Tony Curtis (bornBernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles covering a wide range of genres. In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances.
His stardom and film career declined considerably after 1960. His most significant dramatic part came in 1968 when he starred in the true-life dramaThe Boston Strangler. Curtis also took on the role of theUkrainianCossack Andrei in the historical action romance epicTaras Bulba in 1962 and starred in theITC TV seriesThe Persuaders!, with Curtis playing American millionaire Danny Wilde. The series ran for twenty-four episodes.
Curtis married six times and fathered six children. He is the father of actressesKelly Curtis andJamie Lee Curtis with his first wife, actressJanet Leigh, and actressesAllegra Curtis and Alexandra Curtis with his second wifeChristine Kaufmann. He had two sons with his third wife Leslie Allen, one of whom predeceased him. From 1998 until his death, he was married to horse trainer Jill Vandenberg.
Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, at the Fifth Avenue Hospital corner of East 105th Street inEast Harlem, Manhattan, the first of three boys born to Helen (née Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz.[1][2]
His parents wereJewish emigrants fromHungary: his father was born inÓpályi, nearMátészalka, and his mother was a native ofMichalovce, Slovakia; she later said she arrived in the U.S. from Vaľkovo, Slovakia.[3] He spoke onlyHungarian until the age of six, delaying his schooling.[4] His father was a tailor and the family lived in the back of the shop. His mother was later diagnosed withschizophrenia. His youngest brother Robert wasinstitutionalized 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 truancy and minor pilfering. When Curtis was 11, a friendly neighbor saved him from what he felt would have led to a life ofdelinquency by sending him to aBoy Scout camp, where he was able to work off his energy and settle down. He attendedSeward Park High School. At 16, he had his first small acting part in a school stage play.[5]
Under contract atUniversal Pictures, he changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Anthony Curtis and met unknown actorsRock Hudson,James Best,Julie Adams andPiper Laurie.[9] The first name was from the novelAnthony Adverse and "Curtis" was from Kurtz, a surname in his mother's family.[10] Although Universal Pictures taught him fencing and riding, Curtis admitted he was initially only interested in girls and money—adding that he was pessimistic regarding his chances of becoming a major star. Curtis's biggest fear was having to return home to the Bronx as a failure:
I was a million-to-one shot, theleast likely to succeed. I wasn't low man on the totem pole, I wasunder the totem pole, in a sewer, tied to a sack.[5]
Curtis's uncredited screen debut came in the crime dramaCriss Cross (1949) playing arumba dancer, dancing withYvonne de Carlo. The male star wasBurt Lancaster who would make a number of films with Curtis.
Curtis was receiving numerous fan letters, so Universal gave him the starring role inThe Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), aswashbuckler set in the Middle East with Piper Laurie. It was a hit at the box office and Curtis was now established.[citation needed]
Curtis then starred with then-wifeJanet Leigh inHoudini (1953), in which Curtis played the title role. His next movies were more "B" fare:All American (1953), as a football player;Forbidden (1953), as a criminal;Beachhead (1954), a war film;Johnny Dark (1954), as a racing car driver; andThe Black Shield of Falworth (1954), a medieval swashbuckler with Leigh. They were moderately successful financially, and Curtis was growing in popularity.[citation needed]
Curtis made a Western,The Rawhide Years (1957), was a gambler inMister Cory (1957) and a cop inThe Midnight Story (1957). Lancaster asked for him again, to play scheming press agent Sidney Falco inSweet Smell of Success (1957), starring and co-produced by Lancaster. The film was a box office disappointment, but Curtis, for the first time in his career, received sensational reviews.
Because of the poor performance of a series of comedies, Curtis fired his agent and took a pay cut to $100,000 to play the title role inThe Boston Strangler (1968), his first dramatic film in several years.[22] Response from the critics and public was excellent. He returned to comedy forMonte Carlo or Bust! (1969), an all-star car race film in the vein ofThe Great Race.
