Eric Douglas

Eric Douglas
Born	Eric Anthony Douglas June 21, 1958(1958-06-21) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 6, 2004(2004-07-06) (aged 46) New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Drug overdose
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Westwood, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–1993
Parents	Kirk Douglas Anne Buydens
Relatives	Peter Douglas (brother) Michael Douglas (half-brother) Joel Douglas (half-brother) Cameron Douglas (nephew)

Eric Anthony Douglas (June 21, 1958 – July 6, 2004) was an American actor who appeared in several movies and television shows and was also a stand-up comedian.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Death 3 Family tree 4 References 5 External links

Early life and career

Born in Los Angeles, California, Douglas was the youngest son of actor Kirk Douglas and Belgian (German born and raised) mother Anne Buydens.^[3] His brother is Peter Douglas and his half-brothers are Michael Douglas and Joel Douglas. Douglas studied at Pitzer College, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the London Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Douglas performed stand-up in New York City comedy clubs with much of his self-deprecating material coming from his status as the 'black sheep' of the Douglas dynasty. Douglas often made news headlines throughout his life, with several run-ins with the law bringing him notoriety.

Douglas performed off-Broadway at the Village Gate Theater with the critically acclaimed improvisational comedy troupe Noo Yawk Tawk in the late 1980s.^[4] He also appeared in a production of Dale Wasserman's Shakespeare and The Indians at the Music Theatre Conference for the Eugene O' Neill Theatre Center in 1981. Also in the production was folk performer Bobby Bridger, but the production never made it to Broadway.

In 1991, Douglas appeared with his father (in the senior Douglas' Emmy-nominated performance) in "Yellow", the Season 3 finale of the television series Tales from the Crypt. The father and son acting duo portrayed father and son characters with Eric a young officer in World War I brought up on charges of cowardice by his commanding general who is also his cold-hearted father.

Douglas entered British comedy folklore when during a stand-up performance at The Comedy Store, London he found that much to his annoyance he was losing his audience's attention. This led to him shouting out 'do you know who I am? I'm Kirk Douglas' son' to which a member of the audience stood up and shouted 'no, I'm Kirk Douglas' son.' This ended up with the majority of the audience standing up and repeating the line much like Kirk Douglas' iconic scene in the 1960 film Spartacus and Douglas storming off of the stage. This incident has since gone down as one of the favourite stories among British Comedians when the subject of heckling comes up.

Death

On July 6, 2004, at the age of 46, a maid found Douglas dead in his Manhattan apartment.^[3] His death was caused by "acute intoxication" from the combined effects of alcohol, tranquilizers and painkillers.^[5] Douglas is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Westwood, California.

Family tree

Diana Dill

Kirk Douglas

Anne Buydens

Diandra Luker

Michael Douglas

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Joel Douglas

Peter Douglas

Lisa Schoeder

Eric Douglas

Cameron Douglas

Dylan Michael Douglas

Carys Zeta Douglas

Kelsey Douglas

Tyler Douglas

Ryan Douglas

Jason Douglas

References

External links

• Eric Douglas at the Internet Movie Database
• Eric Douglas at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Eric Douglas at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Douglas, Eric
Alternative names	Douglas, Eric Anthony
Short description	American actor
Date of birth	June 21, 1958
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Date of death	July 6, 2004
Place of death	New York City, New York, U.S.