Kirk and Anne Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood
One-hundred-year-old screen icon Kirk Douglas and his wife of 62 years, Anne Buydens, share untold stories and secrets to longevity in life and love. In Kirk and Anne the couple's story unfolds through their own commentary and a treasure trove of priceless letters. Painstakingly maintained by Anne over the course of more than six decades and never before made public, the correspondence includes details of their (often turbulent) courtship and marriage, set against the backdrop of Kirk's screen triumphs in films ranging from Lust For Life to Paths of Glory and Spartacus. Through the letters themselves and Kirk and Anne's words, never-before-told stories emerge about the legendary stars they knew so well: Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Gregory Peck, Cole Porter, John Wayne, Tony Curtis, and son Michael Douglas; fascinating first-hand accounts of Hollywood film sets and dinner parties; and exotic tales of travel to over forty countries as goodwill ambassadors. There are personal stories of presidents and first ladies (JFK and Jackie, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton and, “Ronnie” and Nancy Reagan), and powerful memories of both joy and sadness. Complemented by dozens of photos, Kirk and Anne candidly details the adventurous, oftentimes comic, and poignant reality behind the glamour of a Hollywood life, as only a couple of sixty-two years (and counting) could tell it.