Tony Curtis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tony Curtis
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Tony Curtis in 1958
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| Born |
Bernard Schwartz
June 3, 1925 New York City, U.S.
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| Died | September 29, 2010 (aged 85) Henderson, Nevada, U.S.
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| Resting place | Palm Memorial Park (Green Valley), Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Alma mater | The New School |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1948–2008 |
| Spouse(s) |
Leslie Allen
(m. 1968; div. 1982)Andrea Savio
(m. 1984; div. 1992)Lisa Deutsch
(m. 1993; div. 1994)Jill Vandenberg
(m. 1998) |
| Children | 6, including Kelly, Jamie Lee, and Allegra Curtis |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/ |
 United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank |  Signalman 3rd Class |
| Unit | USS Proteus (AS-19) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |  American Campaign Medal Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal |
Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was a famous American actor. His career lasted for six decades. He was most popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. Tony Curtis acted in over 100 movies, playing many different kinds of characters. Later in his life, he also appeared on television often.
He first became known as a serious actor in the movie Sweet Smell of Success (1957). He starred alongside Burt Lancaster. The next year, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Defiant Ones (1958). In this film, he acted with Sidney Poitier. After that, he made popular comedies like Some Like It Hot and Operation Petticoat in 1959. In 1960, Curtis had a supporting role in the big historical drama Spartacus.
After 1960, his movie career was not as strong. His most important serious role came in 1968. He starred in the true-life drama The Boston Strangler. Curtis also played a Ukrainian Cossack named Andrei in the historical action movie Taras Bulba in 1962. He also starred in the TV series The Persuaders! as American millionaire Danny Wilde. This show had twenty-four episodes.
Tony Curtis was the father of actresses Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis. Their mother was his first wife, actress Janet Leigh. He also had two other daughters, Allegra Curtis and Alexandra Curtis, with his second wife Christine Kaufmann.
Contents
Early Life and Challenges
Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925. He was born in Manhattan, New York City. He was the first of three boys born to Helen and Emanuel Schwartz. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Hungary. His father was a tailor, and the family lived behind their shop. Tony spoke only Hungarian until he was six years old.
When Tony was eight, he and his brother Julius lived in an orphanage for a month. Their parents could not afford to feed them. Four years later, Julius was sadly hit and killed by a truck. Tony joined a neighborhood group that often skipped school. When he was 11, a kind neighbor helped him. They sent him to a Boy Scout camp. This helped him focus his energy and settle down. He went to Seward Park High School. At 16, he had his first small acting part in a school play.
Military Service in World War II
Curtis joined the United States Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was inspired by war movies he had seen. He served on a submarine tender ship, the USS Proteus. He served until the end of the Second World War. On September 2, 1945, Curtis saw the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. He watched from his ship.
After leaving the Navy, Curtis went to City College of New York. He then studied acting at The New School in Greenwich Village. He learned from a famous German director, Erwin Piscator. Other students there included Harry Belafonte and Walter Matthau. While still in college, a talent agent named Joyce Selznick discovered him. She was the niece of film producer David O. Selznick.
Becoming a Star Actor
In 1948, Tony Curtis moved to Hollywood when he was 23. He wrote in his book that he met Jack L. Warner on the plane. He also briefly dated Marilyn Monroe before they were famous.
Starting at Universal Studios
He signed a contract with Universal Pictures. He changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Anthony Curtis. He met other new actors like Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie. His first name came from a novel, Anthony Adverse. "Curtis" came from a family name on his mother's side. Universal Pictures taught him fencing and riding. Curtis later said he was mostly interested in girls and money at first. He didn't think he would become a big star.
Curtis first appeared in the movie Criss Cross (1949). He played a rumba dancer. He danced with Yvonne De Carlo. The main actor was Burt Lancaster, who would make many films with Curtis. In his second movie, City Across the River (1949), he was called "Anthony Curtis." He had small parts in other films like The Lady Gambles (1949) and Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949). He was also in Francis (1950) and Winchester '73 (1950). In 1951, he started being called "Tony Curtis."
