Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama. In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances.
Although his early film roles were partly the result of his good looks, by the later half of the 1950's he became a notable and strong screen presence. He began proving himself to be a “fine dramatic actor,” having the range to act in numerous dramatic and comedy roles. In his earliest parts he acted in a string of "mediocre" films, including swashbucklers, westerns, light comedies, sports films, and a musical. However, by the time he starred in
HoudiniHoudini is a 1953 biographical film about the life of the magician and escapologist Harry Houdini. It was made by Paramount Pictures, directed by George Marshall and produced by George Pal from a screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on the book Houdini by Harold Kellock. The music score was by Roy...
(1953) with his wife
Janet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
, "his first clear success," notes critic
David ThomsonDavid Thomson is a film critic and historian based in the United States and the author of more than 20 books, including The New Biographical Dictionary of Film.-Career:...
, his acting had progressed immensely.
He won his first serious recognition as a skilled dramatic actor in
Sweet Smell of SuccessSweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman...
(1957) with co-star
Burt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
. The following year he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in another drama,
The Defiant OnesThe Defiant Ones is a 1958 drama film which tells the story of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive. It stars Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Cara Williams, Charles McGraw, and Lon Chaney, Jr...
(1958). Curtis then gave what many believe was his best acting, in a completely different role, the comedy
Some Like It HotSome Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
(1959). Thomson calls it an "outrageous film," and it was voted the number 1 funniest film in history from a survey done by the
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
. It costarred
Jack LemmonJohn Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
and
Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, and was directed by
Billy WilderBilly Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
. That was followed by
Blake EdwardsBlake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
’ comedy
Operation PetticoatOperation Petticoat is a 1959 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. It was the basis for a television series in 1977 starring John Astin in Grant's role...
(1959) with
Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
. They were both “frantic comedies,” and displayed "his impeccable comic timing." He often collaborated with Edwards on later films.
His most significant serious part came in 1968 when he starred in the true-life drama
The Boston StranglerThe Boston Strangler is a 1968 film based on the true story of the Boston Strangler and the book by Gerold Frank. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, and Henry Fonda as John S...
, which some consider his "last major film role." The part reinforced his reputation as a serious actor with his "chilling portrayal" of serial killer
Albert DeSalvoAlbert Henry DeSalvo was a criminal in Boston, Massachusetts who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler", the murderer of 13 women in the Boston area. DeSalvo was not imprisoned for these murders, however, but for a series of rapes...
. He gained 30 pounds and had his face "rebuilt" with a false nose to look like the real DeSalvo.
Curtis was the father of actresses
Jamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
and
Kelly CurtisKelly Lee Curtis is an American actress.She was born in Santa Monica, California, the elder child of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh and the sister of actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Kelly Curtis began acting at the age of 27, playing Muffy in John Landis' Trading Places...
by his first wife, actress
Janet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
.
Early life
Curtis was born
Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, one of three sons of Emanuel Schwartz and Helen Klein. His parents were
Hungarian Jewish immigrants from
MátészalkaMátészalka is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.-Geography:It covers an area of and has a population of 18,084 people .Mátészalka is a sistertown of Zevenaar ....
, Hungary.
HungarianHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
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 once made an appearance as a participant on the television show
You Bet Your LifeYou Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...
, hosted by
Groucho MarxJulius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
. Curtis said, "When I was a child, Mom beat me up and was very aggressive and antagonistic." His mother was later diagnosed with
schizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. His brother Robert was also
institutionalizedInvoluntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....
with the same mental illness.
When Curtis was eight, he and his 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. Curtis joined a neighborhood gang whose main crimes were playing hooky from school and minor pilfering at the local dime store. Aged 11, a friendly neighbor saved him from what he felt would have led to a life of
delinquencyJuvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
by sending him to a Boy Scout camp where he was able to work off his energy and settle down. He attended
Seward Park High SchoolSeward Park High School is a now-closed comprehensive high school which was located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The school began as P.S. 62 Intermediate, a intermediate school. In 1923 the school pursued an experimental path as a combined junior-senior high school...
. At 16, he had his first small acting part in a school stage play.
