Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 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 1950s 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 Houdini (1953) with his wife Janet Leigh, "his first clear success," notes critic David Thomson, his acting had progressed immensely.

He won his first serious recognition as a skilled dramatic actor in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with co-star Burt Lancaster. The following year he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in another drama, The Defiant Ones (1958). Curtis then gave what many believe was his best acting, three interrelated roles in the comedy Some Like It Hot (1959). Thomson calls it an "outrageous film," and a survey carried out by the American Film Institute voted it the funniest American film ever made. It costarred Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe, and was directed by Billy Wilder. That was followed by Blake Edwards’ comedy Operation Petticoat (1959) with Cary Grant. They were both “frantic comedies,” and displayed "his impeccable comic timing." He often collaborated with Edwards on later films. In 1960, he co-starred in Spartacus, which became another major hit for him.

His most significant serious part came in 1968 when he starred in the true-life drama The Boston Strangler, 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 DeSalvo. 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 Curtis and Kelly Curtis by his first wife, actress Janet Leigh.

Filmography

• Criss Cross (1949)
• City Across the River (1949)
• The Lady Gambles (1949)
• Take One False Step (1949) (scenes deleted)
• Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
• How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949) (short subject)
• Woman in Hiding (1950)
• Francis (1950)
• I Was a Shoplifter (1950)
• Sierra (1950)
• Winchester '73 (1950) (Credited as Anthony Curtis)
• Kansas Raiders (1950)
• The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
• Meet Danny Wilson (1952) (cameo)
• Flesh and Fury (1952)
• No Room for the Groom (1952)
• Son of Ali Baba (1952)
• Houdini (1953)
• The All-American (1953)
• Forbidden (1953)
• Beachhead (1954)
• Johnny Dark (1954)
• The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
• Six Bridges to Cross (1955)
• So This Is Paris (1955)
• The Purple Mask (1955)
• The Rawhide Years (1955)
• The Square Jungle (1955)
• Trapeze (1956)
• Mister Cory (1957)
• Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
• The Midnight Story (1957)
• The Vikings (1958)
• Kings Go Forth (1958)
• The Defiant Ones (1958)
• The Perfect Furlough (1958)
• Some Like It Hot (1959)
• Operation Petticoat (1959)
• Who Was That Lady? (1960)
• The Rat Race (1960)
• Spartacus (1960)
• Pepe (1960) (cameo)
• The Great Impostor (1961)
• The Outsider (1961), as Ira Hayes
• Taras Bulba (1962)
• 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)
• The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) (cameo)
• Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
• Paris, When It Sizzles (1964) (cameo)
• Wild and Wonderful (1964)
• Goodbye Charlie (1964)
• Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
• The Great Race (1965)
• Boeing Boeing (1965)
• The Flintstones (1965) (voice)
• Chamber of Horrors (1966) (cameo)
• Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966)
• Arrivederci, Baby! (1966)
• Don't Make Waves (1967)
• On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1968)
• Rosemary's Baby (1968) (voice)

• The Boston Strangler (1968)
• Monte Carlo or Bust (1969)
• You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
• Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970)
• The Persuaders! (1971–1972)
• Mission: Monte Carlo (1974)
• Lepke (1975)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1975)
• London Conspiracy (1976)
• The Last Tycoon (1976)
• Casanova & Co. (1977)
• Sextette (1978)
• The Manitou (1978)
• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
• The Users (1978)
• Electric Light Orchestra Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley (1978)
• Double Take (1979)
• Title Shot (1979)
• Little Miss Marker (1980)
• It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980)
• The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
• Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980)
• Othello, the Black Commando (1982)
• Where Is Parsifal? (1983)
• BrainWaves (1983)
• The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985) (documentary)
• Club Life (1985)
• Insignificance (1985)
• The Last of Philip Banter (1986)
• Murder in Three Acts (1986)
• Balboa (1986)
• Mafia Princess (1986)
• The Passenger - Welcome to Germany (1988)
• Lobster Man From Mars (1989)
• Midnight (1989)
• Tarzan in Manhattan (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 (1993)
• The Mummy Lives (1993)
• A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
• The Immortals (1995)
• The Celluloid Closet (1995) (documentary)
• Roseanne - TV Series (1996) (role as Hal, ballroom dance studio instructor)
• Hardball (1997)
• Brittle Glory (1997)
• Elvis Meets Nixon (1997)
• Alien X Factor (1997)
• Stargames (1998)
• Louis & Frank (1998)
• Play It to the Bone (1999) (cameo)
• Reflections of Evil (2002) (narrator)
• Where's Marty? (2006)
• The Blacksmith and the Carpenter (2007) (voice)
• David & Fatima (2008)
• The Jill & Tony Curtis Story (2008) (documentary feature)
• Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom (2012) (documentary feature)