Anne Buydens


Anne Buydens is a German-born American philanthropist, producer, and occasional actress. She has been a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1970. She is the widow of actor Kirk Douglas, to whom she had been married for 66 years when he died in 2020 at age 103.

Early life

Buydens was born in Hanover, Germany. She was in her adolescence when her family emigrated to Belgium, where she became a Belgian citizen. Buydens continued her education there and in Switzerland before moving to Paris, where her fluent knowledge of several languages kept her busy subtitling films.

Personal life

Buydens married actor Kirk Douglas on 29 May 1954. She had two sons with him: Peter and Eric. Buydens converted to Judaism when she renewed her wedding vows with Douglas in 2004. She became a United States citizen in 1959.

Charity work

One of Buydens' first forays into philanthropy came on the heels of recovering from breast cancer: With six fellow survivors, Buydens established "Research for Women's Cancers", which raised millions of dollars to help finance a research facility at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Both Kirk Douglas and Buydens were behind the establishment of "Harry's Haven", an Alzheimer's disease unit at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Home in Woodland Hills, which is named after Kirk Douglas's father. The couple was known for their efforts to rebuild playgrounds in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The effort began when Anne read in the newspaper that the district's school yards were so decrepit that children were being kept indoors.