Curtis enlisted in the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
after the
attack on Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
and war was declared. After being inspired by
Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
's role in
Destination TokyoDestination Tokyo is a 1943 submarine war film. It was directed by Delmer Daves and written by Daves, Steve Fisher and Albert Maltz, and stars Cary Grant and John Garfield with featured performances by Dane Clark, Robert Hutton and Warner Anderson. Production began on June 21, 1943 and continued...
and
Tyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
in
Crash DiveCrash Dive is a World War II film in Technicolor released in 1943. It was directed by Archie Mayo, written by Jo Swerling and W.R. Burnett, and starred Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews and Anne Baxter...
(
1943The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
), he joined the
Pacific submarine forceThe United States Asiatic Fleet was part of the U.S. Navy. Preceding the World War II era, until 1942, the fleet protected the Philippines.Originally the Asiatic Squadron, it was upgraded to fleet status in 1902. In 1907, the fleet became the First Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. However, on 28...
. Curtis served aboard a
submarine tenderA submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...
, the
USS ProteusThe third USS Proteus was a in the United States Navy.Proteus was laid down by the Moore Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Oakland, California, 15 September 1941; launched 12 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Charles M. Cooke, Jr.; and commissioned 31 January 1944, Capt. Robert W...
until the end of the Second World War. On September 2, 1945, Curtis witnessed the
Japanese surrenderThe Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that enabled the Surrender of Japan, marking the end of World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist...
in
Tokyo Bayis a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
from his ship's signal bridge about a mile away.
Following his
dischargeA military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
from US Navy, Curtis attended
City College of New YorkThe City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
as a result of the G.I. Bill. He then studied acting at the
The New SchoolThe New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
under the influential German stage director
Erwin PiscatorErwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator was a German theatre director and producer and, with Bertolt Brecht, the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of drama, rather than its emotional manipulation of the audience or on the production's formal...
. Fellow contemporaries included
Elaine StritchElaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
,
Walter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
, Bea Arthur, and
Rod SteigerRodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
. While still at college, Curtis was discovered by
Joyce SelznickJoyce Selznick was a talent agent and casting director, and the niece to David O. Selznick, who produced Gone with the Wind in 1939 and founded Selznick International Pictures.-Career:...
, the notable
talent agentA talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
, casting director, and niece of film producer
David O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
. He later claimed it was because he "was the handsomest of the boys."
In 1948, Curtis arrived in Hollywood aged 23. When he was placed under contract at
Universal Pictures-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, he changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis. The first name was from the novel
Anthony AdverseAnthony Adverse is a 1936 American drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney is based on the sprawling 1,224-page novel of the same title by Hervey Allen.-Plot:...
and "Kurtz" from a surname in his mother's family. Although Universal Pictures taught him fencing and riding, in keeping with the cinematic themes of the era, Curtis admitted he was at first only interested in girls and money. Neither was he hopeful of his chances of becoming a major star. Curtis biggest fear was having to return home to the Bronx as a failure:
I was a million-to-one shot, the least likely to succeed. I wasn't low man on the totem pole, I was under the totem pole, in a sewer, tied to a sack.
Career
Curtis's uncredited screen debut came in
Criss CrossCriss Cross is a 1949 film noir, directed by Robert Siodmak from a novel of the same name by Don Tracy. This black-and-white film was shot partly on location in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. The film was written by Daniel Fuchs. Franz Planer's cinematography creates a black-and-white...
(1949) playing a
rumbaRumba is a dance term with two quite different meanings.In some contexts, "rumba" is used as shorthand for Afro-Cuban rumba, a group of dances related to the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. The most common Afro-Cuban rumba is the guaguancó...
dancer. In his second film,
City Across the River (also in 1949), he was credited as "Anthony Curtis". 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 SuccessSweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman...
(1957) with
Burt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
(who also starred in
Criss Cross) and an
OscarAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-nominated performance as a bigoted escaped convict chained to
Sidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
in
The Defiant OnesThe Defiant Ones is a 1958 drama film which tells the story of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive. It stars Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Cara Williams, Charles McGraw, and Lon Chaney, Jr...
.
He did both screen comedy and drama, and became one of the most sought after stars in Hollywood. Curtis' comedies include
Some Like It HotSome Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
(1959, although voice actor
Paul FreesPaul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
read his and
Jack LemmonJohn Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
's "Daphne" and "Josephine" dialogues),
Sex and the Single GirlSex and the Single Girl was written in 1962 by Helen Gurley Brown, as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage...