He was one of the villains inThe Count of Monte Cristo (1975) and had the title role in the gangster filmLepke (1975). Curtis had the lead in a TV series that did not last,McCoy (1975–76). He was one of many names inThe Last Tycoon (1976) and had the title role in an Italian comedyCasanova & Co. (1977). Later, Curtis co-starred as a casino owner in theRobert Urich 1978–1981 ABC seriesVega$ and appeared in the 1978 movieThe Users.
Curtis supportedMae West inSextette (1978) and starred inThe Manitou (1978), a horror film, andThe Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), a comedy. He had good roles inIt Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980),Little Miss Marker (1980) andThe Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) and was one of many stars inThe Mirror Crack'd (1980). On ABC, he co-starred from 1978 to 1981 in prime time, as Las Vegas Desert Inn casino owner Philip (Slick) Roth, in 17 episodes of theAaron Spelling produced series hit series,Vega$. AfterVega$, on television, Curtis continued to make occasional guest appearances (sometimes playing fictional versions of himself) into the mid-2000s. His final TV series was as host of the documentary-retrospective seriesHollywood Babylon(adaptingKenneth Anger'sbook series) in 1992–1993; each episode would include Curtis recalling some anecdotes from his own career.In 2002, Curtis was in the national tour ofSome Like it Hot, a modified revival of the 1972 musicalSugar, itself based on the film in which he starred.[23] Curtis played the supporting role of Osgood Fielding.
Throughout his life, Curtis enjoyed painting and, beginning in the early 1980s, painted as a second career. In the last years of his life, he concentrated on painting rather than movies. Asurrealist, Curtis claimedVan Gogh,Matisse,Picasso, andMagritte as influences.[4] "I still make movies but I'm not that interested in them any more. But I paint all the time." In 2007, his paintingThe Red Table was on display in theMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His paintings can also be seen at the Tony Vanderploeg Gallery inCarmel, California.
Curtis was married six times.[25] His first wife was actressJanet Leigh, whom he married in 1951. The studio he was under contract with,Universal-International, generally stayed out of their stars' love lives. When he chose to get married, however, 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 defied the studio heads and eloped and were married by a local judge inGreenwich, Connecticut. Comedian and close friendJerry Lewis was present as a witness.[5]
The couple divorced in 1962. "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."[25][27]
The following year Curtis marriedChristine Kaufmann, the 18-year-old German co-star of his latest film,Taras Bulba. He stated that his marriage with Leigh had effectively ended "a year earlier".[4] Curtis and Kaufmann had two daughters, Alexandra (born July 19, 1964) andAllegra (born July 11, 1966). The couple divorced in 1968. After their divorce, Kaufmann resumed her career, which she had paused during their marriage.
On April 20, 1968, Curtis married Leslie Allen, with whom he had two sons -- Nicholas Bernard Curtis (December 31, 1970 – July 2, 1994)[28][29] and Benjamin Curtis (born May 2, 1973). The couple divorced in 1982.
Curtis married Andrea Savio in 1984; they divorced in 1992.[30]
The following year, on February 28, 1993, he married Lisa Deutsch. They divorced only a year later in 1994.
