美国国家公共电台 NPR Kirk Douglas Dies At 103; Known As Hollywood's Tough Guy And

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Kirk Douglas, the self-described ragman's son who became a global Hollywood superstar in the 1950s and '60s, has died. He was 103. Douglas was often cast as a troubled tough guy in films, most famously as a rebellious¹ Roman slave named Spartacus. Off-screen, he was devoted² to humanitarian³ causes. Bob Mondello offers this appreciation⁴.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁵: That cleft⁶ in his chin, the grit⁷ in his voice, the set of his jaw⁸ in moments of intensity⁹ that made him seem to be talking through clenched¹⁰ teeth - Kirk Douglas was a classic Hollywood alpha male, one who made a conscious choice to go his own way by playing men who went theirs, like the principled Colonel Dax in the World War I epic¹² "Paths Of Glory" who bucked¹³ his commanders to try to save three soldiers at their court-martial.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PATHS OF GLORY")

KIRK DOUGLAS: (As Colonel Dax) Gentlemen of the court, there are times when I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race, and this is one such occasion. The case made against these men is a mockery of all human justice. To find these men guilty would be a crime to haunt each of you to the day you die.

MONDELLO: Colonel Dax was a good man fighting the establishment, but Douglas seemed almost more comfortable playing what he liked to call tough sons of b*****es, flawed men who were, one way or another, gaming the system. Two of his earliest title roles - the backstabbing boxer¹⁴ in the "Champion" and the self-destructive cornetist in "Young Man With A Horn" - were stars who turn into heels just as the public embraces them.

Before long, Douglas had developed that reputation himself. Looking back in his memoirs¹⁵, Douglas describes the young Kirk Douglas as egotistical and ambitious and claims not to like him very much. But his performances as, say, an abrasive¹⁶, driven Vincent van Gogh in "Lust¹⁷ For Life," were electric.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LUST FOR LIFE")

DOUGLAS: (As Vincent van Gogh) When I paint the sun, I want to make people feel it revolving¹⁸, giving off light and heat. When I paint a pheasant in the field, I want to feel the sun pouring into him like it does in the corn.

ANTHONY QUINN: (As Paul Gaugin) Is that what you think you're doing when you overload¹⁹ your brush? What I see when I look at your work is just you paint too fast.

DOUGLAS: (As Vincent van Gogh) You look too fast.

MONDELLO: For more than two decades in Hollywood, Douglas cast a giant shadow, as one of his titles had it, playing two or even three starring roles each year. He had clout²⁰ enough that when he didn't get cast in "Ben-Hur," he could counter it just months later with his own Roman epic, both producing and starring as the rugged²¹, chisel-featured slave Spartacus.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SPARTACUS")

DOUGLAS: (As Spartacus) Take that back to your senate. Tell them you and that broken stick is all that's left of the garrison²² of Rome. Tell them we want nothing from Rome - nothing - except our freedom.

(CHEERING)

MONDELLO: Off-screen, Douglas also led an open revolt against Hollywood's blacklist. The communist witch hunts of the 1950s had destroyed many careers. "Spartacus" screenwriter Dalton Trumbo had been forced for years to write under an alias²³. Douglas was disgusted by the hypocrisy²⁴; said, to hell with it; and put Trumbo's name in the credits. When "Spartacus" was a hit, the blacklist was effectively finished.

More than three decades later, speaking with NPR's Susan Stamberg, Douglas was philosophical²⁵ about the decision.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

DOUGLAS: If I were much older, would I still have done it? Maybe. Who knows? It was a time - I was young, impulsive²⁶. Sometimes they say as you get older, you get more cautious. I like to think that I don't. But it could be. Anyhow, I did it. It was an impulsive thing. I'm proud of it. I think it's one of the good things that I've done in life.

MONDELLO: Born Issur Danielovitch in New York to illiterate²⁷, desperately²⁸ poor Russian Jewish parents, the future leading man was the only boy amongst seven siblings²⁹. He would later tell his own children that they didn't have his advantage of being born into abject³⁰ poverty. From an early age, that advantage forced him to put himself out there with the public, working odd jobs, scrounging for food, talking his way not just into college but also into a loan to pay for it.