(1964) and
The Great RaceThe Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
(1965), and his dramas included playing the slave Antoninus in
Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's
Spartacus (1960) co-starring
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
and Sir Laurence Olivier,
The OutsiderThe Outsider is a 1961 biopic film about Ira Hayes, who was a Native American who fought in World War II in the United States Marine Corps and was one of the Marines who Raised the Flag on Iwo Jima. The film stars Tony Curtis as Hayes.-Cast:*Tony Curtis...
(1961), the true story of WW II veteran
Ira HayesIra Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American and an American Marine who was one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona, and enlisted in the Marine...
, and
The Boston StranglerThe Boston Strangler is a 1968 film based on the true story of the Boston Strangler and the book by Gerold Frank. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, and Henry Fonda as John S...
(1968), in which he played the self-confessed murderer of the film's title,
Albert DeSalvoAlbert Henry DeSalvo was a criminal in Boston, Massachusetts who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler", the murderer of 13 women in the Boston area. DeSalvo was not imprisoned for these murders, however, but for a series of rapes...
. The latter film was praised for Curtis' performance. He was also part of the all-star ensemble in
Elia KazanElia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
's 1976 drama
The Last TycoonThe Last Tycoon is a 1976 American dramatic film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Sam Spiegel, based upon Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, sometimes known as The Love of the Last Tycoon. It stars Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack...
. Curtis was nominated for a Golden Globe for Supporting actor for his performance in Spartacus (1960) alongside co star Kirk Douglas.
Curtis appeared frequently on television; he co-starred with
Roger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
in the
TV seriesA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
The Persuaders!The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
. Later, he co-starred in
McCoyMcCoy is the title of an American action-adventure television series that aired on NBC during the 1975-1976 season.The series starred Tony Curtis as a con man who "out-cons" bad guys in order to steal back their ill-gotten gains and return the loot to its rightful owners...
and
Vega$Vega$ is an American detective television drama series that aired on ABC between 1978 and 1981. It was produced by Aaron Spelling. The series, was filmed in its entirety in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be the first television series produced entirely in Las Vegas...
. In the early 1960s, he was immortalized as "Stony Curtis," a voice-over guest star on
The FlintstonesThe Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
.
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 GoghVincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
,
[Paul] MatissePaul Matisse is an artist and inventor. He is known especially for his public art installations, many of which are interactive. He is also inventor of the Kalliroscope....
,
PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
,
MagritteRené François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...
" 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 ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
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. In March 2006, Curtis received the
Sony Ericsson Empire Lifetime Achievement AwardAn Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the locale and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented...
. He also has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, and received the
Ordre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
(Order of Arts and Letters) from France in 1995.
Marriages and children
Curtis was married five times. His first wife was actress
Janet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
, to whom he was married from 1951 to 1962, and with whom he fathered actresses
KellyKelly Lee Curtis is an American actress.She was born in Santa Monica, California, the elder child of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh and the sister of actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Kelly Curtis began acting at the age of 27, playing Muffy in John Landis' Trading Places...
and
Jamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
. "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."
The studio he was under contract with, Universal-International, generally stayed out of their stars' love lives. However, when they chose to get married, studio executives spent three days trying to talk him out of it, telling him he would be "poisoning himself at the box office." They threatened "banishment" back to the Bronx and the end of his budding career. In response, Curtis and Leigh decided to defy the studio heads and instead eloped and were married by a local judge in Greenwich Connecticut. Comedian and close friend
Jerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
came as a witness.
It was Leigh's third marriage. They divorced in 1962, and in 1963, Curtis married
Christine KaufmannChristine Maria Kaufmann is a German actress. In 1961 she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, the only German to be so honoured....
, the 17-year old German co-star of his latest film,
Taras Bulba. He stated that his marriage with Leigh had effectively ended "a year earlier". 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: Nicholas Curtis (1970-1994) and Benjamin Curtis (born May 2, 1973)
- Lisa Deutsch (February 28, 1993 – 1994); divorced
- Jill Vandenberg Curtis (November 6, 1998 – September 29, 2010; his death)
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."
His son Nicholas (December 31, 1970 — April 2, 1994, with Leslie Allen) died of a
heroin overdoseThe term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
at the age of 23. On his son's death, Curtis remarked, "You never get over that. The death of a child. No. Can't talk about it," and that it's "a terrible thing when a father loses his son."
