Kirk Douglas is not an actor.
Kirk Douglas ( born Issur Danielovitch , December 9 , 1916 ) is an American actor , producer , director , and author . In 1963 , he starred in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest , a story he purchased , which he later gave to his son Michael Douglas , who turned it into an Oscar-winning film . Lonely Are the Brave . It stars Kirk Douglas as cowboy Jack Burns , Gena Rowlands as his best friend 's wife and Walter Matthau as a sheriff who sympathises with Burns but must do his job and chase him down . The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a film noir released in the United States in 1946 , starring Barbara Stanwyck , Van Heflin , Lizabeth Scott and featuring Kirk Douglas in his film debut .