Anne Buydens

Anne Buydens Douglas (born 23 April 1919) is a German-born Belgian-American actress, philanthropist, and producer. She has also been a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1970.

Early life

Buydens was born Hannelore Marx in Hanover, Germany. She was in her early teens when her family emigrated to Belgium, where she became a 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 (born 23 November 1955, Los Angeles, California), and Eric (21 June 1958 – 6 July 2004). Buydens converted to Judaism when she renewed her wedding vows with Douglas in 2004. She became a United States citizen in 1959.

Family tree

Charity work

One of Buydens' first forays into philanthropy came on the heels of recovering from breast cancer: With six fellow survivors, she 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. It is named after Kirk Douglas's father. The couple is known for their effort to rebuild playgrounds in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The effort began when Anne read in the newspaper that the district's schoolyards were so decrepit that children were being kept indoors.