According to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, Curtis, who had a problem with
alcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and drug abuse, went though the treatment center of the Betty Ford Clinic in the mid 1980s, which was successful for him.
Philanthropy
Beginning in 1990, Curtis and his daughter
Jamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
took a renewed interest in their family's Hungarian-Jewish heritage, and helped finance the rebuilding of the
"Great Synagogue"The Great Synagogue, also known as Dohány Street Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is located in Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest. It is the third largest synagogue in Eurasia and the fifth largest in the world...
in Budapest, Hungary.
(photo) The largest synagogue in Europe today, it was originally built in 1859 and suffered damage during World War II. In 1998, he also founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, and served as honorary chairperson. The organization works for the restoration and preservation of
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s and 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. He dedicated this to the 600,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust in
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and lands occupied by the Hungarian Army. He also helped promote Hungary's national image in commercials.
Books and appearances
In 1994, a mural featuring his likeness, painted by the artist George Sportelli, was unveiled on the Sunset Boulevard overpass of the Hollywood Freeway
Highway 101Highway 101 is an American country music band founded by Paulette Carlson , Jack Daniels , Curtis Stone and Scott "Cactus" Moser . With Carlson as lead vocalist, the band recorded three albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashville and charted ten consecutive Top Ten hits on the Hot Country Songs...
in California. The mural was relocated
to Hollywood Blvd and Bronson Ave in Sept 2011.
In 2004, he was inducted into the
University of Nevada, Las VegasUniversity of Nevada-Las Vegas is a public, coeducational university located in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, USA. The campus is located approximately east of the Las Vegas Strip. The institution includes a Shadow Lane Campus, located just east of the University Medical Center of...
Hall of Fame. A street is named after him in the Sun City Anthem development in Henderson, Nevada.
In 2008, he was featured in the documentary
The Jill & Tony Curtis StoryThis 2008 feature-length documentary directed by Ian Ayres, is about Tony Curtis and his wife and their efforts to rescue horses from slaughterhouses. A camera crew follows Jill and Tony Curtis as they take in horses that would have been inhumanely killed and sent overseas as food for humans...
about his efforts with his wife to rescue horses from slaughterhouses.
In October 2008, Curtis's
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
American Prince: A Memoir, was published. In it, he describes his encounters with other Hollywood legends of the time including
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and
James DeanJames Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
, as well as his hard-knock childhood and path to success. It was followed by the publication of his next book,
The Making of Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie (2009). Curtis shared his memories of the making of the movie, in particular about
Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, whose antics and attitude on the set made everyone miserable.
On May 22, 2009, Curtis apologized to the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio audience after he used three profanities in a six-minute interview with BBC presenter
William Crawley-Television presenter:He recently presented Blueprint, a three-part television natural history series, which ran from 31 March 2008, as the centre-piece of the most ambitious multi-platform broadcasting project in the history of BBC Northern Ireland. The Blueprint season united TV, radio and online...
. 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.
Later years and death
In 1984 Curtis was rushed to hospital suffering from advanced
cirrhosisCirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
as a result of his
alcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addiction. He then entered the Betty Ford Clinic and vowed to overcome his "various illnesses". He underwent heart bypass surgery in 1994.
Curtis nearly died when he contracted
pneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in December 2006 and was in a
comaIn medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for several days. As a result he used a wheelchair and could only walk short distances.
On July 8, 2010, Curtis, who suffered from
chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseChronic obstructive pulmonary disease , also known as chronic obstructive lung disease , chronic obstructive airway disease , chronic airflow limitation and chronic obstructive respiratory disease , is the co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases...
(COPD), was hospitalized in
Las VegasThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
after suffering an
asthmaAsthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
attack during a book signing engagement in
Henderson, Nevada-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...
at Costco.
Curtis died at his
Henderson, Nevada-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...
home on September 29, 2010, of a
cardiac arrestCardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
. In a release to the Associated Press, his daughter, actress
Jamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
, 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."