Acting³¹ school followed and a stint³² in the Navy, a name change to Kirk Douglas and minor³³ success in New York. Then Hollywood beckoned³⁴. And within four years, he'd made eight films, established his persona as a tough guy and earned the first of his three Oscar nominations³⁵ as a barrel-chested prizefighter in the "Champion."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CHAMPION")

DOUGLAS: (As Midge) Did you hear that crowd? For the first time in my life, people cheering for me. Were you deaf? Didn't you hear them?

MONDELLO: Success did not make Douglas a nice guy. Though married, he had multiple affairs with the likes of Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich and Ava Gardner. He was a mostly absentee father to his first two sons. He broke studio contracts and feuded³⁶ with directors. In 1964, he said, I am probably the most disliked actor in Hollywood, and I feel pretty good about it because that's me.

Later, he felt less good about it. But the '60s were his glory days, with hit after hit - battling a presidential overthrow³⁷ in "Seven Days In May," torn between Faye Dunaway and Deborah Kerr in "The Arrangement." He played gunslingers, lawyers, admirals, doctors, con¹¹ men and worked steadily³⁸ through the next two decades.

When the tough-guy shtick got old, he turned to comedy and mocked it in a film called "Tough Guys" with his frequent co-star Burt Lancaster. Not even a helicopter crash in 1991 when he was 74 could slow him down, though the fact that a pilot and another passenger had died, he told NPR, did change his worldview.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

DOUGLAS: Why am I alive? Why did two young people die? And it makes you think about other people more. I think you have to, as you get older in life and as you mature - you have to be aware more of the outside world and other people.

MONDELLO: Just a year after that interview, a stroke left him almost entirely³⁹ unable to speak and thinking of suicide. He wrote of wondering, what does an actor do who can't talk - wait for silent pictures to come back? His book about that stroke, though, is called "My Stroke Of Luck" and tells how he recovered by reaching out to others and by rediscovering the Judaism he had been neglecting for 60 years.

Douglas and his wife Anne were to spend the next decade and millions of dollars fixing up playgrounds in California - more than 400 altogether. Every time he reopened one, he slid down its slide, joking after one such slide at 92, every dedication⁴⁰, I risk my life.

In between the odd acting jobs that came his way, Douglas found time to write memoirs and children's books. He also became one of the world's oldest bloggers at 92. And at 94, he returned to the stage, delighting audiences at Culver City's Kirk Douglas Theatre with an autobiographical solo show called "Before I Forget."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DOUGLAS: When you have a stroke, you must talk slowly to be understood. And I've discovered that when I talk slowly, people listen.

(LAUGHTER)

DOUGLAS: They think I'm going to say something important.

(LAUGHTER)

MONDELLO: Having said plenty in his time, he really didn't have to anymore, but that didn't stop him.

Kirk Douglas was the last great movie star of his generation. John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, Charlton Heston, his buddy⁴¹ Burt Lancaster - Douglas outlived them all by so many years that younger audiences probably know him better as Michael Douglas' father than as a star in his own right. But he was a star for a long time, among the brightest in the Hollywood firmament⁴².

I'm Bob Mondello.

CORNISH: Kirk Douglas died today at age 103.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

7 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

8 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

9 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

10 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

12 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

13 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

15 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 abrasive   

adj.使表面磨损的；粗糙的；恼人的

参考例句：

• His abrasive manner has won him an unenviable notoriety.他生硬粗暴的态度让他声名狼藉。
• She had abrasions to her wrists where the abrasive rope had scraped her.她的手腕有多出磨伤，那是被粗糙的绳子擦伤的。

17 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

18 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

19 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

20 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

21 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

22 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

23 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

24 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

25 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

26 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

27 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

28 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

29 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

30 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

31 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

32 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

33 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

34 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

36 feuded   

vi.长期不和（feud的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He feuded with his ex-wife. 他和前妻积怨已久。 来自辞典例句
• The two tribes feuded with each other for generations. 这两个部族世代为敌。 来自辞典例句

37 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

38 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

39 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

40 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

41 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

42 firmament   

n.苍穹；最高层

参考例句：

• There are no stars in the firmament.天空没有一颗星星。
• He was rich,and a rising star in the political firmament.他十分富有，并且是政治高层一颗冉冉升起的新星。