KIRK DOUGLAS

A bona-fide guitar hero puts a fresh spin on some holiday classics. And the former United States Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith on reading poetry across the political divide.

Greek actress and recording artist Irene Papas has died at age 93.

For decades, it’s been one of Hollywood’s darkest rumors: A teen-age Natalie Wood was sexually assaulted by a top movie star more than twice her age when she agreed to meet with him at a hotel in Los Angeles.

For decades, it's been one of Hollywood's darkest rumors: A teen-age Natalie Wood was sexually assaulted by a top movie star more than twice her age when she met with him at a hotel in Los Angeles. In a memoir coming out next week, Wood's younger sister identifies the long-suspected assailant: Kirk Douglas. “I remember that Natalie looked especially beautiful when Mom and I dropped her off that night at the Chateau Marmont entrance,” Lana Wood writes in “Little Sister,” alleging that the incident happened in the summer of 1955, around the time Natalie Wood was filming “The Searchers.”

Anne Douglas, the widow of Kirk Douglas and stepmother of Michael Douglas, has died in California.

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., representatives for the Douglas family told Fox News on Thursday.

The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 1981 file photo, Actress Rhonda Fleming poses for a photo in Hollywood, Calif. Actress Rhonda Fleming, the fiery redhead who appeared with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan and other film stars of the 1940s and 1950s, has died, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. She was 97. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

FILE - In this March 1, 1955 file photo, Actress Rhonda Fleming reads in her penthouse apartment in Rome. Actress Rhonda Fleming, the fiery redhead who appeared with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan and other film stars of the 1940s and 1950s, has died, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. Fleming’s assistant Carla Sapon told The New York Times that Fleming died Wednesday in Santa Monica, California. Legend or not, at 19 Louis was awarded a six-month contract at the studio of David O. Selznick and a new name: Rhonda Fleming. A couple of years after Mann died, Fleming married for a sixth time, to Derol W. Carlson, who died in 2017.

But less obvious movies can also take on surprising relevancy. Powell, star of “The Thin Man” movies, is, as ever, a tonic — or, if you prefer, a cocktail (Streaming on Amazon Prime). A marathon of Posey movies ("Kicking and Screaming," “Best in Show") may be in order (Streaming on Criterion Channel). — “Ikiru”: The time is never wrong for the supreme humanism of Akira Kurosawa's “Ikiru” but it's especially right right now. It will make yearn for a swing set (Streaming for free on Kanopy).

JERUSALEM – Hollywood power couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are set to return to Israel as co-hosts of this year’s Genesis Prize ceremony. The Genesis Prize Foundation announced on Wednesday that the pair would co-host the June 18 event, where former Soviet dissident and Israeli politician Natan Sharansky is to be honored as the 2020 laureate. Douglas, whose mother wasn’t Jewish and who himself is intermarried, directed his award toward projects promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the Jewish world. “Catherine and I look forward to returning to Israel, a country our entire family loves so much,” Douglas said in a statement. The foundation said that during Douglas’ visit, it will hold a special event honoring his father’s cinematic legacy.

Oscar statues stand off of Hollywood Boulevard in preparation for Sunday's 92nd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, in Los Angeles. “Parasite” took Hollywood’s top prize on Sunday night, along with awards for best director, best international film and best screenplay. The win was a watershed moment for the Academy Awards, which has long been content to relegate international films to their own category. “Joker” composer Hildur Guðnadóttir became only the third woman to ever win best original score. Disney's ABC hoped a widely watched field of nominees — including the $1 billion-grossing “Joker” — will help viewership.

Pepper, an acclaimed American sculptor, died Wednesday at her home in Todi, Italy. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)MILAN – Beverly Pepper, a fixture of the Roman “Dolce Vita” and renowned American sculptor who made Italy her home and backdrop to many of her monumental steel creations, has died. Her son, John Pepper, made the announcement on Facebook, saying she died Wednesday. “The Dolce Vita wasn’t so sweet,” John Pepper told the Italian newspaper Il Foglio in a story published Friday. Her husband, Curtis Bill Pepper, died in 2014.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:1. NOT GUILTY: SENATE ACQUITS TRUMP Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator to vote against acquittal as just the third impeachment trial in American history ends with a divided Congress, and electorate. GLOBAL TOURISM TAKES MAJOR HIT The viral outbreak in China throws the travel industry into chaos, threatening billions in losses and keeping millions of would-be travelers at home. BACK ON EARTH Astronaut Christina Koch, who has spent nearly 11 months in orbit on the longest spaceflight by a woman, lands safely in Kazakhstan. 10. WHO IS SEEKING REINSTATEMENT TO BASEBALL Career hits leader Pete Rose seeks an end to his lifetime ban, saying the penalty is unfair compared with discipline for steroids use and electronic sign stealing.

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.

Kirk Douglas' death was first reported by People magazine. Kirk Douglas was an acrobat, a juggler, a self-taught man who learned French in his 30s and German in his 40s. Kirk Douglas tried for years to make a film out of Ken Kesey's cult novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." “My father has played up his disappointment with that pretty good,’’ Michael Douglas later told Vanity Fair. The four-night show in the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City was sold out.

Legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas has died at age 103. The Oscar-nominated actor and producer's son, actor Michael Douglas, confirmed the news Wednesday evening that his father's health had been in decline. Michael said to him and his brothers Joel and Peter, Kirk Douglas was "simply dad," but that he had left a legacy. Douglas and his wife Anne who he was married to for more than 60 years paid for hundreds of playgrounds to be built in California. Along with the many playgrounds, they helped establish the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, the Anne Douglas Center a women's rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles, and the Douglas Family Early Childhood Center at Sinai Temple of Los Angeles.