Remarkable way Kirk Douglas quit smoking with just one cigarette

As the world remembers the legend that was Kirk Douglas, who died yesterday aged 103, many fans have been retelling incredible stories about him.  One of the tales people have been sharing is about the cigarette the actor and director carried in his shirt pocket every single day - even though he had quit smoking.   Talking to The New York Times Kirk spoke of his father - Herschel Danielovitch - and his impressive tactic to effectively give up smoking.  Herschel was told by his doctor that he would develop cancer if he didn't stop, so one day he did just that.  Kirk said: "He always carried one cigarette in the breast pocket of his shirt. When he felt the urge to smoke, he'd take the cigarette out and look at it fiercely. Read More Related Articles Inside Kirk Douglas' colourful love life — from affair with his teacher to wife who stood by him Read More Related Articles Catherine Zeta-Jones pays touching tribute to father-in-law Kirk Douglas after icon dies at 103  "With a growl, he would say, in his Russian accent, ''Who's stronger? You -- me?'  "He would glare at the cigarette: ''I stronger.'' And he'd put the cigarette back in his pocket."  Herschel died of cancer aged 72.  Despite being in the Navy during WW2 and being a budding actor in Hollywood, Kirk never smoked.  He was signed to his very first movie in 1946, 'The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers" and understandably he was "intimidated, but very excited" to start reading lines.  But when the director asked him to smoke a cigarette in his first scene, he told him he didn't smoke - and actually didn't know how. Read More Related Articles Celebrity deaths in 2020: Famous faces lost this year including Kirk Douglas and Terry Jones  The director Lewis Milestone showed him the ropes and the rest was history.  Soon enough Kirk was smoking two to three packs a day.  He said it was just the norm that actors smoked, it "was the favourite movie prop" because many actors had trouble with their hands.  "Should they put them in their pockets? Should they put them behind their back? Do they have them at their sides? The cigarette answered the question."  After the fame hit, tobacco companies were supplying him cigarettes every month. Read More Related Articles Kirk Douglas pictured with tearful son Michael at last public appearance on Walk of Fame  But one day as he sat, cigarette in hand, he noticed a photo of his dad on his desk staring back at him.  And in this moment, in his dads words he said: "'Who's stronger? You -- me?  ''I stronger.  "I put the cigarette in my shirt pocket and never smoked again."   His son Michael Douglas took post a tribute to Instagram saying: "It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103. Read More Kirk Douglas dead at 103  "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

Kirk Douglas,