Tony Curtis

For other people named Tony Curtis, see Tony Curtis (disambiguation).

Tony Curtis
Born	Bernard Schwartz (1925-06-03)June 3, 1925 Bronx, New York, United States
Died	September 29, 2010(2010-09-29) (aged 85) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1948–2010
Spouse(s)	Janet Leigh (1951–1962) Christine Kaufmann (1963–1967) Leslie Allen (1968–1982) Andria Savio (1983-1992) Lisa Deutsch (1993–1994) Jill Vandenberg (1998–2010; his death)

Tony Curtis (June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an American film actor. He played a variety of roles, from light comedy, such as the musician on the run from gangsters in Some Like It Hot, to serious dramatic roles, such as an escaped convict in The Defiant Ones, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. From 1949, he appeared in more than 100 films and made frequent television appearances.

Early life

Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx, New York, the son of Emanuel Schwartz and his wife Helen Klein. His parents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants from Mátészalka, Hungary. Hungarian was Curtis' only language until he was five or six, postponing his schooling. His father was a tailor and the family lived in the back of the shop — the parents in one corner and Curtis and his brothers Julius and Robert in another. His mother had once made an appearance as a participant on the television show You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx. Curtis said, "When I was a child, Mom beat me up and was very aggressive and antagonistic." His mother was later diagnosed with schizophrenia, a mental illness which also affected his brother Robert and led to Robert's institutionalization. When Curtis was eight, he and his younger brother Julius were placed in an orphanage for a month because their parents could not afford to feed them. Four years later, Julius was struck and killed by a truck.

During World War II, Curtis joined the United States Navy inspired by watching Cary Grant in Destination Tokyo and Tyrone Power in Crash Dive (1943). He served aboard USS Proteus (AS-19), a submarine tender, and on September 2, 1945, he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from about a mile away. Following his discharge, Curtis studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German stage director Erwin Piscator, along with Elaine Stritch, Walter Matthau, and Rod Steiger. He was discovered by a talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick. Curtis claims it was because he "was the handsomest of the boys." Arriving in Hollywood in 1948 at age 23, he was placed under contract at Universal Pictures and changed his name to Tony Curtis, taking his first name from the novel Anthony Adverse and his last name from "Kurtz", a surname from his mother's family. Although the studio taught him fencing and riding, Curtis admits he was at first only interested in girls and money.

Career

Curtis at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival

Curtis, during a signing of his 2008 memoir, American Prince

Curtis's uncredited screen debut came in Criss Cross (1949) playing a rumba dancer. In his second film, City Across the River (also in 1949), he was credited as "Anthony Cross". Later, as "Tony Curtis", he cemented his reputation with breakthrough performances such as in the role of the scheming press agent Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with Burt Lancaster (who also starred in Criss Cross) and an Oscar-nominated performance as a bigoted escaped convict chained to Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones.

He did both screen comedy and drama together and became the most sought after star in Hollywood: Curtis' comedies include Some Like It Hot (1959), Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and The Great Race (1965), and his dramas included playing the slave Antoninus in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) co-starring Kirk Douglas and Sir Laurence Olivier, The Outsider (1961), the true story of WW II veteran Ira Hayes, and The Boston Strangler (1968), in which he played the self-confessed murderer of the film's title, Albert DeSalvo. The latter film was praised for Curtis' performance.

Curtis also appeared frequently on television; he co-starred with Roger Moore in the TV series The Persuaders!. Later, he co-starred in McCoy and Vega$. In the early 1960s, he was immortalized as "Stony Curtis," a voice-over guest star on The Flintstones.

In 1978 Curtis introduced the Electric Light Orchestra at Wembley Arena for their opening night concert (a Gala charity event) on Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley.

Throughout his life, Curtis enjoyed painting, and since the early 1980s, painted as a second career. His work commands more than $25,000 a canvas now. In the last years of his life, he concentrated on painting rather than movies. A surrealist, Curtis claimed "Van Gogh, [Paul] Matisse, Picasso, Magritte" as influences. "I still make movies but I'm not that interested in them any more. But I paint all the time." In 2007, his painting The Red Table was on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His paintings can also be seen at the Tony Vanderploeg Gallery in Carmel, California.

Curtis spoke of his disappointment at never being awarded an Oscar. But in March 2006, Curtis did receive the Sony Ericsson Empire Lifetime Achievement Award. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) from France in 1995.

