Kirk Douglas is a person.
Kirk Douglas . Douglas became an international star through positive reception for his leading role as an unscrupulous boxing hero in Champion ( 1949 ) , which brought him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor . He received a second Oscar nomination for his dramatic role in The Bad and the Beautiful ( 1952 ) , opposite Lana Turner , and his third nomination for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life ( 1956 ) . As an actor and philanthropist , Douglas has received three Academy Award nominations , an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement , and the Presidential Medal of Freedom . Currently , he is No. 17 on the American Film Institute 's list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema , and the highest-ranked living person on the list .