He was interred at Palm Memorial Park Cemetery in
Green Valley, NevadaGreen Valley is a neighborhood of Henderson, Nevada. The Green Valley Master Community development was founded in 1978 by American Nevada Corporation in an area of on the southeast part of the Las Vegas Valley...
on October 4, 2010. His memorial service was attended by his daughters, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis,
Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
,
Ron JeremyRonald Jeremy Hyatt , usually called Ron Jeremy, is an American pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", he was ranked by AVN at number one in their "The 50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list...
,
Rich LittleRichard Caruthers "Rich" Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices"....
, and Vera Goulet,
Robert GouletRobert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
's widow. Investor
Kirk KerkorianKerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian is an American businessman who is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian is known as one of the important figures in shaping Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr...
, actor
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
and singer Phyllis McGuire were among the honorary pallbearers.
Filmography
- Criss Cross
Criss Cross is a 1949 film noir, directed by Robert Siodmak from a novel of the same name by Don Tracy. This black-and-white film was shot partly on location in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. The film was written by Daniel Fuchs. Franz Planer's cinematography creates a black-and-white...
(1949)
- City Across the River (1949)
- The Lady Gambles
The Lady Gambles is a 1949 drama film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Preston. A woman accompanies her husband to Las Vegas and becomes addicted to gambling.-Cast:*Barbara Stanwyck as Joan Phillips Boothe*Robert Preston as David Boothe...
(1949)
- Take One False Step (1949) (scenes deleted)
- Johnny Stool Pigeon
Johnny Stool Pigeon is a 1949 black-and-white film noir directed by William Castle. Tony Curtis, who made his movie debut that same year appearing in Criss Cross, has a non-speaking role as a mob gang member...
(1949)
- How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949) (short subject)
- Woman in Hiding (1950)
- Francis (1950)
- I Was a Shoplifter
I Was a Shoplifter is a 1950 American crime film directed by Charles Lamont. It stars Scott Brady as the police detective sergeant Jeff Andrews, who is on a case to stop a gang of shoplifters headed by Herb Claxton and Ina Perdue who are exploiting a wealthy socialite, Faye Burton , a...
(1950)
- Sierra (1950)
- Winchester '73
Winchester '73 is an American Western film starring James Stewart and Shelley Winters, and released by Universal Pictures in 1950. This is the first of eight collaborations between Stewart and director Anthony Mann. The movie features early roles for Rock Hudson , Tony Curtis, and James Best, and...
(1950) (Credited as Anthony Curtis)
- Kansas Raiders (1950)
- The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
- Meet Danny Wilson
Meet Danny Wilson is a 1952 film starring Frank Sinatra and Shelley Winters. The movie was directed by Joseph Pevney and written by Don McGuire...
(1952) (cameo)
- Flesh and Fury (1952)
- No Room for the Groom (1952)
- Son of Ali Baba
Son of Ali Baba is a 1952 film starring Tony Curtis. In it he has a line about the palace of his father, which an urban legend has transferred to his better known film The Black Shield of Falworth. This was Tony Curtis' first film in the lead....
(1952)
- Houdini
Houdini is a 1953 biographical film about the life of the magician and escapologist Harry Houdini. It was made by Paramount Pictures, directed by George Marshall and produced by George Pal from a screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on the book Houdini by Harold Kellock. The music score was by Roy...
(1953)
- The All-American (1953)
- Forbidden (1953)
- Beachhead
Beachhead is a 1954 Technicolor war film based on Captain Richard G. Hubler USMCR's 1945 novel I've Got Mine. It was filmed in Kauai by Aubrey Schenck Productions, released through United Artists and directed by Stuart Heisler.-Plot:...
(1954)
- Johnny Dark (1954)
- The Black Shield of Falworth
The Black Shield of Falworth is a 1954 film made by Universal Studios, produced by Robert Arthur and Melville Tucker and directed by Rudolph Maté...
(1954)
- Six Bridges to Cross
Six Bridges to Cross or 6 Bridges to Cross is a 1955 American crime caper film directed by Joseph Pevney of Universal Pictures. The film starred Tony Curtis, George Nader, Julie Adams, Jay C. Flippen and Sal Mineo on his screen debut...
(1955)
- So This Is Paris
So This Is Paris is a 1955 film directed by Richard Quine. It stars Tony Curtis and Gloria DeHaven. There is a 1926 film of the same name.-Cast:*Tony Curtis as Joe Maxwell*Gloria DeHaven as Colette d'Avril / Jane Mitchell*Gene Nelson as Al Howard...
