His son Michael announced the news in a statement posted on Instagram on Wednesday evening.
One of the last survivors of the golden age of cinema, Douglas was renowned for the macho and not-always-likeable tough guy roles he took on in about 90 movies over a six-decade career.
“To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to,” the statement said.
“But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.”
Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in 1916 in Amsterdam, N.Y., to Russian immigrants who had seven children and little money. His father sold rags to support the family.
As an adult, his imposing jawline and athletic build helped him stand out, first as a college wrestler at New York’s St. Lawrence University and then as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
Douglas scored three Oscar nominations for best actor in the 10 years following that debut, for “Champion” in 1949, “The Bad and the Beautiful” in 1952 and “Lust for Life” in 1956. He didn’t win any of them, taking home his first Oscar when he received the honorary award in 1996.
His most famous role, as the title character in the 1960 movie “Spartacus,” put him at the center of one of the great controversies of Hollywood in the 20th century. The film’s screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, was among the “Hollywood 10,” industry players who had been cited and blacklisted for refusing congressional demands to explain alleged involvement with the Communist Party.
Douglas and his wife, Anne Buydens, who survives him, married in 1954 after meeting on the set of his film “Act of Love.” Together, they became known in Los Angeles for significant philanthropic donations to organizations like the Los Angeles Unified School District, the city’s Children’s Hospital and the Kirk Douglas Theatre, which opened in 2004 and still stages productions.
Despite rising to fame in Hollywood’s strict, image-driven studio system, Mr. Douglas didn’t hesitate to share personal details about his life and Jewish faith in his later years. He wrote a blog on Myspace and then the Huffington Post, and wrote 10 novels and memoirs.
In addition to Michael Douglas and Ms. Buydens, Kirk Douglas is survived by two other sons. His youngest son, Eric, died in 2004. Mr. Douglas was married to Diana Douglas from 1943 to 1951; sons Michael and Joel are from that first marriage.
Mr. Douglas received numerous awards in addition to his honorary Oscar, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honor and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
