Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: June 3, 1925

Death Date: September 29, 2010

Birth Place: Bronx, New York

Spouses: Janet Leigh, Christine Kaufmann

Children: Jamie Lee Curtis

Hollywood heartthrob Tony Curtis soon developed into one of the most versatile leading men in movies of the 1950s and 1960s. He brought tremendous charisma and energy to both his comic and dramatic projects, including "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957), "The Defiant Ones" (1958) - which earned him an Oscar nomination - "Some Like It Hot" (1959), "Spartacus" (1960), "Captain Newman, M.D." (1963), and "The Great Race" (1965). By the late 1960s, Curtis was maintaining a busy schedule in European features and on television, playing against type as the title role in "The Boston Strangler" (1968). In later years, he enjoyed a successful second career as an artist, while lending his comments and experience to television shows and documentaries about the Golden Age of Hollywood - particularly when it came to remembering his "Some Like it Hot" co-star, Marilyn Monroe. Having been one-half of one of the most beloved off-screen couplings of the 1950s - the other half being actress Janet Leigh - Curtis enjoyed watching his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis blossom into an actress of great skill herself, proving the apple did not fall from the Curtis/Leigh family tree.

Born Bernard Schwartz in The Bronx, NY on June 3, 1925, Curtis was born to a Hungarian immigrant family and endured a miserable childhood that would affect future relationships with both his wives and his own children. His mother was schizophrenic and frequently beat him and his brothers Julius and Robert (who was later diagnosed with the same disease). Sadly, at the age of eight, Curtis was placed in an orphanage because of his parents' extreme poverty, and later, after his brother Julius was killed in a traffic accident in 1938, Curtis was sent to identify the body. He finally got a whiff of a better life when he landed his first acting role (as a girl) in a neighborhood play about King Arthur's adventures. After serving in the Navy during World War II - where he witnessed the surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay in 1945 - Curtis returned to civilian life and studied acting at New York's Dramatic Workshop, while practicing his craft in the "Borscht Belt" circuit in the Catskills. He was discovered by casting director and talent agent Joyce Selznick (the niece of famed "Gone with the Wind" producer David O. Selznick), and headed for Hollywood in 1948. Billed initially as James Curtis and later as Anthony Curtis, he was signed to a contract with Universal and began appearing in bit and supporting roles in a string of largely forgettable dramas and genre pictures - save for the Western classic "Winchester '73" (1950) - which capitalized on his darkly handsome features.

In 1951, he married Janet Leigh, an attractive starlet on the rise, and their photogenic qualities made them popular news items in the Hollywood gossip magazines. With Leigh, Curtis scored his first success as a leading man in "Houdini" (1953), a fictionalized biopic of the famed magician; he also became a father to two daughters, Kelly Curtis (born 1956) and Jamie Lee Curtis (born 1958), both of whom would go on to enjoy acting careers of their own. Though Curtis and Leigh appeared the idyllic picture of an attractive married couple, the gossip columns frequently whispered about or hinted at the true nature of his sexuality.

Curtis had become exceptionally popular by the mid-1950s - so much so, in fact, that Elvis Presley borrowed his signature ducktail hairstyle from him, but he yearned for more substantial work than lightweight fare and costume dramas like "The Black Shield of Farnsworth" (1954). It was this film which was erroneously credited as the one in which he said, "Yonder lies the castle of my father" in his thick New York accent; Curtis, in fact, never uttered any such line of dialogue. Despite posing shirtless for pin-ups and being regarded by studio suits as their resident dark-haired pretty boy, his determination began to pay off by the late 1950s; first with the circus drama "Trapeze" (1956) and later with "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957), an acidic take on the vagaries of show business life which cast Curtis as a desperate and morally questionable press agent. Both pictures starred and were produced by Burt Lancaster, who shared production credit with Curtis on "Sweet Smell." Critics took notice of Curtis' burst of dramatic talent, and began affording him greater respect.

