October 18, 2004
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Actor Kirk Douglas will never be forgotten in this desert city, where he lived for more than 40 years.
The Palm Springs International Film Society and International Film Festival honored the 87-year-old "Spartacus" star Sunday by naming a six-block stretch near the city's airport after him.
Douglas lived in Palm Springs for more than four decades. His son, Joel, moved to the city two years ago and began a drive to name the street after his father.
The dedication ceremony was attended by Douglas, his wife Anne, and their three surviving sons, including Academy Award-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas.
"Every individual coming in and out of Palm Springs will go through Kirk Douglas Way," said Earl Greenburg, festival chairman, who also announced that Douglas will receive the film festival's lifetime achievement award on Jan. 8.
Also present at the ceremony were U.S. Congresswoman Mary Bono, the wife of the late Sonny Bono, who started the film festival as the city's mayor; crooner Robert Goulet; Jack Valenti, former head of the Motion Picture Association of America; and "Entertainment Tonight's" Mary Hart.
