Anne Buydens (born Hannelore Marx;
[Birth name per naturalization petition (1959)](_blank)
ancestry.com; accessed July 19, 2016. April 23, 1919 – April 29, 2021) was an American
philanthropist and film producer. She was the wife of actor
Kirk Douglas from 1954 until his death in 2020. She received a
Jefferson Award for Public Service
The Jefferson Awards Foundation was created in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service. The Jefferson Awards are given at both national and local levels. Local winners are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation ...
in 2003.
Early life
Buydens was born Hannelore Marx in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, Germany, on April 23, 1919, the daughter of Siegfried Marx, a
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
merchant who imported silk for making parachutes, and Paula Marx, a socialite.
After her parents were divorced, she was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland, where she learned English, French and Italian. She later studied in Brussels but fled the bombed city for Paris during World War II. As her German identity was a problem, she became a Belgian citizen by marrying a Belgian, Albert Buydens, whom she later divorced.
Career
When the Nazis in Paris insisted that films be shown with German subtitles, her language skills allowed her to find a job adding subtitles for a French film distributor.
In 1948, she was hired to produce an
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
program, ''Paris Cavalcade of Fashion''.
She also worked as a
location scout
Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work ...
on the 1952 production of ''
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche.
In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...
'' for
John Huston. From 1953, she scheduled celebrity parties at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
.
When Buydens met Kirk Douglas in Paris in 1953,
he was divorced from his first wife,
Diana Dill, with whom he had two sons,
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
and
Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to:
* Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name.
* Joel (surname), a surname
* Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...
.
They worked on the film ''
Act of Love'', directed by
Anatole Litvak
Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...
, he as an actor and she as a publicist.
He offered her a job as his publicist, which she first refused, but eventually accepted, described by him later: "She finally agreed to work with me on a trial basis, making it clear our relationship would be strictly business".
Personal life
Buydens and Douglas married in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
on May 29, 1954.
The couple had two sons:
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
(born 1955) and
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
(1958–2004), who both went into the film business.
Douglas credited Buydens with saving his life in 1958 when she had insisted that he not travel via private plane with director
Mike Todd
Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of '' Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Act ...
; the plane crashed the next day, killing all four people aboard.
Buydens became a United States citizen in 1959.
She
converted to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...
when she renewed her wedding vows with Douglas on their 50th wedding anniversary in 2004.
In 2017, they co-wrote a memoir, ''Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood'', including letters they had exchanged.
She and her husband both became
centenarian
A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centen ...
s; he died aged 103 on February 5, 2020.
Buydens died on April 29, 2021, aged 102, at their longtime
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
home. She was interred at the
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue.
The cemetery was ...
next to husband and their son Eric.
In a statement released by the family, her stepson
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the A ...
paid tribute:
Philanthropy
One of Buydens' first forays into philanthropy came on the heels of recovering from
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...
: With six fellow survivors, Buydens established the "Research for Women's Cancers" charity, which raised millions of dollars to help finance a research facility at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
The two started the Douglas Foundation in 1964, which has since donated roughly 118 million USD to institutions such as the
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue. The hospital has been academically affi ...
and the
Motion Picture & Television Fund
The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...
(MPTF).
They were also behind the establishment of Harry's Haven, an
Alzheimer's disease unit named after Douglas's father at the MPTF Home in
Woodland Hills.
The couple was known for their efforts to rebuild playgrounds in the
Los Angeles Unified School District, attending opening ceremonies in person.
In recognition of her compassion toward homeless women, the Anne Douglas Center for Women was named after her.
Awards
Buydens was inducted into the
International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame List in 1970.
In recognition of her philanthropic deeds as a private citizen, Buydens received a
Jefferson Award for Public Service
The Jefferson Awards Foundation was created in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service. The Jefferson Awards are given at both national and local levels. Local winners are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation ...
in 2003.
Buydens and Douglas are the only married couple to have each received an individual Jefferson Award; Douglas was awarded in 1983.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buydens, Anne
1919 births
2021 deaths
American centenarians
Businesspeople from Hanover
Belgian emigrants to the United States
Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Bryna Productions people
German emigrants to Belgium
German emigrants to the United States
Converts to Judaism
American film producers
American Jews
American philanthropists
Douglas family
People with acquired American citizenship
Women centenarians