(1955)
- The Purple Mask (1955)
- The Rawhide Years (1955)
- The Square Jungle (1955)
- Trapeze
Trapeze is a 1956 circus film directed by Carol Reed and starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida, making her debut in American films....
(1956)
- Mister Cory
Mister Cory is a 1957 film by Blake Edwards starring Tony Curtis as a con artist who almost reforms. The film was atypical of Hollywood fare of its day, but found favor with avant garde critics, including Jean Luc Godard who praised the film and considered it an influence on his own early work as a...
(1957)
- Sweet Smell of Success
Sweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American film noir made by Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman...
(1957)
- The Midnight Story
The Midnight Story is a 1957 film noir about a traffic cop who becomes obsessed with finding the murderer of a beloved priest. He becomes friendly with the family of his main suspect, resulting in emotional complications.-Cast:*Tony Curtis as Joe Martini...
(1957)
- The Vikings
The Vikings is an adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer in 1958 Technicolor, produced by and starring Kirk Douglas, and based on the novel The Viking by Edison Marshall, based in its turn on legendary material from the sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons. Other actors included Tony Curtis,...
(1958)
- Kings Go Forth
Kings Go Forth is a 1958 black-and-white World War II film starring Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood. The screenplay was written by Merle Miller from the novel of the same name by Joe David Brown, and the film was directed by Delmer Daves...
(1958)
- The Defiant Ones
The Defiant Ones is a 1958 drama film which tells the story of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive. It stars Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Cara Williams, Charles McGraw, and Lon Chaney, Jr...
(1958)
- The Perfect Furlough
The Perfect Furlough is a 1958 romantic comedy by Blake Edwards. The service comedy was written by Stanley Shapiro. Edwards and Shapiro would re-team the following year for another Tony Curtis service comedy, Operation Petticoat.-External links:...
(1958)
- Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
(1959)
- Operation Petticoat
Operation Petticoat is a 1959 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. It was the basis for a television series in 1977 starring John Astin in Grant's role...
(1959)
- Who Was That Lady?
Who Was That Lady? is a 1960 comedy film starring Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, and Janet Leigh. The movie was made by Ansark-Sidney, distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by George Sidney, and produced by Norman Krasna, who also wrote the screenplay based on his successful Broadway play Who Was...
(1960)
- The Rat Race
The Rat Race is a 1960 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.- Plot :...
(1960)
- Spartacus (1960)
- Pepe
Pepe is a 1960 film starring Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno in the title role, directed by George Sidney. A multitude of cameo appearances attempted to replicate the success of Mario Moreno's American debut, notably Around the World in Eighty Days, produced by Mike Todd in 1956.The film failed to...
(1960) (cameo)
- The Great Impostor
The Great Impostor is a 1961 movie based on the true story of an impostor named Ferdinand Waldo Demara.Loosely based on Robert Crichton's 1959 biography of the same name, it stars Tony Curtis in the title role, directed by Robert Mulligan....
(1961)
- The Outsider
The Outsider is a 1961 biopic film about Ira Hayes, who was a Native American who fought in World War II in the United States Marine Corps and was one of the Marines who Raised the Flag on Iwo Jima. The film stars Tony Curtis as Hayes.-Cast:*Tony Curtis...
(1961), as Ira HayesIra Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American and an American Marine who was one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona, and enlisted in the Marine...
- Taras Bulba
Taras Bulba is a 1962 film loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's short novel, Taras Bulba, starring Yul Brynner in the title role, and Tony Curtis as his son, Andrei, leaders of a Cossack clan on the Ukrainian steppes. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson...
(1962)
- 40 Pounds of Trouble
40 Pounds of Trouble is a 1962 film directed by Norman Jewison that marks his directorial debut. The film was shot on location at Disneyland and Lake Tahoe. It is a retelling of Damon Runyon's story Little Miss Marker.-Principal cast:...
(1962)
- The List of Adrian Messenger
The List of Adrian Messenger is a 1963 black and white crime thriller about a retired British intelligence officer investigating a series of apparently unrelated deaths. It is directed by acclaimed film director John Huston...
(1963) (cameo)
- Captain Newman, M.D.
Captain Newman, M.D. is a 1963 film starring Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Eddie Albert and Bobby Darin. It was directed by David Miller and filmed on location at Fort Huachuca, Arizona....