Curtis surpassed these successes with "The Defiant Ones" (1958), a poignant drama about two chain gang escapees (Curtis and Sidney Poitier) who must overcome their own prejudices while evading the law. The film received several Academy Award nominations, including one for Curtis as Best Actor; also receiving nods from the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. And he scored again a year later in Billy Wilder's sparkling comedy, "Some Like It Hot" (1959), starring opposite Jack Lemmon as Depression-era jazz musicians who masquerade as members of an all-female band (led by Marilyn Monroe) to evade Chicago-land gangsters after they witness the fabled Valentine's Day Massacre. Because of the troubles she stirred up on set - mainly causing delays for seemingly endless takes - Curtis was widely quoted as stating that kissing Monroe was like "kissing Hitler," but refuted the statement in a 2001 interview, possibly realizing it seemed callous in light of what later happened to the troubled star. He was definitely on a roll, and Curtis' string of hits led him to be cast in the small but significant role of Antoninus, slave to Roman general Crassus (Laurence Olivier) and eventual soldier under Kirk Douglas' Spartacus in the Stanley Kubrick epic of the same name (1960). A scene in which Crassus attempts to seduce Antoninus was cut from the original release, but restored for its 1991 reissue. Curtis was enlisted to re-record his dialogue - the original track had gone missing - and Anthony Hopkins was tapped to provide a note-perfect imitation of Olivier.

After 1960, Curtis divided his time between dramas and light comic fare, both of which yielded a string of solid hits for the actor. Among his better films during this period were "The Outsider" (1961), about Ira Hayes, the Native American who helped to raise the Iwo Jima flag during World War II; "The Great Imposter" (1961), about the real-life imposter Fred De Mara; the Oscar-nominated "Captain Newman, M.D." (1963), as a streetwise officer who makes life difficult for military doctor Gregory Peck); and Blake Edwards' Oscar-winning slapstick comedy "The Great Race" (1965), which later became a cult hit, thanks to repeated TV airings. There was also the surreal sight of an animated, Stone Age version of Curtis - named, naturally enough, Stony Curtis - in a 1965 episode of "The Flintstones" (ABC, 1960-66). But by the mid-sixties, Curtis' career was beginning to show signs of a slowdown. Now entering his forties, Curtis' matinee idol looks were changing - most notably, his lush head of hair - and he was losing ground as a leading man to younger actors. His personal life was undergoing changes as well; after carrying on an affair with 17-year-old German actress Christina Kauffman, his co-star in the costume drama "Taras Bulba" (1962), he split from Leigh and married Kauffman in 1963. The union produced two daughters, Alexandra (born 1966) and Allegra (born 1968) before they divorced in 1968.

Curtis fell back on his comic chops to essay middle-aged cads and the like in lightweight comedies like "Don't Make Waves" (1967) with Sharon Tate and "Not with My Wife, You Don't" (1966). He also began turning up in European features - mostly forgettable fare like "Monte Carlo or Bust" (1969) - and even on episodic television. Curtis did, however, manage to remind moviegoers of his talent with a chilling performance as real-life killer Albert De Salvo in Richard Fleischer's bleak police procedural "The Boston Stranger" (1968). He was widely praised for his performance as the psychologically damaged De Salvo, and for his efforts, earned a Golden Globe nomination, but the film did not prevent his career from continuing its slow descent from the limelight. In 1968, Curtis married for the third time to Leslie Allen, who later gave him his first sons, Benjamin and Nicholas.

Despite the fact that he no longer commanded box office respect as he once did, Curtis was exceptionally busy in the 1970s, starring in the breezy British adventure drama "The Persuaders!" (ITC, 1971-72), which cast him alongside Roger Moore as two roguish millionaires who enjoyed hijinks and expensive fun across Europe. An American attempt to recreate its charm came with "McCoy" (ABC, 1975-76), with Curtis as a good-natured con man, but the series failed to earn a viewership. Curtis was also fairly active in film during the 1970s, most notably in Elia Kazan's "The Last Tycoon" (1976), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about 1930s-era Hollywood, which gave him second billing opposite Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson. But for the most part, Curtis floundered in second-rate productions (or worse) like the ill-advised Mae West comeback vehicle "Sextette" (1978) or the unnecessary "Bad News Bears Go to Japan" (1978). In 1977, Curtis published a novel, Kid Andrew Cody and Julie Sparrow.

Curtis launched the 1980s with an Emmy-nominated turn with a touch of nostalgia, in which he played David O. Selznick, whose niece had discovered him some three decades prior, in "The Scarlett O'Hara War" (1980). He also enjoyed a choice role as Kim Novak's producer husband in a camped-up film adaptation of Agatha Christie's "The Mirror Crack'd" (1980), and appeared on stage in a production of Neil Simon's "I Oughta Be in Pictures" that same year. Like many older stars, Curtis remained a regular presence on television as well, most notably in a recurring role as Robert Urich's casino owner boss on "Vega$" (ABC, 1978-1981), and later as real-life mobster Sam Giancana in the Susan Lucci starrer, "Mafia Princess" (1986). But Curtis began to develop interests outside of acting during this decade. After a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic in 1984 for drug and alcohol dependency, he began experimenting with painting, and displayed a particular knack for portraits, including those of his former co-stars, like Marilyn Monroe. Eventually, his artwork began fetching top prices among collectors, and was featured in major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Curtis' personal life remained tumultuous; he divorced Leslie Allen in 1983, and married his fourth wife, Lisa Deutsch, in 1993. The marriage lasted only a year.

