KEY POINTS:
Kirk Douglas, the square-jawed hero, has a new string to his bow - as MySpace's oldest celebrity blogger.
The 92-year-old actor, who retired from the screen five years ago, is cutting a fresh swathe through Hollywood with a page on the social networking website that reflects on his "years of living, loving and learning" and records the genteel details of his life.
The site features his thoughts on US politics (he's a fan of Barack Obama), notes that his favourite films are Champion, Spartacus, Paths of Glory and Lonely are the Brave ("I just happen to be in these movies"), and reveals that his greatest remaining ambition in life is to meet Angelina Jolie, "provided my wife lets me".
Douglas boasts 4414 "friends" on his page and says that, in common with the rest of the internet, he believes that his blog's key purpose is to stimulate discussion with the thousands of readers who subscribe to it.
"I express my opinion, and I tell them that they don't have to agree with me because it's a free country," he said this week.
"And their answers are very, very interesting. I take it seriously. Otherwise I wouldn't do it. I don't have to do it, I don't make money. It's something that gives me personal satisfaction."
Douglas, who became famous in the 1950s, is the father of actor Michael and father-in-law to Catherine Zeta-Jones. He dedicates the site to his seven grandchildren.
He began blogging last year, as part of a temporary initiative to promote his memoir Let's Face It, but decided to continue after seeing the level of interest his comments sparked.
In one entry, he writes that he now receives too many messages to answer them personally, his goal at the start.
Douglas' recent entries include a musing on the meaning of Thanksgiving, together with an item, written shortly before his 92nd birthday, about teaching his housekeeper's 7-year-old daughter, Victoria, to swim.
MySpace celebrated the status of its eldest celebrity blogger this week. "All the comments that he gets on his page are so supportive," director of talent relations Angie Allgood said. "People really find him inspirational."
- INDEPENDENT