(1963)
- Paris, When It Sizzles
Paris When It Sizzles is a 1964 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Quine and produced by Quine and George Axelrod. The screenplay is by George Axelrod based on the story and film Holiday for Henrietta by Julien Duvivier and Henri Jeanson. The music score is by Nelson Riddle, the...
(1964) (cameo)
- Wild and Wonderful (1964)
- Goodbye Charlie
Goodbye Charlie is a 1964 comedy film about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's play Goodbye, Charlie and starred Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis...
(1964)
- Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
- The Great Race
The Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
(1965)
- Boeing Boeing (1965)
- The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
(1965) (voice)
- Chamber of Horrors (1966) (cameo)
- Not with My Wife, You Don't!
Not with My Wife, You Don't! is a 1966 comedy film starred by Tony Curtis, Virna Lisi and George C. Scott. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy....
(1966)
- Arrivederci, Baby! (1966)
- Don't Make Waves
Don't Make Waves is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sex farce which starred Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale, Dave Draper and Sharon Tate...
(1967)
- On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1968)
- Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin...
(1968) (voice)
- The Boston Strangler
The Boston Strangler is a 1968 film based on the true story of the Boston Strangler and the book by Gerold Frank. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, and Henry Fonda as John S...
(1968)
- Monte Carlo or Bust
Monte Carlo or Bust is a 1969 comedy film. The story is based on the Monte Carlo Rally - first raced in 1911 - and the film recalls this general era, set in the 1920s. The film is a British/French/Italian co-production, and was released in the United States under the title Those Daring Young Men in...
(1969)
- You Can't Win 'Em All
You Can't Win 'Em All is a 1970 war film, written by Leo Gordon and directed by Peter Collinson, starring Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson as two American soldiers in 1922 Turkey who protect the three daughters of a Turkish governor while thwarting an Turkish army colonel's attempt to take gold on...
(1970)
- Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970)
- The Persuaders!
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
(1971–1972)
- Mission: Monte Carlo (1974)
- Lepke (1975)
- The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte-Cristo is a 1975 television film produced by ITC Entertainment and based upon the book The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, père...
(1975)
- London Conspiracy (1976)
- The Last Tycoon
The Last Tycoon is a 1976 American dramatic film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Sam Spiegel, based upon Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, sometimes known as The Love of the Last Tycoon. It stars Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack...
(1976)
- Casanova & Co.
Casanova & Co. is a 1977 erotic comedy film starring Tony Curtis. It has many titles during its international release. These are Casanova & Company , Casanova - sänkykamarivaras , Enas trellos, poly trellos Kazanovas , ilfe, ich bin eine männliche Jungfrau , Sex on the Run , Some Like It Cool ,...
(1977)
- Sextette
Sextette is a 1978 Crown International Pictures comedy/musical motion picture that starred Mae West. Other actors in the cast included Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, George Hamilton, Alice Cooper and Walter Pidgeon....
(1978)
- The Manitou
The Manitou is an American horror movie from 1978 with Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg, based on a 1975 book by Graham Masterton. The movie is based on an old legend about the Native American spirit-concept Manitou.-Plot:...
(1978)
- The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan is a 1978 film release by Paramount Pictures and was the sequel to The Bad News Bears and the sequel to The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. It stars Tony Curtis, Jackie Earle Haley, and Regis Philbin...
(1978)
- The Users
The Users is a 1978 television film directed by Joseph Hardy. The film, whose executive producer was Aaron Spelling, is based on a Joyce Haber novel released in the same year...
(1978)
- Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
Out of the Blue: Live at WembleyOut of the Blue: Live at Wembley is a concert film by The Electric Light Orchestra.In 1978 the band played the Wembley Arena for a record eight appearances...
(1978)
- Double Take
Double take may refer to:*Double Take , an Australian sketch comedy*Double Take , a 1998 thriller*Double Take , a 2001 comedy*"Double Take" , a Code Lyoko episode...
(1979)
- Title Shot (1979)
- Little Miss Marker
Little Miss Marker is a 1934 American drama film directed by Alexander Hall. The screenplay was written by William R. Lipman, Sam Hellman, and Gladys Hellman after a short story by Damon Runyon. The film stars Shirley Temple, Adolphe Menjou, and Dorothy Dell in a story about a little girl held...