Eventually, art replaced movies as Curtis' primary creative outlet, though he remained active in features throughout the 1990s. Few were consequential, and his last projects of any substance came in 1986 as a Joseph McCarthy-esque senator in Nicolas Roeg's experimental comedy-drama "Insignificance," and later in a cameo for the indie-minded romance "Naked in New York" (1993). Otherwise, he could be seen in countless low-budget action and comedy features, as well on television in episodes of "Roseanne" (ABC, 1988-1997) and "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (ABC, 1993-97). He also dished the dirt about many of his famous co-stars on the tawdry documentary series "Hollywood Babylon" (syndicated, 1992). But Curtis was best utilized as the voice of experience in several quality documentaries about the movie business, including "The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal" (1985), "Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time" (1992), and "The Celluloid Closet" (1995), which explored homosexuality in Hollywood. Curtis was also the subject of television biographies, including a 1999 retrospective on Turner Classic Movies' "Private Screenings" (TCM, 1996- ), and a 2001 episode of "Biography" (A&E, 1987- ), as well as penning an eponymous autobiography (with Barry Paris) in 1993. Curtis' long and storied career received several significant awards during the late 1990s and early 2000s, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and recognition for lifetime achievement from the Empire Awards UK, but Curtis was vocal about his disappointment at never receiving an Oscar for his efforts.

The peace and success afforded to him by his art career and the celebration of his movie work by the international filmmaking community was shattered by the 1994 death of his son Nicholas from a drug overdose. In interviews, Curtis commented that he had suffered terribly after the loss. In 1998, he married his fifth wife, horse trainer Jill Vanderburg, who was some 42 years younger than him. In 2002, Curtis revisited one of his most enduring features in a musical version of "Some Like It Hot" at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA. In the play, he played eccentric millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown's role in the film), who delivers the picture's memorable closing line: "Nobody's perfect." The actor passed away on Sept. 29, 2010 of cardiac arrest.

Credits

Radio 2 Remembers Steve Wright

Guest
Show
2024

Marilyn Monroe, la célébrité à tout prix

Self
Movie
2022

ORF III - Spezial

Actor
Maurice/Philippe
Show
2014

Driven To Stardom: The Making Of Tony Curtis

Self
Show
2011

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

Actor
Movie
2009

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Guest
Talk
2008

Electric Light Orchestra: Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley

Actor
Show
2008

David & Fatima

Actor
Mr. Schwartz
Movie
2008

The Jill & Tony Curtis Story

Self
Movie
2008

The Graham Norton ShowStream

Guest Star
Talk
2007

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

Guest
Talk
2005

Hope & Faith

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Show
2003

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

Guest
Show
2001

CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationStream

Guest Star
Series
2000

An Evening at the Improv

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Show
2000

The Early Show

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Show
1999

Hollywood Greats

Self
Show
1999

Star Games

Actor
King Fendel
Movie
1998

Hardball

Actor
Wald
Movie
1998

Louis & Frank

Actor
Lenny Star Springer
Movie
1998

The View

Guest
Talk
1997

Suddenly SusanStream

Guest Star
Series
1996

The Celluloid ClosetStream

Actor
Movie
1996
97%

The Mummy Lives

Actor
Aziru/Dr. Mohassid
Movie
1996

The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man (And His Faithful Sidekick Tadpole)

Actor
Jack Steele
Movie
1996

The Immortals

Actor
Dominic
Movie
1995

Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit

Actor
Lucky Bergstrom
Movie
1994

A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor

Actor
Johnny Steele
Movie
1994

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of SupermanStream

Guest Star
Series
1993
86%

Naked in New York

Actor
Carl Fisher
Movie
1993

Christmas in Connecticut

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Alexander Yardley
Movie
1992

