Kirk Douglas Mourned by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Who Calls Him ‘Real Life Hero’ and ‘Perfect Mentor’

Tributes are already pouring in for Kirk Douglas, who passed away on Wednesday, at the age of 103. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once worked alongside Douglas, took some time to honor the late Hollywood icon by describing just how great of a mentor he was to him.

“Kirk Douglas was an icon. It’s hard to put into words what it meant to me to work with this legend who I grew up watching in Westerns in our little theater in Austria. He was larger than life to me – a real life hero,” Schwarzenegger’s statement began on Twitter.

“When we finally met on the set of The Villain, he couldn’t have been any sweeter to me. I was a new actor and he was the perfect mentor,” he continued. “He was already in his 60s but he was in unbelievable shape, and he could still jump off a trampoline into his horse’s saddle. I’ll always remember his lessons and our workouts together (back then actors trained secretly, so he’d pull his dumbbells out of his hiding place and we would do curls together).”

“He was the perfect role model and my career wouldn’t have been the same without him,” Schwarzenegger concluded his message, which was followed up by a thread of photos of the pair together. “I will miss him dearly and my thoughts are with his family.”

In addition to Schwarzenegger’s message, many others have issued tributes to the late Hollywood icon, including those who were closest to him. Kirk’s son, Michael Douglas, wrote a moving statement on Instagram about his father’s passing.

“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” Michael wrote, captioning a photo of his father. “To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.”

“Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son,” he concluded.

Michael’s wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, also paid tribute to Kirk on Instagram.

“To my darling Kirk, I shall love you for the rest of my life,” she wrote, alongside a photo of a precious moment between her and her father-in-law. “I miss you already. Sleep tight…”

Photo Credit: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images