His sixth and last wife, Jill Vandenberg, was 45 years his junior. They met in a restaurant in 1993 and married on November 6, 1998.[30] "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 useViagra either. There are 50 ways to please your lover."[31]
On April 26, 1970, Curtis was arrested for marijuana possession atHeathrow Airport in London.[32]
According to thePittsburgh Post-Gazette, Curtis, who had a problem with alcoholism and drug abuse, went through the treatment center of theBetty Ford Clinic in the mid-1980s, which was successful for him.[30]
In 1994, his son Nicholas died of a heroinoverdose at the age of 23. After his son's death, Curtis remarked that it was "a terrible thing when a father loses his son."[33]
Beginning in 1990, Curtis and his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis took a renewed interest in their family's Hungarian Jewish heritage, and helped finance the rebuilding of theGreat Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary. The largest synagogue in Europe today, it was originally built in 1859 and suffered damage during World War II.[34] In 1998, he also founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, and served as honorary chairman. The organization works for the restoration and preservation of synagogues and the 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary and is dedicated to the 600,000 Jewish victims ofthe Holocaust inHungary and lands occupied by theRoyal Hungarian Army.[35] Curtis also helped promote Hungary's national image in commercials.[36]
Curtis in 2009, during a book-signing of his memoirAmerican Prince
In 1965, Tony Curtis was animated in an episode ofThe Flintstones; he also voiced his character Stoney Curtis.In 1994, a mural featuring his likeness, painted by the artist George Sportelli, was unveiled on theSunset Boulevard overpass of the Hollywood FreewayHighway 101 in Los Angeles. The mural was relocated to Hollywood Boulevard and Bronson Avenue in September 2011.[37] His face is featured among the celebrities on the cover of theSgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album byThe Beatles.
Also in 1994, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation awarded its Lone Sailor Award for his naval service and his subsequent acting career.
In 2005, Curtis was criticized after he stated that he would refuse to watchBrokeback Mountain. He additionally stated thatJohn Wayne would not have approved of a film about gay cowboys.[40]
In 2008, he was featured in the documentaryThe Jill & Tony Curtis Story about his efforts with his wife to rescue horses from slaughterhouses.[41]In October 2008, Curtis's autobiographyAmerican Prince: A Memoir, was published.[42] In it, he describes his encounters with other Hollywood legends of the time including Frank Sinatra andJames Dean, 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).[43] 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.
On May 22, 2009, Curtis apologized to theBBC radio audience after he used three profanities in a six-minute interview with BBC presenterWilliam 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.[44]
In 1974, Curtis developed a heavycocaine addiction while filmingLepke, at a time when his stardom had declined considerably and he was being offered few film roles.[45] In 1984, Curtis was rushed to the hospital suffering from advancedcirrhosis as a result of his alcoholism and cocaine addiction. He then entered theBetty Ford Clinic and vowed to overcome his various illnesses.[46] He underwentheart bypass surgery in 1994, after suffering a heart attack.[47]
Curtis died at his Henderson home on September 29, 2010, of cardiac arrest.[49][50][51][52] A few days beforehand, he had met photographer Andy Gotts for a photo-shoot at his home, saying: "I'm not in a good way at the moment but can I ask you one thing? Can you make me look like an icon just one more time?"[53] He left behind five children and seven grandchildren.[54] His widow Jill told the press that Curtis had suffered from various lung problems for years as a result of cigarette smoking, although he had quit smoking about 30 years earlier.[55] During the 1960s Curtis served as the president of the American 'I Quit Smoking' Club.[56] In a release to the Associated Press, his daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, said:
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.[57]
His remains were interred at Palm Memorial Park Cemetery in Henderson, Nevada, on October 4, 2010. The service was attended by daughters Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis; as well asArnold Schwarzenegger,Rich Little and Vera Goulet.[58][59] InvestorKirk Kerkorian, actorKirk Douglas, and singerPhyllis McGuire were among the honorarypallbearers. He was buried with a number of his favorite items, including a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, a copy of his favorite novel, and his iPhone.
Five months before his death he rewrote his will, naming all his children and intentionally disinheriting them with no explanation, then leaving his entire estate to his wife.[60][61]
^Curtis, Tony; Vieira, Mark A.The Making of Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie, John Wiley and Sons (2009)ISBN978-0-470-53721-3
Ayres, Ian, ed. (2006).Van Gogh's Ear. The Celebrity Edition Vol. 5. New York; Paris: The Committee on Poetry; French Connection Press. pp. 61–68.ISBN978-2-914853-07-1.OCLC1245894209. The book includes Tony Curtis's prose, poetry, and artwork.
