Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch Demsky, December 9, 1916) is an American actor, filmmaker, author and centenarian. He is one of the last surviving stars of the film industry's Golden Age. After an impoverished childhood with immigrant parents and six sisters, he had his film debut in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war movies. During his career, he appeared in more than 90 movies. Douglas is known for his explosive acting style. Douglas became an
Chet Allen (actor, born 1939) In 1984, at the age of forty-five, Allen committed suicide by taking five times the fatal dosage of a prescription anti-depressant. Chet Allen (actor, born 1939) Chet R. Allen (May 6, 1939 – June 17, 1984) was an American child actor of the 1950s known for his role as Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors", the first opera written for television, which he made with the NBC Opera Theatre. Allen was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, and later moved to Columbus, Ohio. At the time he was selected as Amahl, Allen was a soprano member of Columbus