Before his loss in 2020, Kirk Douglas and his wife Anne Buydens had been married for over 66 years when he passed away. On the other hand, the pair has written a book titled “Kirk and Anne: Love Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood,” which was released in 2017, and it is an examination of their lengthy marriage.

On the set of “Act of Love” in Paris, Douglas and Buydens first crossed paths. Buydens was employed in the film industry as a publicist, and Douglas was a well-known actor.

The actor says that the first time he talked to the publicist was a “bad” experience because Buydens did not agree to go to dinner with him. Instead, she told him that she was “tired,” Douglas said:

“She was the most challenging lady I had ever come across. I mean, I was a famous movie star back in the day! And when I asked her to dinner, she responded by saying, “Oh, thank you very much, but I’m so exhausted —”

On the other hand, Buydens had a dissimilar recollection of the first chat they had. She said that she was contacted by Douglas’s office, which was searching for a publicist who was fluent in both English and Spanish. Buydens was the ideal candidate since she was able to communicate well in English, French, and German.

Douglas invited Anne out for dinner when the Buydens arrived at the workplace, which had been christened “the lion’s lair.” Anne declined and explained that she would eat scrambled eggs at home instead.

The movie actress was taken aback by the news of her rejection, although the film publicist was well aware of what she was doing at the time. After some time, Douglas decided to recruit Buydens as his publicist, at which point he ceased pursuing her romantically. Their interaction was very businesslike at all times.

The realization that it was not in his best interest to impress his new publicist motivated Douglas to abstain from talking about himself and instead concentrate on what Buydens had to say.

Buydens and Douglas were able to feel more at ease with one another as a result of this realization. They began going to events together, and one of the most memorable of them was a charity gala that was hosted in a circus.

Buydens said that Douglas jumped into the middle of the melee while wearing a tuxedo and scooped an elephant dunk. The publicist found it to be a remarkable moment when the movie star did something unexpected and hilarious like that.

During an interview on the Today program, actor Michael Douglas said that the most important thing he learned from Buydens’ authoritative personality was that “Anne didn’t take a dump.” The actor went on to say that he added, “And she still doesn’t.”

In 1954, the film publicist gave in and agreed to go on a date with Douglas. Buydens was the one who raised concerns about the actor’s business management, which ultimately led to the discovery that Douglas lacked any financial resources.

Buydens stated, “I am going out with a guy that’s poor,” and then she understood that none of the extravagant lives were funded by his pay, but rather by the allowances granted to him by Hollywood. “I am going out with a man that’s poor,” she added.

On the other hand, the actor took use of the business acumen that had been handed down to him by his father and reached out to a few reliable business connections for assistance in improving the way that he invested his money.

During the time that Buydens and Douglas were dating, he had an actress named Pier Angeli as his secret fiancée. The novelist and film publicist described instances when “things would become hot” between them, and Douglas would remind her that he was still engaged at the time.

Despite this, Buydens never intended for her relationship with Douglas to develop into one that was shrouded in mystery.

Even though it took some time to break off his engagement, the famous actor also stated that what he shared with Buydens was more than love. Buydens was his girlfriend at the time.

After some time, Douglas ended his relationship with Angeli because Buydens had threatened to leave him. At that precise moment, the actor recognized that he would be “lost without her,” thus he made the decision to end the relationship.

In May of 1954, Douglas and Buydens exchanged vows and became husband and wife. They became parents to two boys, Peter and Eric, who joined their already-established family, which included Joel and Micheal Douglas, winner of an Academy Award, and the actor’s two children from a previous marriage to Diana Dill.

Both Douglas and Buydens contributed in their own unique ways to the atypical maintenance of their marriage. The actor was also quite upfront about his extramarital affairs while he was married, and his wife, who was a publicist, was aware of everything that went on.

Buydens talked about her acceptance of her husband’s decision to break out of their marriage in the book that they co-authored together. In it, she said:

“Kirk never made an effort to conceal his dalliances from me,” she said. Because I was raised in Europe, I was aware that it was unreasonable to expect complete loyalty in a marriage.

Buydens also wrote about an experience she had with an ex-lover in one of her pieces. During the time that she was waiting for her application for American citizenship to be processed, she made the decision to pay him a visit at his hotel room in Paris.

Buydens said that she discovered the guy to be inebriated, and he pleaded with her to not go back to her husband, Douglas. When the guy threatened to take his own life and burnt Buydens with a cigarette to “make sure Douglas does not want her anymore,” the situation became quite ominous.

However, the film publicist said that she contacted a doctor to fix the scar on her ex-face lover’s and sedate her so that the doctor could cure the wound on her face.

Buydens said that although Douglas was holding her in his arms and telling her, “I promise Anne, as long as we are both alive, I will keep you safe,” when she related the tale to her husband, Douglas was the main character. After sixty-six years had passed, Douglas honored the commitment he had made to his wife.

Because Buydens had taken time off work to be with the children, the couple was forced to spend extended amounts of time apart as a result of the hectic lifestyle of a movie star.

The publicist recommended that Douglas take a commercial flight and made it clear that he would not be boarding Todd’s jet at any point during their conversation.