(1980)
- It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980)
- The Mirror Crack'd
The Mirror Crack'd is a 1980 film British mystery film based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side...
(1980)
- Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980)
- Othello, the Black Commando (1982)
- Where Is Parsifal?
Where is Parsifal? is a 1983 British comedy film directed by Henri Helman. It was released in France on April 13, 1988. The cast includes Tony Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Erik Estrada, and Orson Welles. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival...
(1983)
- BrainWaves (1983)
- The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal is a documentary film about Academy Award winning producer/director George Pal. It was written, directed, and produced by Arnold Leibovit and released in 1985....
(1985) (documentary)
- Club Life (1985)
- Insignificance
Insignificance is a 1985 motion picture drama/comedy directed by Nicolas Roeg, produced by Jeremy Thomas and Alexander Stuart, and adapted by Terry Johnson from his play of the same name. The film is set in 1954, with most of the action taking place in a hotel room in New York City...
(1985)
- The Last of Philip Banter (1986)
- Murder in Three Acts
Murder in Three Acts is a 1986 British-American television film produced by Warner Bros. Television, featuring Peter Ustinov as Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot...
(1986)
- Balboa (1986)
- The Passenger - Welcome to Germany
The Passenger - Welcome to Germany is a 1988 German drama film directed by Thomas Brasch. It was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Tony Curtis - Mr...
(1988)
- Lobster Man From Mars
Lobster Man From Mars is a 1989 comedy film directed by Stanley Sheff and starring Tony Curtis. The film is a spoof of B-movies of the 1950s. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 1989.-Plot:...
(1989)
- Midnight (1989)
- Tarzan in Manhattan
Tarzan in Manhattan is an action adventure CBS television movie. Joe Lara portrays Tarzan, and Kim Crosby appears as Jane Porter. Tony Curtis and Jan Michael Vincent co-star. The telefilm was produced by Max A. Keller, Micheline H...
(1989)
- Walter & Carlo In America (1989)
- Prime Target (1991)
- Center of the Web (1992)
- Christmas in Connecticut (1992) (Yardley/John)
- Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time (1992) (documentary)
- Naked in New York
Naked in New York is a 1993 romantic drama film starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Louise Parker, Ralph Macchio, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, and Kathleen Turner, and featuring multiple celebrity cameos, including William Styron listing all of his authored, penned and film work, Whoopi...
(1993)
- The Mummy Lives (1993)
- A Century of Cinema
A Century of Cinema is a 1994 documentary directed by Caroline Thomas about the art of filmmaking , containing numerous interviews with some of the most influential film personalities of the 20th century....
(1994) (documentary)
- The Immortals (1995)
- The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, and on previous lecture and film clip presentations given in person by Russo 1972–82.Russo researched the...
(1995) (documentary)
- Roseanne
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
- TV Series (1996) (role as Hal, ballroom dance studio instructor)
- Hardball (1997)
- Brittle Glory (1997)
- Elvis Meets Nixon
Elvis Meets Nixon is a 1997 film purporting to tell the true story of Elvis Presley meeting then President Richard Nixon on December 21, 1970.- Plot :...
(1997)
- Alien X Factor (1997)
- Stargames
Created by Jerry Solomon in 1994, StarGames, LLC is a sports marketing, management and entertainment company based outside of Boston, Massachusetts....
(1998)
- Louis & Frank (1998)
- Play It to the Bone
Play It to the Bone is a 1999 sports/comedy-drama film, starring Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson, written and directed by Ron Shelton....
(1999) (cameo)
- Reflections of Evil (2002) (narrator)
- Where's Marty? (2006)
- The Blacksmith and the Carpenter (2007) (voice)
- David & Fatima
David & Fatima is a 2008 drama film about a Palestinian woman and Israeli man from Jerusalem who fall in love. The film is a retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, and was directed by Alain Zaloum, and stars Cameron Van Hoy, Danielle Pollack, Merik Tadros, Anthony Batarse, Ismail...
(2008)
- The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
This 2008 feature-length documentary directed by Ian Ayres, is about Tony Curtis and his wife and their efforts to rescue horses from slaughterhouses. A camera crew follows Jill and Tony Curtis as they take in horses that would have been inhumanely killed and sent overseas as food for humans...
(2008) (documentary feature)
External links