Trivia

Is fluent in English, French, Italian and German.

She and her husband Kirk Douglas both became centenarians; he died aged 103 on February 5, 2020.

Mother of Peter Douglas and Eric Douglas.

Stepmother of Michael Douglas and Joel Douglas.

Upon her death, she was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, CA.

She was a lifelong liberal Democrat.

In 2017, she and her husband Kirk Douglas co-wrote a memoir, Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood, including letters they had exchanged.

When Buydens met Kirk Douglas in Paris in 1953, he was divorced from his first wife, Diana Dill, with whom he had two sons, Michael and Joel. They worked on the film Act of Love, directed by Anatole Litvak, he as an actor and she as a publicist. He offered her a job as his publicist, which she first refused, but eventually accepted, described by him later: "She finally agreed to work with me on a trial basis, making it clear our relationship would be strictly business".

One of Buydens' first forays into philanthropy came on the heels of recovering from breast cancer: With six fellow survivors, Buydens established the "Research for Women's Cancers" charity, which raised millions of dollars to help finance a research facility at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

As her German identity was a problem, she became a Belgian citizen by marrying a Belgian, Albert Buydens (Belgian consul in Mexico), whom she later divorced.

She also worked as a location scout on the 1952 production of Moulin Rouge for John Huston.

She studied in Brussels but fled the bombed city for Paris during World War II.

Buydens and Kirk Douglas are the only married couple to have each received an individual Jefferson Award; Douglas was awarded in 1983.

Her father owned textile stores in the city and was the exclusive importer of a strain of silk that the government purchased to make parachutes. Her mother was a socialite.

Buydens was inducted into the International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame List in 1970.

In 1948, she was hired to produce an NBC program, Paris Cavalcade of Fashion.

The couple Buydens - Douglas was known for their efforts to rebuild playgrounds in the Los Angeles Unified School District, attending opening ceremonies in person.

From 1953, she scheduled celebrity parties at the Cannes Film Festival.

She received a Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2003.

In recognition of her compassion toward homeless women, the Anne Douglas Center for Women was named after her.

When the Nazis in Paris insisted that films be shown with German subtitles, her language skills allowed her to find a job adding subtitles for a French film distributor.