June 01, 2004
The Sunday Wedding on Tuesday
Well, finally. You've been very patient - it's actually Wednesday. Featured this week was the renewal-of-vows ceremony between Kirk Douglas and Anne Douglas . They have been married for fifty years, Since they had had a "hurried affair" in Vegas the first time (due to the filming of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", not a bun in the oven ), they decided to do it up big for the vow renewal. Three hundred guests. Kirk said that he didn't realize that they had so many friends. I wonder how many were old lovers? Lauren Bacall, impressively in attendence at both ceremonies, fifty years apart, thinks they deserve a medal.
Although it isn't evident from the announcement, the Douglas' seem to have been on a spiritual journey together . Starting with a heart scare, Kirk was brought to attention abruptly by his stroke five years ago, in which he temporarily lost his speech. Guided by the angel, Anne, who has always been involved in charitable activities, he began to examine himself more carefully, face his narcissism, and wonder about his true purpose. When they sold their impressionist art collection several years ago, they were able to become major philanthropists. Among other projects, they have built playgrounds throughout Los Angeles, believing that playgrounds help children develop social skills and allow them to experience the democratic process in action as well as the fresh air. (I guess bullying is often a problem, on every level, in the democratic process)
It seems that Anne was able to use Kirk's multiple infidelities as tools for differentiation . This takes alot of practice.
Evidence from the clickie, in case you missed it.
"Both [Kirk and Anne] survived his infidelities with Joan Crawford, Gene Tierney, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich and others." [Talk about threatening competition.]
On Infidelities: Anne: "I had no illusions about that. But I told him, 'Look. I'll understand a lot of things if you tell me. But if I hear it from others and it has happened, that would hurt me very badly.'"
Kirk: "I think I was most to blame for our problems, because I hid behind the mind-set of 'I am an artist, an artist!'"
What attracted Kirk to Anne? Kirk: "Her vicious sense of humor. The surprise birthday party she threw for me that year in Paris when she invited every girl I'd gone out with there." What attracted him to other women, according to Douglas in his autobiography, "The Ragman's Son" , an overbite.
Kirk is 87. As part of his awakening, he has reconnected with his Jewish roots. Anne actually converted to Judaism for vow renewal purposes. Kirk, who was unable to crush the traditional wedding glass with his foot, due to physical limitations , "attacked it" with his cane, and accomplished the task quite nicely.
Elsewhere in the Section: Not one same-sex marriage. Guess if you were going to do it, you did it last week, or picked a week in the future when your guests had not been to three weddings the week before. There were more than the usual cross-cultural/transracial matches, but that has been a growing trend .
A clarinetist with the Brooklyn Brooklyn Conservatory CommunityOrchestra married the owner of The Brooklyn Bagel Company (this one is actually in Brooklyn, there seem to be hundreds everywhere else) and the Brooklyn Pie Company, a distributor of Mrs. Smith's pies . He first encountered her at a stoop sale in 2001. He later seduced her, by lavishing attention on her beloved cocker spaniel, Bubba, who was tied outside of a store in their mutual neighborhood. Here's the touchingly romantic part. He kept his allergy to dogs a secret from her for two years, dosing himself with medication , until Bubba went to doggie heaven . It must have been tough to play the clarinet all those years with a dry mouth .
Photo note: Bleeding hearts, a view from above.