Kirk Douglas’ wife and philanthropist, Anne Buydens, has died. She was 102.
The longtime Hollywood staple, who presided over The Bryna Company and the Douglas Foundation until her death, died peacefully at her home in Beverly Hills, Calif., delegates for the Douglas family told for they on Thursday.
Buydens first met the famous actor love of her life in 1953 when Douglas extended to her an employment opportunity as his marketing expert while he was in Paris to film “Act of Love.” Although she at first rebuffed a dinner date from the late star, Buydens rather settled on fried eggs at home a couple of hours after the fact.
In 2017, the couple published a book about their decades-long romance titled “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.”
Actor Michael Douglas said of his stepmother’s passing: “My father could never keep a secret. Anne was just the opposite, That’s why when I read their co-authored book, ‘Kirk and Anne,’ in which she talked about her early life in Germany; her war years in occupied Paris; her career before she met my father,” he said.
“She also included their private correspondence, which gave me new insights into their courtship and marriage. Anne was more than a stepmother, and never “wicked.” She brought out the best in all of us, especially our father. Dad would never have had the career he did without Anne’s support and partnership. Catherine and I and the children adored her; she will always be in our hearts.”
In 2017, Douglas disclosed to Fox News he figured out how to draw near to Buydens regardless of her hesitations in being enchanted by the famous actor.
“I couldn’t convince her to go out with me, but I finally convinced her to do my publicity on the film ‘Act of Love,’” he explained at the time. “I knew it would be strictly business, yet she still fascinated me and I wanted to know all about her. She had a wicked sense of humor, spoke four languages and was the most sophisticated and elegant woman I had ever met. So I fell in love with her.”
Douglas likewise told they that he credited date night for sparking the sentiment consistently throughout the long term.
“[Date night is] the same as it’s been throughout our marriage,” he said. “We spend what we call the ‘golden hour’ together at around 6:30 each night. We’ll sit and talk and laugh and share our day and our thoughts with each other.”
Kirk Douglas, quite possibly the most well known American leading men of the mid-20th century associated with his dimpled jawline, etched highlights, and virile Hollywood jobs, kicked the bucket on February 5, 2020, at 103 years old.
Anne Douglas is made due by children Peter, Michael and Joel; little girls in-law Catherine and Lisa; seven grandkids: Cameron, Dylan, Carys, Kelsey, Tyler, Jason and Ryan; two extraordinary grandkids Lua Izzy and Ryder, nurtured by Cameron Douglas and Viviane Thibes; and a sister, Merle Werbke of Berlin, Germany. Anne was predeceased by her child Eric in 2004 and her significant other Kirk in 2020.