Anne Buydens

Anne Buydens ( ; born Hannelore Marx; April 23, 1919 – April 29, 2021) was a German-born 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 in 2003.

Early life

Buydens was born Hannelore Marx in Hanover, Weimar Republic (now Germany), on April 23, 1919, the daughter of Siegfried Marx, a textile merchant who imported silk for making parachutes, and Paula Marx, a socialite.

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. he was divorced from his first wife, Diana Dill, with whom he had two sons, Michael and Joel. They worked on the film Act of Love, directed by Anatole Litvak, 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". Douglas credited Buydens with saving his life in 1958 when she had insisted that he not travel via private plane with director Mike Todd; the plane crashed the next day, killing all four people aboard.

Buydens became a United States citizen in 1959.

In 2017, they co-wrote a memoir, Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood, including letters they had exchanged.

In a statement released by the family, her stepson Michael Douglas paid tribute: Anne was more than a stepmother, and never "wicked. " She brought out the best in all of us, especially our father. Dad would never have had the career he did without Anne's support and partnership.

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 and the Motion Picture & Television Fund (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 in 2003. Buydens and Douglas are the only married couple to have each received an individual Jefferson Award; Douglas was awarded in 1983.