Memories have been stirred in Weymouth following the death of Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas.

The American actor, producer and director, described as the last great star of Hollywood’s golden age, has died at the age of 103.

He was known for such great films as Spartacus, Paths of Glory, Lonely Are the Brave – and the 1965 war movie The Heroes of Telemark, which was partly filmed in Weymouth and Poole.

Directed by Anthony Mann, the story follows Norwegian resistance fighters who attempt to destroy a heavy water plant and sabotage German plans to create an atomic bomb.

Douglas took the role of Dr Rolf Pederson, a Norwegian physics professor who gets caught up in the struggle.

While in Weymouth, the film crew chartered a cargo boat called Roebuck which was nearing the end of its days. It was painted by the film company and renamed Galtesund. A selection of seagoing scenes were filmed in the area.

Trevor Matthews, a cameraman who at the time was working for a local news organisation, was filming at Weymouth Quay when he received a special request.

"Anthony Mann (the director) asked if I could set the camera up to shoot Kirk Douglas coming out of the hold and onto deck," Trevor recalled. "He'd been having problems with his film crew, who had gone on strike over expenses and fees. I was used to using 16mm but the crew's 35mm Panavision camera was new to me."

Trevor continued: "Still, I thought it was my big opportunity and got my light meter out straight away. The shot worked well and when the film came out a year later, I was thrilled to see they had left it in."

Scenes were also filmed in Poole, where locals roped in as extras dressed up as Nazi officers and were paid £2.10 per day.

Since his film debut in 1946, when Kirk Douglas starred alongside Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, the actor made appearances in a countless number of movies.

His death was announced on Wednesday night by his eldest son, Michael Douglas, a two-time Oscar winner who is married to Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Michael wrote: "To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to."