Sean Connery, a lion of cinema whose roar went beyond Bond
FILE - This March 4, 1992 file photo shows actor Sean Connery during a news conference in Hamburg, Germany. Connery, considered by many to have been the best James Bond, has died aged 90, according to an announcement from his family. (AP Photo/Christian Eggers, File)Writing an appreciation of Sean Connery feels inevitably inadequate compared to experiencing the real thing. Connery’s Bond became etched as an icon of its era, one increasingly distant from today. That could be because the glint of mischief that accompanied nearly every Connery performance was so present in “The Last Crusade.” Connery always left you feeling if not shaken then very happily stirred.
Kirk Douglas rose from poverty to become a king of Hollywood
He died Kirk Douglas, a Hollywood king. As Douglas rises, a growing chorus of slaves jump up and shout, “I’m Spartacus!” Douglas stands silently, a tear rolling down his face. Michael Douglas not only thrived in Hollywood, but beat his dad to the Oscars with a project his father had first desired. The four-night show in the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City was sold out. “You know, I never wanted to be a movie actor,” Douglas told the AP in 2009.