Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch Demsky to Jewish immigrants from Russia, the man with the chiseled jaw, steely blue eyes, and a long career in Hollywood, died Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. He was 103.

Nominated three times for best actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — for Champion (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Lust for Life (1956) for which he won the New York Film Critics Award for best actor — Douglas received an honorary Oscar in 1996. Arguably the top male star of the post-WWII era, he acted in more than 80 movies before retiring from films in 2004.

In 1981, President Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.