Tony Curtis (Bronx, New York, USA, June 3, 1925 - Henderson, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, September 29, 2010)
Curtis is an American actor who had more than a hundred roles during six decades long career. He was at the peak of his popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. He was born as Bernard Herschel Schwartz, the oldest son of a family of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants, and grew up in the poor part of the Bronx. At the age of eighteen he joined the Navy. In 1945, he returned to New York and used the money he got from the Navy to enroll in acting school (Dramatic Workshop, part of the The New School also attended by Walter Matthau and Rod Steiger at the same time). He had his first bigger role in the theatre play Golden Boy in Greenwich Village. Through Joyce Selznick, a theatre agent who also happened to be Davidom O. Selznick’s niece, he got an interview with the famous film producer from Universal Pictures. Selznick recognized his talent and offered him a seven-year contract. In 1948, he moved to California and changed his name to Tony Curtis. He appeared in some low-budget productions and then had his debut on the big screen in the film Criss Cross (1949). Even though it was just a two-minute role and he was not even accredited, the audience’s reactions confirmed the studio’s decision to hire him. He had his first bigger role in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) starring opposite Piper Laurie. He then played a boxer in Flesh and Fury (1952) and then in two more films with Piper Laurie, comedy No Room for the Groom (1952) and the adventure drama Son of Ali Baba (1952). Even though he was under contract from Universal, Paramount hired him to star in Houdini (1953) as the famous magician. In the circus drama Trapeze (1956) by Carol Reed he starred opposite Burt Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida as a trapeze artist. He starred with Lancaster again in the noir film Sweet Smell of Success (1957). He played a Viking with Kirk Douglas in the historical drama The Vikings (1958). However, his most important role from that time was in Stanley Kramer’s The Defiant Ones (1958) for which he was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor alongside Sidney Poitier. His most famous role ever is the one in Billy Wilder’s comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), starring Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. He worked with his acting idol Cary Grant in Blake Edwards’ comedy Operation Petticoat (1959) and again starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the historical spectacle Spartacus (1960) by Stanley Kubrick. He had a leading role in Robert Mulligan’s The Great Impostor (1961), played an Indian in the war drama The Outsider (1961), and starred in the comedy Wild and Wonderful (1964), the last film he made for Universal. After that he mostly acted in comedies and starred in Sex and the Single Girl (1964) with Natalie Wood, Lauren Bacall and Henry Fonda; The Great Race (1965) once again directed by Blake Edwards; Boeing (707) Boeing (707) (1965) with Jerry Lewis. He took a break from comedies starring in the crime drama The Boston Strangler (1968) and got excellent reviews for his role as the murderer. Then he starred in three more comedies Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969), You Can\'t Win \'Em All (1970) and Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970). In the 1970s he starred in several feature films (The Last Tycoon (1976) by Elia Kazan), but concentrated more on TV films (The Scarlett O\'Hara War, 1980) and the series (The Persuaders!, 1971–1972) . He was also quite active in the 1980s (Insignificance, 1985; TV film Portrait of a Showgirl, 1982) and 1990s (mostly relatively well noticed B productions). His last role was in the film Morella, which is currently in postproduction. Besides working on his acting career he was a painter and later in his life devoted more time to paintings, collages and drawings. His daughters from his first marriage to Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis, are also actresses.
Filmography:
Morella (2011)
David & Fatima (2008)
The Blacksmith and the Carpenter (short film, voiceover) (2007)
Hope & Faith (TV series) (2004)
Reflections of Evil (2002)
Play It to the Bone (1999)
Louis & Frank (1998)
Suddenly Susan (TV series) (1998)
Stargames (1998)
Hardball (1997)
Brittle Glory (1997)
Roseanne (TV series) (1996)
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TV series) (1996)
The Immortals (1995)
A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor (TV film) (1994)
Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (TV film) (1994)
Naked in New York (1993)
The Mummy Lives (1993)
Hollywood Babylon (TV series) (1992)
Center of the Web (1992)
Christmas in Connecticut (TV film) (1992)
Hollywood Babylon II (documentary, narrator) (1992)
Prime Target (1991)
Thanksgiving Day (TV film) (1990)
Walter & Carlo and America (1989)
Midnight (1989)
Tarzan in Manhattan (TV film) (1989)
Lobster Man from Mars (1989)
Charlie (TV film) (1989)
Der Passagier - Welcome to Germany (1988)
Sparky's Magic Piano (animated, voiceover) (1987)
Murder in Three Acts (TV film) (1986)
Banter (1986)
Club Life (1986)
Mafia Princess (TV film) (1986)
Balboa (1986)
Insignificance (1985)
BrainWaves (1983)
The Fall Guy (TV series) (1983)
Where Is Parsifal? (1983)
Portrait of a Showgirl (TV film) (1982)
Othello, el comando negro (1982)
The Million Dollar Face (TV film) (1981)
Vega$ (TV series) (1978-1981)
Inmates: A Love Story (TV film) (1981)
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980)
The Scarlett O'Hara War (TV film) (1980)
Little Miss Marker (1980)
Title Shot (1979)
The Users (TV film) (1978)
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
The Manitou (1978)
Sextette (1978)
Casanova & Co. (1977)
The Last Tycoon (1976)
McCoy (TV series) (1975-1976)
The Big Rip-Off (TV film) (1975)
Lepke (1975)
The Count of Monte-Cristo (TV film) (1975)
Shaft (TV series) (1973)
The Third Girl from the Left (TV film) (1973)
The Persuaders! (TV series) (1971-1972)
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970)
You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
Bracken's World (TV series) (1969) (cameo)
Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969)
The Boston Strangler (1968)
Rosemary's Baby (1968) (voiceover, unaccredited)
La cintura di castità (1968)
Don't Make Waves (1967)
Drop Dead Darling (1966)
Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966)
Chamber of Horrors (1966) (unaccredited)
Boeing (707) Boeing (707) (1965)
The Flintstones (TV series, voiceover) (1965)
The Great Race (1965)
Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
Goodbye Charlie (1964)
Wild and Wonderful (1964)
Paris When It Sizzles (1964) (unaccredited)
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) (cameo)
40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)
Taras Bulba (1962)
The Outsider (1961)
The Great Impostor (1961)
Spartacus (1960)
The Rat Race (1960)
Who Was That Lady? (1960)
Startime (TV series) (1960)
Operation Petticoat (1959)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
General Electric Theater (TV series) (1957-1959)
The Perfect Furlough (1958)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Kings Go Forth (1958)
The Vikings (1958)
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (TV series) (1958)
The Midnight Story (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Mister Cory (1957)
Trapeze (1956)
The Square Jungle (1955)
The Rawhide Years (1955)
The Purple Mask (1955)
So This Is Paris (1955)
Six Bridges to Cross (1955)
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
Red Skelton Revue (TV series) (1954) (cameo)
Johnny Dark (1954)
Beachhead (1954)
Forbidden (1953)
The All American (1953)
Houdini (1953)
Son of Ali Baba (1952)
No Room for the Groom (1952)
Flesh and Fury (1952)
The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
Kansas Raiders (1950)
Winchester '73 (1950)
Sierra (1950)
I Was a Shoplifter (1950)
Francis (1950)
Woman in Hiding (1950) (voiceover, unaccredited)
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
Criss Cross (1949) (unaccredited)
The Lady Gambles (1949)
City Across the River (1949)
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949)