Kirk Douglas Wrote Love Letters to His Wife Even at 100 — He Fell for Her at First Sight until the End of His Life

Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne Buydens fell in love at first sight. They had a loving marriage of over 60 years and kept their tradition of writing letters for decades. However, Douglas had to tie up a few loose ends from his past before he married Buydens.

Kirk Douglas is a renowned actor in Hollywood. He was born Issur Danielovitch, in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916. The actor did not have an easy childhood; he worked multiple small jobs to pay off his college education at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Douglas served in the U.S Navy during World War II and had a short career on Broadway. He landed his first role in the Hollywood film “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” in 1946.

His next role was the portrayal of Midge Kelly in “Champion,” a film about a boxer determined to succeed at any cost. Douglas delivered an outstanding performance that gave him a Hollywood breakthrough and an Academy Award nomination.

When Douglas met Anne Buydens, he was freshly divorced from his ex-wife, Diana Douglas, with whom he had two children, Michael and Joel. He was also in a new relationship with Italian actress Pier Angeli.

The couple traveled to Paris, and Douglas was in need of a bilingual assistant. He was introduced to Buydens, a former assistant to director John Huston.

Buydens was still legally married to Albert Buydens at the time. According to the Daily Mail, she was obligated to stay married to him because he had helped her escape the Nazi invasion of Germany.

Douglas and Buydens formed a strong friendship from their long working hours together. She started opening up about some of the painful parts of her past and Douglas proved to be a good listener.

The close friendship started to develop into a romantic connection; however, Buydens was reluctant to let her feelings for Douglas grow as she had seen several young women get swallowed by the fame of dating a movie star.

While their romantic relationship grew stronger, Douglas still had his relationship with Angeli hovering over their heads. He even went as far as letting Buydens help him choose an engagement ring for Angeli, which he admitted was insensitive in their joint book, “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.”

Buydens threatened to leave Douglas, but the imagination of a life without her made him realize that he wanted to be with Buydens.

On Christmas Eve in 1953, Douglas ended his engagement with Angeli, and by May of the following year, he and Buydens had become husband and wife.

A director who worked closely with the couple, Jeff Kanew, said Douglas and Buydens shared a connection he had never experienced.

The couple was a powerhouse, with Buydens running the business side of their production company and Douglas the creative. Kanew said they gelled in all aspects of their relationship as friends, lovers, and business partners.

Douglas and Buydens were married for over six decades and their romance and love for writing letters never died. It became a way for the couple to express feelings that might not have been easy to say and maintain communication while Douglas was traveling.

The tradition of writing letters continued until their last days together. One of the memorable ones Douglas wrote was after they welcomed their first child. He said:

“Always remember darling, I need you… for you, I hope to do wonderful things. This is it—you and me and our family forever!”

Another letter that had a full circle moment was one where Douglas wrote, “If I live to be one hundred, there will still be so many things unsaid.”

When he celebrated his 100th birthday, Douglas wrote another letter confirming that even after all those years, there was still so much more to be said about his love for Buydens.

Douglas had written eleven books in his lifetime, but the actor still had aspirations of writing a book of the collected letters he and Buydens had written for one another.

The actor struggled to find something innovative about his book since he had already published so many, but he said he realized that the missing piece to the puzzle was not his story but his wife’s.

Therefore, the book “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.” was born, and the couple went down memory lane, reflecting on the letters they had written each other in their 63 years of marriage.

However, their relationship was not clean of infidelity. Buydens was well aware of her husband’s wandering eye, but she learned early on that it was “unrealistic to expect complete fidelity in a marriage.”

But they rolled with the punches and ended up with a loving marriage of over 60 years. Douglas kept every promise he made to his wife until his last breath. He wrote, “As long as we both shall live, I will keep you safe….” Buydens confirmed that he stayed true to his word.

Douglas and Buydens were one of a kind. They had a loving marriage of 63 years, and both lived beyond 100; their love broke many records.

The Oscar Award-winning actor died on February 5, 2020, at the age of 103. His son Michael Douglas announced the death on his Instagram with a sweet message.

First, Michael acknowledged his father for his contribution to film and television. His father was a hero to most, but Michael said he was also a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, and a wonderful husband to his wife.

Buydens died on April 29, 2021, a week after she turned 102. Michael commemorated this milestone with a generational picture of the Douglas family and expressed that she was an excellent stepmother, an inspiration, and a loving person.