Tony Curtis
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
208
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
Bambi
The View
The Flintstones
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
The Dick Cavett Show
Sacrée Soirée
Dinah!
Wetten, dass..?
What's My Line?
Vega$
Hope & Faith
The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show
The Oscars
The Persuaders!
The Ed Sullivan Show
This Is Your Life
Goldene Kamera
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Spartacus
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Some Like It Hot
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Roseanne
The UnXplained
Hollywood Legenden
Rosemary's Baby
The Count of Monte-Cristo
Prime Target
Balboa
The Switch
Winchester '73
Sextette
BrainWaves
Trapeze
Francis
The Prince Who Was a Thief
Goodbye Charlie
Kansas Raiders
V.I.P. Schaukel
The Great Race
Suddenly Susan
Insignificance
Half Nelson
Boeing, Boeing
The Persuaders!
Title Shot
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
Taras Bulba
The Manitou
The Outsider
Johnny Dark
Bracken's World
Rat Pack
Arrivederci, Baby!
Casanova & Co.
Paris When It Sizzles
Matin Bonheur
The Masqueraders
Murder in Three Acts
Mister Cory
Please Turn the Page
Mafia Princess
Pepe
The Mirror Crack'd
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
The Immortals
Sierra
Talking Pictures
Club Life
Beachhead
The Mrs Merton Show
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
The Vikings
Monte Carlo or Bust!
City Across the River
Operation Petticoat
Christmas in Connecticut
The Defiant Ones
Sweet Smell of Success
The List of Adrian Messenger
The Boston Strangler
The Last Tycoon
A Star Is Born World Premiere
The Perfect Furlough
The Dame Edna Experience
Houdini
Tarzan in Manhattan
Black Commando
On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
Sex and the Single Girl
Don't Make Waves
Forbidden
Sporting Chance
The Great Impostor
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
The Celluloid Closet
The Midnight Story
Woman in Hiding
40 Pounds of Trouble
Lepke
The Hollywood Greats
Lobster Man from Mars
Kings Go Forth
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
Flesh and Fury
Play It to the Bone
Naked in New York
The Purple Mask
Captain Newman, M.D.
Six Bridges to Cross
Un film et son époque
Louis & Frank
The Black Shield of Falworth
The Mummy Lives
Allen in Movieland
Who Was That Lady?
Banter
From Roger Moore with Love
Meet Danny Wilson
Tony Curtis erzählt...
The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man
Son of Ali Baba
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten
Where Is Parsifal?
No Room for the Groom
Chamber of Horrors
Shrink Rap
Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball
So This Is Paris
Elvis Meets Nixon
Center of the Web
Magic with the Stars
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
A Century of Cinema
Marilyn Monroe, La Célébrité à tout prix
Inmates: A Love Story
Rescued from the Closet
The Passenger – Welcome to Germany
Little Miss Marker
Norman Jewison, Film Maker
The Million Dollar Face
Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit
The Rawhide Years
Sparky's Magic Piano
The Square Jungle
The Rat Race
The Lady Gambles
Midnight
You Can't Win 'Em All
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
I Was a Shoplifter
This Morning
Reflections of Evil
The Scarlett O'Hara War
Wild and Wonderful
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Portrait of a Showgirl
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
It Rained All Night the Day I Left
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
The All American
Johnny Stool Pigeon
Hugh Hefner: American Playboy
That's Insignificance
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
The Rosemary Clooney Show
The Third Girl from the Left
McCoy
Criss Cross
The Last Appointment!
People, Hopes, Medals
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté
Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration
Walter and Carlo in America
The Users
The World's Most Beautiful Girls
Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Mission: Monte Carlo
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time
Stargames
Death Becomes Me
David & Fatima
Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
London Conspiracy
Thanksgiving Day
Come Back Little Shiksa
Nightmare
The Re-Inforcer
Fairfax Avenue
An Eye for an Eye
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