Rising to Fame
Tony Curtis started getting many fan letters. So, Universal gave him the main role in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951). It was an adventure movie set in the Middle East with Piper Laurie. The movie was a success, and Curtis became a recognized actor.
He then starred in Flesh and Fury (1952), a boxing movie. He also made No Room for the Groom (1952), a comedy with Piper Laurie. Then came Son of Ali Baba (1952), another Middle Eastern adventure.
Curtis then starred with his wife, Janet Leigh, in Houdini (1953). Curtis played the famous magician Harry Houdini. His next movies included All American (1953), where he played a football player. He also made The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), a medieval adventure with Janet Leigh. These movies did fairly well, and Tony Curtis became more popular.
He starred in the musical So This Is Paris (1955). He also appeared in Six Bridges to Cross (1955) as a bank robber.
Becoming a Major Star
Curtis moved on to bigger projects. He co-starred with Burt Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida in Trapeze (1956). This movie was one of the biggest hits of that year. Curtis and Leigh also started their own movie company, Curtleigh Productions, in 1955.
Curtis made a Western called The Rawhide Years (1957). He played a gambler in Mister Cory (1957). Burt Lancaster asked him to play Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957). This movie was not a big box office success, but Curtis received amazing reviews for his acting.
Curtis starred with Kirk Douglas and Janet Leigh in The Vikings (1958), which was a big hit. Curtis then acted with Frank Sinatra in the war movie Kings Go Forth (1958). After that, he co-starred in The Defiant Ones (1958). He played a white escaped prisoner chained to a Black man, played by Sidney Poitier. Curtis was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for this role.
Curtis and Janet Leigh then starred in The Perfect Furlough (1958). He later co-starred with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot. He also starred with Cary Grant in Operation Petticoat (1959).
Curtis and Janet Leigh made one more movie together, Who Was That Lady? (1960). He then starred with Debbie Reynolds in The Rat Race (1960). He had a supporting role in Spartacus (1960). He also made two movies about real people: The Great Impostor (1961) and The Outsider (1961). He returned to epic films with Taras Bulba (1962). He starred with Yul Brynner and Christine Kaufmann, who later became his second wife.
Focus on Comedies
In 1961, Tony Curtis started a new film company called Curtis Enterprises. This company made 40 Pounds of Trouble. It was the first movie ever filmed at Disneyland. In 1962, he started another company, Reynard Productions.
Curtis had a small role in The List of Adrian Messenger (1963). He supported Gregory Peck in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963). He and Christine Kaufmann made their third movie together, the comedy Wild and Wonderful (1964). He continued to focus on comedies like Goodbye Charlie (1964) with Debbie Reynolds. He also starred in The Great Race (1965), which was a very expensive but popular comedy. He was a voice actor on The Flintstones as "Stoney Curtis" in the early 1960s.
Later Career and New Interests
After a series of comedies that didn't do well, Curtis took a pay cut. He wanted to play the main role in The Boston Strangler (1968). This was his first serious movie in years. Critics and the public loved his performance. He then returned to comedy for Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969), a car race film.
He made some adventure comedies like You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) with Charles Bronson. Curtis then decided to work in television. He co-starred with Roger Moore in the TV series The Persuaders! (1971).
He played a villain in The Count of Monte Cristo (1975). He also had the main role in the gangster film Lepke (1975). Curtis had the lead in a TV series called McCoy (1975–76), but it didn't last long. He was one of many stars in The Last Tycoon (1976). Later, Curtis co-starred as a casino owner in the TV series Vega$ (1978-1981).
Continuing to Act and Paint
Curtis supported Mae West in Sextette (1978). He also starred in the horror film The Manitou (1978). He had good roles in Little Miss Marker (1980). He was one of many stars in The Mirror Crack'd (1980). On television, Curtis continued to make guest appearances until the mid-2000s. His last TV series was hosting "Hollywood Babylon" (1992–1993). In each episode, Curtis shared stories from his own career.
In 2002, Curtis was part of a national tour of Some Like it Hot, a musical based on his famous film. Curtis played a supporting role.
