Tony Curtis: biography, personal life, roles and films, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Tony Curtis is an American actor, singer and producer. He is best known to the general public for his roles in the films Only Girls in Jazz, The Sweet Smell of Success, The Great Race, Spartacus, and Vikings. Oscar nominee for Best Actor. In total, he participated in one hundred and thirty television and feature projects throughout his career.

Childhood and youth

Tony Curtis was born June 3, 1925 in New York. Real name - Bernard Schwartz. The actor's parents are Jews who emigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Tony grew up in the Bronx under difficult circumstances. As he later stated in an interview, the mother often beat the children and behaved inappropriately, after which she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Tony and his brother Julian lived in an orphanage for a while as their parents couldn't feed their children. Julian died under the wheels of a car when Tony was still a child. The actor's other brother, Robert, washospitalized, later doctors determined that he also had schizophrenia.

As a child, Curtis joined one of the small gangs in the Bronx. One of the neighbors later enrolled the boy in a summer scout camp, after which he left the bad company. At the age of sixteen, he became interested in theater, participated in school plays.

Joined the army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, served as a submarine crew until the end of the war, personally watched the surrender of the Japanese army. After the war, Tony Curtis attended City College of New York and studied theater at The New School.

Career start

At twenty-three, the young actor arrived in Hollywood. Soon he was able to conclude a contract with one of the largest film studios in the country, Universal. Then he took on a pseudonym. According to the actor himself, Tony Curtis did not believe in his own success and came into the film business solely for the money and attention of girls.

In 1949 he appeared in small roles in several feature films. In subsequent years, Tony Curtis's filmography was replenished with roles in the comedy "Francis", the crime drama "I Was a Shoplifter" and the westerns "Sierra", "Winchester 73" and "Kansas Raiders".

First successes

In 1951, the actor appeared in the title role in the adventure film "The Prince Who Was a Thief". The film was a hit at the box office and convinced the studio of Curtis' appeal to audiences. The boxing drama Flesh and the Fury was released the following year.the romantic comedy No Room for a Groom; and the adventure film Ali Baba's Son. All three projects were successful.

In those days, the press and industry professionals believed that the secret of Tony Curtis's popularity was his attractive appearance, and especially the thick mop of black hair that became his trademark. According to legend, the studio received about ten thousand letters from fans every week, all of them asking for a lock of Curtis's hair.

Tony tried to prove he's a serious actor by starring in the drama Houdini. However, the film received mixed reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office. In subsequent years, he returned to his usual role, playing for several years a bank robber, a race car driver, a professional football player and participating in several adventure films. All of these films did well at the box office. Also in 1954, the list of Tony Curtis films was replenished with the first musical, he appeared in the film "This is Paris".

In 1956, the actor starred in the circus film Trapeze, where he worked with Hollywood star Burt Lancaster. The picture performed well at the box office, becoming one of the highest grossing films of the year.

International recognition

In 1957, Burt Lancaster asked Tony Curtis to play the title role in the film "Sweet Smell of Success", which he produced. The picture performed poorly at the box office, but Curtis received positive reviews for his work for the first time in his career.in press. The film later developed a cult following and is today featured on many lists of the best American films of all time.

A year later, another actor and producer Kirk Douglas invited Tony to his new project. Together they played in the historical drama Vikings, which became one of the biggest commercial hits of the year. Also in 1958, Tony Curtis in the military drama "Kings Go" with Frank Sinatra.

The actor also appeared in the drama Chained, where he played an escaped prisoner chained with a black man played by Sidney Poitier. The film raised extremely acute social issues and was a high-profile event in the world of cinema. Tony Curtis received his first and only Oscar nomination for this work.

In 1959, Tony played one of the main roles in Billy Wilder's comedy "Only Girls in Jazz". The film became a huge hit at the box office and won numerous prestigious awards. The actor also appeared in the successful military comedy Operation Petticoat.

In 1960, Curtis starred in the comedy "Mouse Race" and also worked with Douglas again on director Stanley Kubrick's epic "Spartacus." This work earned Tony a Golden Globe nomination.

After that, several major projects came out, where Tony Curtis for the first time in his career was the only star, without known screenpartners. The success of these pictures confirmed Tony's status. Also in 1962, he appeared in the film adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's story "Taras Bulba". In later years, he shifted his focus to comedic roles, occasionally appearing in more serious projects. For example, he played the title role in the 1968 drama The Boston Strangler, which became the first major role in recent years for an actor. Tony Curtis received critical acclaim for this performance.

The decline of popularity

In subsequent years, the actor began to appear less frequently in successful projects, more often appeared on television, playing in many popular TV series and television films. Also in the eighties, he became more actively involved in the visual arts, which in fact became his second career.

The actor himself stated that he was more interested in drawing than in movies. His works have been exhibited in the best museums in the country, and today the price of some of them reaches tens of thousands of dollars.

Recent years

Until the last days, the actor was actively involved in charity work and led a public life. In 2005, nude photos of Tony Curtis, who at that time was already over eighty years old, appeared in one of the famous publications about cinema and pop culture.

In 2006, the actor fell into a coma after complications from pneumonia and spent a month unconscious. After that, he could only move around in a wheelchair. However, in 2008 Tony Curtis published a successful memoir.

Death

In July 2010the actor was hospitalized after breathing problems and an asthma attack, and died two months later at home as a result of cardiac arrest. Curtis' breathing problems began due to smoking, despite the fact that he quit this habit back in the sixties. The actor also had problems with drugs and alcohol, as a result of which he was hospitalized and underwent treatment for addiction.

Private life

According to the actor's memoirs, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe met at a time when both were not yet known. The actor has also been married six times. The first wife was the Hollywood star Janet Leigh, with whom Curtis worked together more than once. From this marriage, Tony has two daughters, Kelly and Jamie Lee, both famous actresses.

The second wife was the German actress Christine Kaufman. The marriage produced two daughters. In 1968, Curtis divorced Kaufman and a few months later married Lesley Ann, with whom the actor has two sons.

Also from 1984 to 1992 Tony was married to Andrea Savio. The fifth wife was Lisa Deutsch, Curtis was married to her for less than a year. In 1998, he married Jill Vanderberg, who was forty-five years younger than the actor. The couple lived together until the death of Curtis.