Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 73

SEP 12Z32 He's still making oyies but the actor also travels all over the world as a good-will ambassador. 'People know more about our country through our movies. It's our 'Eddie Macon's It was wonderful working with writerdirector Jeff Kanew (who edited 'Ordinary People'); he's young and wonderfully talented. I enjoyed working with every one of the' cast and crew, doing nothing but acting: "When you start producingryou -get so involved. My son Michael has the whole big setup right now at Columbia," producing 'The and he's beginning to realize it's a bit much! He'd like to simplify.

All of life, as you mature; is an attempt to simplify." I You hear that statement from 'many celebrities. Somehow when Kirk Douglas says it, you believe it. He lives in the house in Beverly Hills where he has lived for years. Unpretentious. Lovely.

A homeHe sits comfortably in his favorite chair, white shirt, bright red sweater, the sculptured face and cjeft chin which identify him, a man of many honors: three Academy Award nominations Bad and the Beautiful," top communication. we were there, I was surprised to be-' known. They'd seen We had Our movies are so valuable. I remember when I was making my report to Washington on a Japanese-trip. I said, 'Japan may be able to make automobiles that the wot Id wants to buy, but so far they haven't been able to make movies the world wants to 1 "Very often the American movie industry is not given due credit by our own country.

Washington tends to block out the mores of the American movie industry," Douglas asserts. "Even movies we make in which we criticize ourselves are important. People know more about our country through our movies than any other way. It's our top communication. That's why I've made these trips all over the world." And returns to be debriefed in Washington.

One of his suggestions', made -more than 20 years ago, was the -need for a knowledge xf the local language on the part of people assigned to foreign embassies. "In those days, I found few people at any embassy who spoke "the language. Now when'I go to Japan I find many people in the embassy speaking Japanese. It's essential. How can envoys explain what is going on in a' country if they don't speak the language? A lot of mianrK are Inst.

"Lust for the New York Film Critics Award for Best Actor, the Hollywood Foreigipi Press Ass'n Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award and countless others. Best of all, you feel this man lives comfortably with his life. Wife Ann is head of his production company. She runs all the finances, is in charge of all investments, handles all residuals.

"I'm really a poor man. She's got all the money," he laughs. But he has the satisfaction of knowing that Ann is using her talents and has as busy a life as he has. She joins him on location for as long as her business functions permit. His sons stay close.

"I saw' Joel last night. We had a book reception for a friend, Jack Valenti, who wrote 'Speak Up with Joel stopped by on his way to see Michael who was shooting a night scene at Dodger Stadium. He's making commercials for Blank Communications, and he's just finished a movie in Alabama called 'King Peter not only acts, he produces, most notably 'Something Wicked This Way which I bought the rights to six years ago. "And my youngest son Eric just opened off-Broadway in 'The I just managed to make it from Laredo to New York for the opening. It was quite an experience.

The boy is good. This is his first professional engagement. He has the lead and is on stage for two hours." Kirk knows what a heady experience it is to work on stage and feel the audience reaction. Last winter, he and Burt Lancaster played "The Boys of Autumn" in San Francisco to standing ovations. Michael and Joel are children of Douglas's first marriage to Diana Dill.

As youngsters the boys grew up on such outdoor epics as "The Big Sky" and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." Peter and Eric are the sons of his current marriage. Congratulate him on his success as a father who has managed to be friends with his sons and he says, "I've had my share of problems. Show me a father who" hasn't. But you keep the lines of communication open, don't ever sever those lines, and eventually you have a chance at mutual understanding.

"There's no'perfect way to bring -up children. Two kids brought up seemingly in exactly the same way develop in opposite directions. A lot of it is luck. The key word is function. All .1 want for my boys is that they do something.

"It's difficult for youngsters to have a famous parent: the inclination is to compete. You have to allow them to have feelings, to love and hate and not feel guilty about that hatred. It's part of the evolutionary process. I joke and say I'm the only Douglas not working right now. I like that.

Every time you act, you're stepping into a new I can't wish them anything- i fV -Utt i WW I lecture and teach students; but I'm also. learning from them. They were against the war in Vietnam. Maybe if Washington had Now it's the nuclear freeze. Their stand is beginning to have" impact.

"The young people are spearheads," Douglas" claims. "They're saying, make a stop to developing any more nuclear arms and then 'deal with what we should do because otherwise the situation is going to get out of What if Kaddafi had a nuclear bomb? Survival is, with the young. I'm not saying let the young take over; I say listen to what they're saying. "I learn about movies talking to my sons. They've taught me a lot.

They keep me He grins, and you can see the pride he has in -Michael, Joel, Eric and Peter. "All my sons are actors. I fought all of them. I tried to get them into anything but this profession. You should discourage someone you love, then if they insist, you know it's an incurable disease.

If you can stop them from a. profession, they shouldn't go into it," No one could have deterred him. Douglas's whole thrust was to be on stage. His first play on Broadway was "Spring Again" with Grace George and C. Aubrey Smith.

He played the Western Union boy who. comes in at the end of the second act and sings his Western Union telegranr. Lauren Bacall, who studied at the same dramatic school, came with her mother and told him he was "I suppose I'm really a failure because I never really had a hit show on Broadway. My last was 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 15 years ago." He had an option on that play for a film but never did get it His son Michael did. It was his first tremendous as a producer.

"Like Michael, I know I have a reputation for working both sides of" the.camera. My company, Bryna Productions (named for his mother), has produced a number of my pictures, including "I started Bryna because of the challenge to do more in the creative process of films. I like finding a 'script, working with a writer and a director but what I prefer is having someone hand me a realry-good script and then being free to do what I like best: I did on i "This is something I learned from Ann. She knew English before she came to the United States. She also knew what the United States stands for.

I remember when she was studying for her citizenship exams. She was enine over the meanint? of legislative, executive and judicial branches and what they did, and I was kidding her about her intensity. 'How would you know what it '-means to be an she said. 'You are "I've always remembered that. Becoming a citizen was so important to her.

America means something that we often take for granted," he believes. "Americans can get lazy. How few people, for example, are studying Russian in America compared with the people in the Soviet Union who are studying English? We should be studying Chinese. We should; be traveling, seeing, learning. I go to the young people for opinions.

Yes, Today's WOMAN, Herald ft Review, Sunday, September 12, Page 7.