Joel Douglas

Joel Douglas
Joel Douglas
Born	Joel Andrew Douglas; January 23, 1947 (age 77); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1975–2003
Spouses	; Susan Jorgensen (m. 1968; div. 1973) ; Judith Corso (m. 1975; div. 1981) ; Patricia Reid-Douglas (m. 1986; div. 2002) ; Jo Ann Savitt (m. 2004; died 2013) Mascha (m. 2024)
Parent(s)	Kirk Douglas; Diana Douglas
Relatives	Michael Douglas (brother); Peter Douglas (half-brother); Eric Douglas; (half-brother); Cameron Douglas (nephew); Catherine Zeta-Jones (sister-in-law); Kevin Brodie (brother-in-law); Anne Buydens (stepmother)

Joel Andrew Douglas (born January 23, 1947) is an American film producer. The second son of Kirk Douglas (1916–2020) and Diana Douglas (1923–2015), he was born one day after his mother's 24th birthday. His paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Gomel in Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire).^[1] His mother was from Devonshire Parish, Bermuda; Douglas's maternal grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Melville Dill, served as Attorney General of Bermuda and was commanding officer of the Bermuda Militia Artillery.^[2]

Joel chose not to follow his father and older brother into acting, opting instead to work behind the camera, producing several films throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Much of Douglas' work has centered on projects involving his family, including acting as co-producer on The Jewel of the Nile^[3]^[4] and Romancing the Stone,^[5] being an assistant director on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and in 2003, acting as associate producer on It Runs in the Family, which featured Kirk, Michael and Michael's son Cameron. In the 1970s and 1980s, Douglas worked as an executive for Mel Blanc and Noel Blanc's media company, Blanc Communications Corporation, developing and producing commercials.^[6]^[7]

Marriages

Joel Douglas has married four times. His first wife was Susan Jorgensen, whom he married in 1968.^[8] He married Judith Corso in 1975, then Patricia Reid-Douglas in 1986.^[9] His most recent marriage to Jo Ann Savitt, whom he married on February 2, 2004, lasted until her death on November 21, 2013.^[10]^[11] Savitt was the daughter of bandleader Jan Savitt^[12] and his wife, Barbara Ann Stillwell Savitt, the step-daughter of actor Steve Brodie^[13] whom her mother remarried, and the half-sister of Steve's son, actor Kevin Brodie.

References

^ Tugend, Tom (December 12, 2006). "Lucky number 90". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2006.
^ "Ancestors of Michael Kirk Douglas". Conovergenealogy.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
^ Lanigan, Catherine; Wilder, Joan (August 5, 1985). The Jewel of the Nile. Avon. ISBN 9780380899845. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Internet Archive. Joel Douglas The Jewel of the Nile.
^ Willis, John A. (August 5, 1986). Screen World. Crown Publishers. ISBN 9780517562574. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Google Books.
^ Norman Kagan: The Cinema of Robert Zemeckis, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003, p. 53 [1]
^ "Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois on September 12, 1982 · Page 73". Newspapers.com. September 12, 1982. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
^ "Enterprise-Record from Chico, California". Newspapers.com. November 23, 1982. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
^ "Joel Douglas married", Lawrence Journal-World, December 23, 1968
^ "Patricia Reid-Douglas". IMDb. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ "Joel Douglas Puts Former Clark Gable/Carole Lombard House on Market - Desert Guide - November 2014 - Palm Springs, California". Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
^ "Joel Douglas". IMDb. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ "Jo Ann Savitt Douglas's Obituary on The Desert Sun". The Desert Sun. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
^ "Steve Brodie, Widow Married in Las Vegas". The Capital Journal. September 9, 1950 – via newspapers.com.