Kirk Douglas recalls his 'Spartacus' days

Most of the fanfare surrounding the 83d Academy Awards focused on the ceremony's young hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, but it was 94-year-old screen legend Kirk Douglas who stole the show.

On hand to present the supporting-actress Oscar, Douglas earned plenty of laughs from the stage, where he teased Hugh Jackman and Colin Firth, flirted with Hathaway and category winner Melissa Leo, and performed a comedic shtick with his cane with the help of Omar Sharif's grandson, who shares a name with his famous relative.

Douglas, who earned an honorary Academy Award in 1996, says he had to be persuaded to make the appearance and that he marveled when he received countless calls, e-mails and letters the following day, congratulating him on his memorable turn. "Did everybody see me?" he said with a laugh when asked about the show during a recent interview at the Beverly Hills house he shares with his wife of 57 years, Anne.

A stroke he suffered in 1996 might have affected his speech, but it certainly hasn't robbed Douglas of his zeal for life. He's continued to make movies, in addition to writing books and starring in a one-man show, Before I Forget, at - where else? - the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In person, he's sweet and funny, a force of nature.

His trademark sense of humor will be on display Friday at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, where Douglas will be on hand for a special screening of Spartacus at the TCM Classic Film Festival, the weekend-long event celebrating vintage movies that starts Thursday with a restored 60th anniversary screening of An American in Paris.

Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne will be talking with Douglas before the screening of the lavish Stanley Kubrick-directed epic about a gladiator who leads a revolt of slaves against their Roman masters.

The film won Oscars for supporting actor Peter Ustinov and for its art direction and set direction, cinematography, and costume design, but it's also historic because Douglas, who produced the film, insisted that its blacklisted screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, get screen credit.