Kirk Douglas’ Wife Turns 100 and Has Been Married to the Hollywood Legend for 65 Years

The couple has been blessed with both a life-long love for each other and impressive longevity. Now a centennial couple, they are about to celebrate their 65th anniversary still enjoying good health.

Hollywood producer and occasional actress Anne Buydens turned 100 years old on April 23, following her legendary husband Kirk Douglas, who reached the milestone two years ago, and the two are as much in love as ever.

Buydens and the “Spartacus” star married on May 29, 1954, in what was Douglas second marriage. Their relationship produced two sons, Peter and Eric, who went on to follow his father’s steps to become an actor but sadly passed away in 2004.

A REMARKABLE WOMAN

Buydens is often overshadowed by the many celebrities she is surrounded by in her close family circle that includes step-son Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, but she is quite a character on her own right.

Born in Hanover, Germany, in 1919, she grew up in Belgium, where she received a privileged education that allowed her to become fluent in English, German, and French.

“I was lucky enough to find my soul mate 63 years ago, and I believe our wonderful marriage and our nightly ‘golden hour’ chats have helped me survive all things,” Douglas wrote ahead of his 100th birthday in 2016.

It was her knowledge of languages with put her in Douglas way for the first time in 1953 when the actor was in Paris filming “Act of Love” and Buydens was hired as his interpreter.

NOT AN EASY CATCH

Buydens was not one to be impressed easily, and her indifference to Douglas good looks and star status proved to be irresistible to him, who was immediately taken by her.

“[He] took a look at me and then he said, ‘Would you like to have dinner tonight with my friends at some chic restaurant?’ And I said, 'No, thank you, I think I’ll go home and make myself some scrambled eggs,' ” she recalls.

“She was the most difficult woman I ever met. I mean, I was a big movie star! And I invited her to dinner and she said, 'Oh thank you very much, but I’m so tired,” Douglas shared.

"With no romance in the picture, I stopped trying to impress Anne. Instead, I stopped talking about myself and began to listen to her," the actor revealed.

AWARE OF HER HUSBAND’S ADVENTURES

Buydens Old-World wisdom and sophistication was instrumental in the survival of the marriage for so long since Douglas was known for his frequent extra-marital adventures.

"As a European, I understood it was unrealistic to expect total fidelity in a marriage,” Buydens wrote in “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.”

She added that it was the actor himself who told her about his adventures. "I wanted to hear it from him directly, not via an idle piece of gossip."

SOUL MATES

Despite admitting his many infidelities, Douglas has never doubted that Buydens is the woman he wanted to spend his life with until the very end, and he cannot imagine having lived this long without her by his side.

“I was lucky enough to find my soul mate 63 years ago, and I believe our wonderful marriage and our nightly ‘golden hour’ chats have helped me survive all things,” Douglas wrote ahead of his 100th birthday in 2016.

Buydens is also a well-respected philanthropist and art collector and has belonged to the International Best Dressed List since the 1970s.