Center of the Web

Actor
Stephen Moore
Movie
1992

Hollywood Babylon II

Narrator
Movie
1992

Prime Target

Actor
Marietta Copella
Movie
1991

Triunfo por Desastre

Actor
Movie
1989

Tarzán en Manhattan

Actor
Movie
1989

Lobster Man from Mars

Actor
Movie
1989

Tarzan in Manhattan

Actor
Archimedes Porter
Movie
1989

Thanksgiving Day

Actor
Max Schloss
Movie
1989

The Good Family

Actor
Max Schloss
Movie
1989

Walter og Carlo i Amerika

Actor
Willy la Rouge
Movie
1989

Lobster Man From Mars

Actor
J.P. Shelldrake
Movie
1989

Midnight

Actor
Mr. B
Movie
1989

RoseanneStream

Guest Star
Hal
Series
1988
76%

Der Passagier - Welcome to Germany

Actor
Mr. Cornfield
Movie
1988

Pack of Lies

Production Design
Movie
1987

L'Héritière du clan

Actor
Movie
1986

Mafia Princess

Actor
Sam Giancana
Movie
1986

Murder in Three Acts

Actor
Charles Cartwright
Movie
1986

King of the City

Actor
Hector
Movie
1985

Insignificance

Actor
The Senator
Movie
1985

Club Life

Actor
Hector
Movie
1985

Une Nuit de réflexion

Actor
Movie
1985

¿Dónde Está Parsifal?

Actor
Movie
1984

Where Is Parsifal?

Actor
Parsifal Katzenellenbogen
Movie
1984

Balboa, La Pócima del Pecado

Actor
Movie
1982

Othello, el Comando Negro

Actor
Col. Iago
Movie
1982

Portrait of a Showgirl

Actor
Joey DeLeon
Movie
1982

BrainWaves

Actor
Dr. Clavius
Movie
1982

Shadow of Death

Actor
Dr. Clavius
Movie
1982

Balboa

Actor
Ernie Stoddard
Movie
1982

The Fall GuyStream

Guest Star
Series
1981

Inmates: A Love Story

Actor
Flanagan
Movie
1981

The Million Dollar Face

Actor
Chester Masterson
Movie
1981

La Adorable Prenda

Actor
Movie
1980

El Thaur y su Adorable Prenda

Actor
Movie
1980

The Scarlett O'Hara War

Actor
David O. Selznick
Movie
1980

The Mirror Crack'd

Actor
Martin N. Fenn
Movie
1980

Little Miss Marker

Actor
Blackie
Movie
1980

Las Grandes Apuestas

Actor
Movie
1979

Title Shot

Actor
Frank Renzetti
Movie
1979

Sexteto

Actor
Movie
1978

Los Inconquistables

Actor
Movie
1978

Los Osos van a Japón

Actor
Movie
1978

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

Actor
Marvin Lazar
Movie
1978

It Rained All Night the Day I Left

Actor
Robert Talbot
Movie
1978

The Users

Actor
Randy Brent
Movie
1978

Vegas

Actor
Roth
Movie
1978

The Manitou

Actor
Harry Erskine
Movie
1978

Deux affreux sur le sable

Actor
Movie
1978

Casanova & Co.

Actor
Giacomo/Casanova
Movie
1977

The London Conspiracy

Actor
Danny Wilde
Movie
1976

The Last TycoonStream

Actor
Rodriguez
Movie
1976
39%

McCoy

Actor
McCoy
Show
1975

The Count of Monte Cristo

Actor
Fernand Mondego
Movie
1975

The Big Rip-Off

Actor
McCoy
Movie
1975

Lepke

Actor
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
Movie
1975

Shaft

Guest Star
Series
1973

Shaft: Hit and Run

Actor
Movie
1973

The Third Girl From the Left

Actor
Joey Jordan
Movie
1973

The Persuaders!Stream

Actor
Series
1971

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour

Guest
Variety Show
1971

Mission: Monte Carlo

Actor
Danny Wilde
Movie
1971

You Can't Win 'Em All

Actor
Adam Dyer
Movie
1970

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

Actor
Shannon Gambroni
Movie
1970

El Rally de Montecarlo y los Locos del Volante

Actor
Movie
1969

Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies

Actor
Chester Schofield
Movie
1969

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-InStream

Guest
Variety Show
1968

Cinturón de Castidad

Actor
Movie
1968

On My Way to the Crusades I Met a Girl Who...

Actor
Guerrando da Montone
Movie
1968

The Boston StranglerStream

Actor
Albert DeSalvo
Movie
1968
88%

The Chastity Belt

Actor
Guerrando da Montone
Movie
1968

Good Company

Self
Show
1967

Don't Make Waves

Actor
Carlo Cofield
Movie
1967

Arrivederci, Baby!

