Michael Douglas has released a heartbreaking tribute following the death of his stepmother, Anne Douglas.
Anne, the widow of Kirk Douglas, passed away at the age of 102 on Thursday.
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In a statement, released to People, the 76-year-old actor said: "Anne was more than a stepmother, and never 'wicked'. She brought out the best in all of us, especially our father."
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He added: "Dad would never have had the career he did without Anne's support and partnership. Catherine [Zeta-Jones] and I and the children adored her; she will always be in our hearts."
No cause of death was given for the former film publicist, but it has been reported she died at the Beverly Hills home where she lived with her husband Kirk for 66 years.
Michael shared this family throwback on Anne's birthday last week
The sad news comes just over a year after the Hollywood legend died at the age of 103 in February 2020.
Meanwhile, it was only last week when the family marked Anne's 102nd birthday. In honour of the occasion, Michael's wife Catherine Zeta-Jones shared a series of heartwarming snaps.
"Happy 102nd birthday," she wrote. "102!!!!!!! to my extraordinary mother-in-law Anne Douglas (aka) Oma. You are a joy, an inspiration and so loved by us all."
Michael added: "Happy Birthday Anne Douglas! We love you! [heart emoji] Michael, Catherine, Carys, & Dylan."
Anne was married to Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas
Born in 1919 in Germany, Anne later moved to France and her fluency in various languages enabled her to work with a French film distributor. In 1953, she met Kirk when the actor offered her a job as his publicist while in Paris to film Act of Love.
The couple ended up marrying in Las Vegas in May 1954. "We talked for hours, and I had a strange feeling in my heart that I could fall in love with this man," Anne wrote in their book, Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.
"I didn't want to, because I had seen too many young women enter into intense affairs with visiting movie stars - Dean Martin, Marlon Brando, Cary Grant among them. Then the film wrapped and the men returned to their wives and families."
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