Kirk Douglas Obit Published Accidentally by People Mag

Oh how embarrassing! Someone at People Magazine accidentally published a draft obituary for actor Kirk Douglas over the weekend and the Boston Globe got a copy of the whole page before it was taken down. (You have to click on it to open it up to full size).

The incomplete article was prefaced by the instruction “DO NOT PUB” but it was PUB’ed anyway when, we assume, whoever was editing hit publish instead of save draft. There was a “TK TK TK’ placeholder for the date of death. It has long been known that media outlets prepare obituaries in advance for prominent people. They must go by decade and there are more celebrities still alive that were born between 1910 and 1919 then you may realize. They include:

• Luise Rainer (b. 1910), the first actress to receive more than one Oscar (she won 2), and the oldest living Oscar winner.
• Olivia de Havilland (b. 1916), most well-known as Melanie in “Gone with the Wind” but a 2-time Oscar for 2 other films
• George Gaynes (1917), “Police Academy”, “Punky Brewster”
• Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917), Hungarian actress and talk show guest, known for many husbands
• Danielle Darrieux (1917), French actress and singer
• Movita (1917), Marlon Brando’s second wife, she had a role in 1935s “Mutiny on the Bounty”. Brando’s third wife had a role in the 1962 version that he starred in.

And many more. it gives you the shivers to think of the obituaries that have already been written. Wikipedia keeps tracks of these mistaken death reports, and there are a lot.

Just a few years ago, Kirk Douglas made an appearance at the 83rd Academy Awards as presenter of the Best Supporting Actress Award (Melissa Leo won for her role in “The Fighter.”)

So far there has been no comment from People Magazine or the Douglas family on the error. Perhaps they will make up for it next week and run a special article when Kirk Douglas celebrates his 98th birthday on December 9,  2014.