationally recognized Alzheimer’s unit.” Beitcher added: “Kirk was visionary when in 1992 he recognized the implications of dealing with Alzheimer’s not only for those directly impacted but for their family members as well. MPTF is honored to be a part of the legacy of caring for our own that Kirk Douglas embodies by his words and his actions.”

     

    The KDCP is expected to break ground in late 2016. It will be a two-story home for 80 industry members struggling with Alzheimer’s as well as long-term skilled nursing care needs. Residents of the KDCP will thrive in small ‘neighborhood’ environments that look and feel more like home as opposed to the typical ‘hospital setting.’ The KDCP will also include a wandering garden and other contemporary amenities and programs for its residents.

     

    To celebrate his birthday, Douglas and Katzenberg officially launched the KDCP website: www.mptf.com/kirkdouglas where visitors can take a virtual tour of the new building and learn how they too can participate in funding its design and completion. Katzenberg presented Kirk with a model of the KDCP, designed by Zakian Woo Architects in Culver City.

  • People Magazine accidentally publishes obituary of Kirk Douglas

    People Magazine accidentally publishes obituary of Kirk Douglas

    NEW DELHI: People Magazine accidentally published its pre-written obituary for renowned actor Kirk Douglas on Sunday night.

     

    Reporting this, Variety of the United States said,“It is not uncommon for major publications to write their elaborate obituaries in advance, and People Magazine clearly did not mean to run the story as evident from the “DO NOT PUB” in the headline.

     

    However, Kirk Spartacus Douglas and his family members are not happy. Douglas, who turns 98 next week, is not the first celebrity ‘death’ botched by People.

     

    In 1982, Abe Vigoda was erroneously referred to as “the late Abe Vigoda” in People Magazine, which became a running joke about Vigoda on talk shows like “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Vigoda is, of course, still alive.

     

    Bloomberg made a similar obituary gaffe when it published news of Steve Jobs’ death in 2008 three years before the Apple co-founder’s actually passing away in 2011. The editors of Bloomberg quickly posted a retraction and apologized for the mistake. 

  • Andy Whitfield ‘Spartacus’ no more

    Andy Whitfield ‘Spartacus’ no more

    MUMBAI: 39-year old Andy Whitfield, who is known for Spartacus: Blood and Sand has expired in Sydney. His death came 18 months after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, it is understood.


    “On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18 month battle with lymphoma cancer,” Whitfield‘s wife Vashti has been quoted in a statement.
    “He passed peacefully surrounded by love. Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous and gentle man, father and husband he was,” she added.
     
    Andy Whitfield – who was born in Wales and moved to Australia in 1999 – was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the legendary Thracian slave in Spartacus, a role made
    famous by Kirk Douglas in the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film.
     
    In all, the actor appeared in all 13 episodes of the first season that aired in 2010 and was preparing to shoot the second when he was diagnosed with Cancer.