Kirk Douglas Donates to Build Alzheimer’s Facility

Three-time Academy Award nominee Kirk Douglas donated $15 million toward a new $35 million care center at the Motion Picture Television Fund in Woodland Hills on Wednesday, which was also the actor’s 99th birthday. The two-story facility will be called the Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion and will focus on assisting industry members coping with Alzheimer’s in addition to those who need long-term assisted care. It will also be the new home to Harry’s Haven, an Alzheimer’s specialty unit that was established by the Douglas Family in 1992. Construction for the facility will begin next year, and the donation will allow the fund to jump start planning and design for the project. Founded by famed entertainers Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin, the fund is an organization that offers assistance and health care to individuals in the entertainment industry. “Kirk and Anne Douglas are some of the largest donors in the history of MPTF giving, with over $40 million of lifetime philanthropy,” Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of the MPTF Foundation said in a statement. “We will never be able to thank them enough for all that they have done.”