Tony Curtis
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
213
Gender
Male
Birthday
1925-06-03
Day of death
2010-09-29 (85 years old)
Place of Birth
Bronx, New York, USA
Tony Curtis
Biography
Tony Curtis (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 over 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 1950's 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, in a completely different role, the comedy Some Like It Hot (1959). Thomson calls it an "outrageous film," and it was voted the number 1 funniest film in history from a survey done by the American Film Institute. 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. 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.
Known For
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Graham Norton Show
The View
The Dick Cavett Show
What's My Line?
Wetten, dass..?
Bambi
The Flintstones
Sacrée Soirée
The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show
The Oscars
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
People's Choice Awards
The Ed Sullivan Show
Goldene Kamera
BrainWaves
Vega$
The Persuaders!
Francis
Dinah!
Trapeze
Arrivederci, Baby!
Rat Pack
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Spartacus
Lepke
Beachhead
This Is Your Life
Some Like It Hot
Balboa
The Masqueraders
Club Life
I Was a Shoplifter
The UnXplained
Hope & Faith
Play It to the Bone
From Roger Moore with Love
Sporting Chance
Sextette
V.I.P. Schaukel
Rosemary's Baby
Chamber of Horrors
Son of Ali Baba
The Manitou
The Dame Edna Experience
Taras Bulba
Suddenly Susan
Insignificance
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Monte Carlo or Bust!
Banter
That's Insignificance
Forbidden
The Lady Gambles
The All American
Mafia Princess
Reflections of Evil
Please Turn the Page
Houdini
Flesh and Fury
Sex and the Single Girl
Little Miss Marker
Sierra
The Purple Mask
The Vikings
Portrait of a Showgirl
Operation Petticoat
The Rat Race
Roseanne
The Count of Monte-Cristo
Talking Pictures
The Hollywood Greats
Where Is Parsifal?
Pepe
So This Is Paris
Naked in New York
Bracken's World
The Mrs Merton Show
David & Fatima
The Rawhide Years
Sparky's Magic Piano
Shrink Rap
The Mirror Crack'd
The Great Race
Un film et son époque
Mister Cory
Winchester '73
Magic with the Stars
Matin Bonheur
The Boston Strangler
Paris When It Sizzles
The Celluloid Closet
Sweet Smell of Success
Hugh Hefner: American Playboy
Kansas Raiders
Nightmare
Half Nelson
This Morning
The Defiant Ones
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
The Last Appointment!
Criss Cross
Don't Make Waves
Fairfax Avenue
The Black Shield of Falworth
The Last Tycoon
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
Boeing, Boeing
Murder in Three Acts
The Great Impostor
Walter and Carlo in America
The Prince Who Was a Thief
The Rosemary Clooney Show
Captain Newman, M.D.
People, Hopes, Medals
The List of Adrian Messenger
You Can't Win 'Em All
Tarzan in Manhattan
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Elvis Meets Nixon
On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
McCoy
Rescued from the Closet
The Perfect Furlough
A Century of Cinema
Goodbye Charlie
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Kings Go Forth
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
The Immortals
Allen in Movieland
The Mummy Lives
Six Bridges to Cross
The Persuaders!
Pictures of Ghosts
Casanova & Co.
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Hollywood Legenden
Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball
Who Was That Lady?
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
Woman in Hiding
London Conspiracy
The Users
Prime Target
Inmates: A Love Story
Stargames
Mission: Monte Carlo
The Million Dollar Face
The Re-Inforcer
No Room for the Groom
The Scarlett O'Hara War
Center of the Web
Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration
Johnny Dark
Come Back Little Shiksa
Christmas in Connecticut
The Outsider
Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten
Title Shot
Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Johnny Stool Pigeon
The Midnight Story
40 Pounds of Trouble
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
The Third Girl from the Left
Midnight
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
The Passenger – Welcome to Germany
The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Wild and Wonderful
It Rained All Night the Day I Left
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time
The Switch
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
An Eye for an Eye
Black Commando
Meet Danny Wilson
The Square Jungle
City Across the River
Death Becomes Me
Tony Curtis erzählt...
Thanksgiving Day
Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'
Norman Jewison, Film Maker
Lobster Man from Mars
Louis & Frank
Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever
The World's Most Beautiful Girls
Marilyn Monroe, La Célébrité à tout prix
Hollywood sul Tevere
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