Actor
NIck Johnson
Movie
1966

Chamber of Horrors

Actor
Mr. Julian (uncredited)
Movie
1966

Not With My Wife, You Don’t!Stream

Actor
Tom Ferris
Movie
1966

Boeing, Boeing

Actor
Bernard Lawrence
Movie
1965

The Great RaceStream

Actor
The Great Leslie
Movie
1965
69%

Wild and Wonderful

Actor
Terry Williams
Movie
1964

Sex and the Single GirlStream

Actor
Bob Weston
Movie
1964
50%

Paris When It SizzlesStream

Actor
Maurice/Philippe
Movie
1964
50%

Goodbye CharlieStream

Actor
George Wellington Tracy
Movie
1964
50%

20 Kilos de Líos

Actor
Movie
1963

40 Pounds of Trouble

Actor
Steve McCluskey
Movie
1963

The List of Adrian Messenger

Actor
Cameo
Movie
1963
67%

Captain Newman, M.D.

Actor
Cpl. Jackson "Jake" Leibowitz
Movie
1963

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonStream

Guest
Talk
1962

Taras Bulba

Actor
Andrei Bulba
Movie
1962

Conversation Extra

Host
Show
1961

Pepe

Self
Movie
1961

The Outsider

Actor
Ira Hamilton Hayes
Movie
1961

The FlintstonesStream

Guest Voice
Series
1960

The Rat RaceStream

Actor
Pete Hammond Jr.
Movie
1960

People, Hopes, Medals

Self
Movie
1960

SpartacusStream

Actor
Antoninus
Movie
1960
94%

The Great Impostor

Actor
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr.
Movie
1960

Who Was That Lady?

Actor
David Wilson
Movie
1960

Ford Startime

Actor
Show
1959

The Perfect Furlough

Actor
Cpl. Paul Hodges
Movie
1959

Some Like it HotStream

Actor
Joe/Josephine
Movie
1959
94%

Operation PetticoatStream

Actor
Lt. JG Nicholas Holden
Movie
1959
81%

The Vikings

Actor
Eric
Movie
1958

The Defiant OnesStream

Actor
John "Joker" Jackson
Movie
1958
91%

Kings Go Forth

Actor
Cpl. Britt Harris
Movie
1958

The Midnight Story

Actor
Joe Martini
Movie
1957

Mister Cory

Actor
Cory
Movie
1957

Sweet Smell of Success

Actor
Sidney Falco
Movie
1957

Sweet Smell of Success

Executive Producer
Movie
1957

L'Extravagant M. Cory

Actor
Movie
1957

TrapezeStream

Actor
Tino Orsini
Movie
1956
75%

The Rawhide Years

Actor
Ben
Movie
1956

Six Bridges to Cross

Actor
Jerry Florea
Movie
1955

The Purple Mask

Actor
Rene de Traviere/The Purple Mask
Movie
1955

The Square Jungle

Actor
Eddie Quaid / Packy Glennon
Movie
1955

Johnny Dark

Actor
Johnny Dark
Movie
1954

Beachhead

Actor
Burke
Movie
1954

So This Is Paris

Actor
Joe Maxwell
Movie
1954

The Black Shield of Falworth

Actor
Myles
Movie
1954

Ça c'est Paris

Actor
Movie
1954

General Electric Theater

Actor
Davis
Show
1953

Houdini

Actor
Harry Houdini
Movie
1953

The All-American

Actor
Nick Bonelli
Movie
1953

Forbidden

Actor
Eddie Darrow
Movie
1953

I've Got a SecretStream

Guest
Game Show
1952

Meet Danny Wilson

Self
Movie
1952

Son of Ali Baba

Actor
Kashma Baba
Movie
1952

No Room for the Groom

Actor
Alvah Morrell
Movie
1952

Flesh and Fury

Actor
Paul Callan
Movie
1952

The Prince Who Was a Thief

Actor
Julna
Movie
1951

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

I Was a Shoplifter

Actor
Pepe
Movie
1950

SierraStream

Actor
Brent Coulter
Movie
1950

Kansas RaidersStream

Actor
Kit Dalton
Movie
1950

Winchester '73Stream

Actor
Doan
Movie
1950
100%

City Across the River

Actor
Mitch
Movie
1949

Francis

Actor
Capt. Jones
Movie
1949

The Lady Gambles

Actor
Bellboy
Movie
1949