Why Some Fans Thought Kirk Douglas Died Over the Weekend

Legendary actor Kirk Douglas was the victim of death rumors over the weekend, but in reality, the star was celebrating his birthday.

On Dec. 9, Douglas celebrated his 102nd birthday, and Twitter honored him with a Twitter Moment dedicated to tweets about his birthday.

“Happy Birthday to Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, 102 today!” writer Marshall Julius tweeted out, then adding a quote of Douglas’, “Life is like a B-picture script! It’s that corny. If I had my life story offered to me to film, I’d turn it down.”

“Wishing a wonderful 102nd birthday to Kirk Douglas!” Turner Classic Movies tweeted out, while music writer David Wild shared another one of Douglas’ quotes, “Sometimes, the thing that ties you down sets you free.”

The birthday wishes to Douglas, however, gave some the impression that he had passed away, as they were caught off-guard by all the fond memories friends and fans were sharing of the star.

“Kirk Douglas trending because he just, is 102 today, and not because he’s dead at 102 is so weird because every tweet has the format of ‘celebrity died’ but it’s happy instead? I had to google it to make sure I’m reading all this right,” one person tweeted.

“Wow, I just automatically assumed Kirk Douglas had died, glad to see it’s just his birthday. Also 20k Leagues was awesome,” another fan commented.

“Saw Kirk Douglas mentioned in the twitter moments and was like ‘Oh he died? That seems about right’ but nope it’s about him celebrating his 102 birthday,” someone else joked, while one other user said, “I saw people talking about Kirk Douglas and assumed he died. Nope, he just turned 102.”

Douglas has appeared in numerous films throughout his illustrious career, but in 2015 he spoke to Huffpost about the ones he cites as being most proud of.

That list includes The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Champion, Ace in the Hole, The Bad and the Beautiful, Act of Love, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Indian Fighter, Lust for Life, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lonely Are the Brave, and Seven Days in May.