Kirk Douglas Says Oscar Nod Is Enough

LOS ANGELES - Kirk Douglas says actors should take great satisfaction in just being nominated for an Academy Award and not worry so much about winning.

'The first place gets an Oscar. The four others are declared losers,' Douglas wrote in a column Monday in the Los Angeles Times. 'Why? To be voted one of five in any category should make you a winner.'

Douglas, 87, has appeared in 86 films and was nominated for Oscars in 1949 for 'Champion,' 1952 for 'The Bad and the Beautiful,' and 1956 for 'Lust for Life.' He was edged out every time.

After the 1956 Academy Awards, his family sent him an Oscar replica with the inscription 'To Our Daddy, You Rate an Oscar with Us Always.'

Douglas was given a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1996.

'So, I say to all the nominees in every category: Whatever happens, you are all winners,' he wrote. 'Keep that in mind as you sit in the audience with a weak smile, applauding someone else who has won your Oscar.' "