Milestone award for Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas: Spartacus star has starred in more than 80 films

Veteran Hollywood star Kirk Douglas will receive this year's Producers Guild of America (PGA) Milestone Award for his contribution to the entertainment industry.

Douglas, who has had three Oscar nominations and famously starred in and produced Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, was an enduring leading man in Hollywood.

PGA spokesman Thom Mount said: "Kirk Douglas has always demonstrated the breadth of work, the concern for quality and an abiding hunger for blazing new territory that puts him squarely in this rarefied league."

Lauren Bacall with Douglas in the 1999 film Diamonds

Previous Milestone Award recipients include Jack Warner, Bob Hope and Irving Berlin.

Douglas came from humble beginnings, starting life as Issur Danielovich, part of an impoverished Russian immigrant family.

His big break came when he gained an acting scholarship that set him on the way to being a critical and popular star with more 80 film credits.

He is also the father of actor and producer Michael Douglas, a Hollywood player in his own right who recently wed film star Catherine Zeta Jones.

Mount said: "Mr Douglas exemplifies the best Hollywood has to offer."

Although he never won the coveted Academy Award, the actor was honoured for 50 years in the movie industry with a special Oscar in 1996.

He has also received the AFI Life Achievement Award, three Oscar nominations and two Emmy nominations.

He will receive his PGA honour at the annual Golden Laurel Awards on 3 March.