Personal life

Curtis was married six times. His first wife was actress Janet Leigh, to whom he was married from 1951–1962, and with whom he fathered actresses Kelly and Jamie Lee Curtis. "For a while, we were Hollywood's golden couple," he said. "I was very dedicated and devoted to Janet, and on top of my trade, but in her eyes that goldenness started to wear off. I realized that whatever I was, I wasn't enough for Janet. That hurt me a lot and broke my heart." It was Leigh's third marriage. Curtis, who admitted to his infidelity throughout their marriage, divorced Leigh in 1962 to marry Christine Kaufmann, the 17-year-old German co-star of his latest film, Taras Bulba. He stated, however, that his marriage with Leigh had effectively ended "a year earlier". In 1963 Curtis married Kaufmann. They had two daughters, Alexandra (born July 19, 1964) and Allegra (born July 11, 1966). They divorced in 1968. Kaufmann resumed her career, which she had interrupted during her marriage.

Curtis was also married to:

• Leslie Allen (April 20, 1968 – 1982); divorced, two sons
• Andria Savio (1983 – 1992); B movie actress (e.g. 1983's Stryker)
• Lisa Deutsch (February 28, 1993 – 1994); divorced
• Jill Vandenberg Curtis (November 6, 1998 – September 29, 2010; his death)

Curtis' handprints at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park

In 1998, he founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, and served as honorary chairperson. This is for the restoration and preservation of synagogues and 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. He dedicated this to the 600,000 Hungarian victims of the Holocaust.

His son Nicholas (December 31, 1970 - April 2, 1994, with Leslie Allen) died of a heroin overdose at the age of 23. Of this Curtis said, "As a father you don't recover from that. There isn't a moment at night that I don't remember him."

Curtis stated on the television series Shrink Rap that he had a brief relationship with Marilyn Monroe in 1949 which had to end due to their different work commitments. He also details their brief relationship in his memoir, American Prince.

His last wife was 42 years his junior. They met in a restaurant in 1993 and married in 1998. "The age gap doesn't bother us. We laugh a lot. My body is functioning and everything is good. She's the sexiest woman I've ever known. We don't think about time. I don't use Viagra either. There are 50 ways to please your lover."

Because of his Hungarian descent he participated in Hungary's country image commercials. In 2004, 16% more American tourists visited Hungary.

In 2004, he was inducted into the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Hall of Fame. A street is named after him in the Sun City Anthem development in Henderson, Nevada.

Curtis nearly died when he contracted pneumonia in December 2006 and was in a coma for several days. As a result he used a wheelchair and could only walk short distances.

In October 2008, Curtis released his latest autobiography American Prince: A Memoir (Harmony Books), written with Peter Golenbock. In it, he elaborates on encounters with other Hollywood legends of the time including Frank Sinatra and James Dean, as well as his hard-knock childhood and path to success.

In September 2009, Curtis released his second book The Making of Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie (John Wiley & Sons), written with Mark A. Vieira. In it, Curtis shared his memories of the making of the movie, in particular about Marilyn Monroe, whose antics and attitude on the set made everyone miserable.

There is a mural of him on US Highway 101 Southbound at the Sunset Blvd. exit.

On May 22, 2009, Curtis apologized to the BBC radio audience after he used three profanities in a six-minute interview with BBC presenter William Crawley. The presenter also apologized to the audience for Curtis's "Hollywood realism." Curtis explained that he thought the interview was being taped, when it was in fact live.

On July 8, 2010, Curtis, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was hospitalized in Las Vegas after suffering an asthma attack during a book signing engagement in Henderson, Nevada at Costco.

Death

Curtis died at his Las Vegas (Henderson, Nevada) home on September 29, 2010, of cardiac arrest. In a release to the Associated Press, his daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, stated:

My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages. He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world. He will be greatly missed."