Throughout his life, Curtis loved painting. In the early 1980s, he started painting as a second career. In his later years, he focused more on painting than movies. He was a surrealist painter. Curtis said artists like Van Gogh and Picasso influenced him. In 2007, his painting The Red Table was shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Curtis was disappointed he never won an Oscar. In March 2006, he received the Sony Ericsson Empire Lifetime Achievement Award. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame from 1960. France also honored him with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995.
Family Life
Tony Curtis was married six times. His first wife was actress Janet Leigh. They were married from 1951 to 1962. They had two daughters, actresses Kelly and Jamie Lee. He said, "For a while, we were Hollywood's golden couple."
His studio, Universal-International, tried to stop them from getting married. They told him it would hurt his career. But Curtis and Leigh decided to get married anyway. They eloped in Greenwich, Connecticut. Their close friend, comedian Jerry Lewis, was a witness.
The couple divorced in 1962. The next year, Curtis married Christine Kaufmann. She was an 18-year-old German actress he starred with in Taras Bulba. Curtis and Kaufmann had two daughters, Alexandra and Allegra. They divorced in 1968.
On April 20, 1968, Curtis married Leslie Allen. They had two sons: Nicholas Bernard (born in 1970) and Benjamin Curtis (born in 1973). They divorced in 1982.
Curtis married Andrea Savio in 1984; they divorced in 1992. The next year, he married Lisa Deutsch. They divorced a year later in 1994. His sixth and last wife was Jill Vandenberg. They met in 1993 and married in 1998. She was 45 years younger than him.
In 1994, his son Nicholas died at the age of 23. Curtis said it was "a terrible thing when a father loses his son."
Giving Back to the Community
Starting in 1990, Tony Curtis and his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis became very interested in their family's Hungarian Jewish background. They helped pay to rebuild the Great Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary. This is the largest synagogue in Europe today. It was built in 1859 and was damaged during World War II. In 1998, he also started the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture. He was its honorary chairman. This group works to fix and protect synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. It also honors the 600,000 Jewish people who died in the Holocaust in Hungary. Curtis also helped promote Hungary's image in commercials.
Books and Public Appearances
In 1965, Tony Curtis was drawn as a cartoon character in an episode of The Flintstones. He also did the voice for his character, Stoney Curtis. In 1994, a painting of him was put up on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. His face is also on the cover of The Beatles' album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Also in 1994, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation gave him the Lone Sailor Award. This was for his service in the Navy and his acting career. In 2004, he was added to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Hall of Fame. A street in his adopted hometown, Henderson, Nevada, is named after him.
In 2008, he was in a documentary called The Jill & Tony Curtis Story. It was about his work with his wife to save horses from slaughterhouses.
In October 2008, Curtis's autobiography, American Prince: A Memoir, was published. In it, he wrote about meeting other Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra. He also wrote about his difficult childhood and how he became successful. He then published another book, The Making of Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie (2009). Curtis shared his memories of making the movie. He especially wrote about Marilyn Monroe, whose behavior on set made things difficult for everyone.
Health and Passing Away
In 1984, Curtis was taken to the hospital with a serious liver condition. He then went to the Betty Ford Clinic to get help. He had heart bypass surgery in 1994 after having a heart attack.
On July 8, 2010, Curtis was hospitalized in Las Vegas. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and had an asthma attack.
Tony Curtis passed away at his home in Henderson on September 29, 2010. He died from cardiac arrest. A few days before, he had a photo shoot and asked the photographer to "make me look like an icon just one more time." He left behind five children and seven grandchildren. His wife, Jill, told the press that Curtis had lung problems for years. This was because he used to smoke cigarettes, though he had quit about 30 years earlier.
His body was buried at Palm Memorial Park Cemetery in Henderson, Nevada, on October 4, 2010. His daughters Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis were there. Other famous people like Arnold Schwarzenegger also attended.
Images for kids
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Tony Curtis in 1958
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Tony Curtis in 1997
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Tony Curtis in 2009, signing his book American Prince
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Tony Curtis's last visit to Hawaii
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Tony Curtis in 2004
See also
In Spanish: Tony Curtis para niños