Filmography

• Criss Cross (1949)
• City Across the River (1949)
• The Lady Gambles (1949)
• Take One False Step (1949) (scenes deleted)
• Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
• How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949) (short subject)
• Woman in Hiding (1950)
• Francis (1950)
• I Was a Shoplifter (1950)
• Sierra (1950)
• Winchester '73 (1950) (Credited as Anthony Curtis)
• Kansas Raiders (1950)
• The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
• Meet Danny Wilson (1952) (cameo)
• Flesh and Fury (1952)
• No Room for the Groom (1952)
• Son of Ali Baba (1952)
• Houdini (1953)
• The All-American (1953)
• Forbidden (1953)
• Beachhead (1954)
• Johnny Dark (1954)
• The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
• Six Bridges to Cross (1955)
• So This Is Paris (1955)
• The Purple Mask (1955)
• The Rawhide Years (1955)
• The Square Jungle (1955)
• Trapeze (1956)
• Mister Cory (1957)
• Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
• The Midnight Story (1957)
• The Vikings (1958)
• Kings Go Forth (1958)
• The Defiant Ones (1958)
• The Perfect Furlough (1958)
• Some Like It Hot (1959)
• Operation Petticoat (1959)
• Who Was That Lady? (1960)
• The Rat Race (1960)
• Spartacus (1960)
• Pepe (1960) (cameo)
• The Great Impostor (1961)
• The Outsider (1961), as Ira Hayes
• Taras Bulba (1962)
• 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)
• The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) (cameo)
• Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
• Paris, When It Sizzles (1964) (cameo)
• Wild and Wonderful (1964)
• Goodbye Charlie (1964)
• Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
• The Great Race (1965)
• Boeing Boeing (1965)
• The Flinstones (1965) (voice)
• Chamber of Horrors (1966) (cameo)
• Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966)
• Arrivederci, Baby! (1966)
• Don't Make Waves (1967)

• On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1968)
• Rosemary's Baby (1968) (voice)
• The Boston Strangler (1968)
• Monte Carlo or Bust (1969)
• You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
• Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970)
• The Persuaders! (1971–1972)
• Mission: Monte Carlo (1974)
• Lepke (1975)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1975)
• London Conspiracy (1976)
• The Last Tycoon (1976)
• Casanova & Co. (1977)
• Sextette (1978)
• The Manitou (1978)
• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
• The Users (1978)
• Electric Light Orchestra Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley (1978)
• Double Take (1979)
• Title Shot (1979)
• Little Miss Marker (1980)
• It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980)
• The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
• The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980)
• Othello, the Black Commando (1982)
• Where Is Parsifal? (1983)
• BrainWaves (1983)
• The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985) (documentary)
• Club Life (1985)
• Insignificance (1985)
• The Last of Philip Banter (1986)
• Balboa (1986)
• The Passenger - Welcome to Germany (1988)
• Lobster Man From Mars (1989)
• Midnight (1989)
• Tarzan in Manhattan (1989)
• Walter & Carlo In America (1989)
• Prime Target (1991)
• Center of the Web (1992)
• Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time (1992) (documentary)
• Naked in New York (1993)
• The Mummy Lives (1993)
• A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
• The Immortals (1995)
• The Celluloid Closet (1995) (documentary)
• Roseanne - TV Series (1996) (role as Hal, ballroom dance studio instructor)
• Hardball (1997)
• Brittle Glory (1997)
• Alien X Factor (1997)
• Stargames (1998)
• Louis & Frank (1998)
• Play It to the Bone (1999) (cameo)
• Reflections of Evil (2002) (narrator)
• Where's Marty? (2006)
• The Blacksmith and the Carpenter (2007) (voice)
• David & Fatima (2008)
• The Jill & Tony Curtis Story (2008) (documentary feature)

Further reading

• Curtis, Tony (2009). Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Making of the Classic Movie. New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 240. ISBN 978-0470537213. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Curtis, Tony (1993). Tony Curtis: The Autobiography. New York: William Morrow & Company. ISBN 978-0-688-09759-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Ayres, Ian (2006). Van Gogh's Ear: The Celebrity Edition (includes Tony Curtis's prose/poetry/artwork). Paris: French Connection. ISBN 978-2-914-85307-1.

External links

• Tony Curtis at IMDb
• Tony Curtis at the TCM Movie Database
• Biography and naval service from the California Center for Military History website
• 2009 interview with Dodd Vickers for the Magic Newswire
• 2007 interview by Nick Thomas in Nevada Magazine
• 2010 interview with Some Like it Hot stars Tony Curtis and Nehemiah Persoff
• John Patterson, Some like it very hot (Interview), The Guardian, 18 April 2008
• Alison Jackson, Some tormented Hollywood souls still like their gossip hot, Profile: Tony Curtis, Sunday Times, 20 April 2008
• Documentary film, The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
• Photographs and literature