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Tony Curtis : Biography, Pictures, Photos, Trivia, Address, Filmography (The Persuaders !)

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Tony Curtis

Danny Wilde in The Persuaders !

Photos Tony Curtis Birth name: Bernard Schwartz
Birth date: 1925/06/03
Date of death : 2010/09/30 (85 years old)
Birth place : The Bronx, New York (USA)
Height: 1.75 m
Salary : Criss Cross (1949) : $75/semaine... The Boston Strangler (1968) : $30,000/semaine

French Traduire

Biography for Tony Curtis

Bernard Schwartz, better known as Tony Curtis, was born in the Bronx and started his career at the movies in 1949 coming from the theatre using at first James Curtis and later Anthony Curtis as names. He always tried to work in various genres in order to avoid being typecast. In the genre of comedy one has to mention e.g. Goodbye Charlie (1964) and at the adventures e.g. The Vikings (1958). That he is also able to play more complex and psychological roles he showed in The Boston Strangler (1968). Curtis also produced some movies and appeared after 1973 several times in different TV productions. His daughter Jamie Lee Curtis with his first wife Janet Leigh has followed her father successfully into the movie business.

The son of Hungarian immigrants, Tony Curtis embarks on the cinema after a visit to the Marines. Noticed in independent productions, he quickly was offered a contract by Universal Pictures. His beginnings in Gigolo in "For you, I killed" (1948) immediately attracted the attention of the public, especially female.

In 1951 he obtained his first big role in "The Thief of Tangier". That same year, he married actress Janet Leigh with whom he will have two daughters including Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly. The Hollywood image of the couple will contribute to the notoriety of the actor.

In the early 1950s, Tony Curtis alternated historical films ("Le Chevalier du Roi", "Le Cavalier au mask") and sports comedies. It was not until 1956 with his participation in "Trapeze", a big budget film with Burt Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida, that he obtained the recognition of his peers. His performance attracts the attention of great directors.

There is a decade of a decade where the actor is everywhere, in comedies as in dramas.

Besides these films, he runs in many light comedies, in which he likes to embody seducers.

In 1968, Tony Curtis put pressure on the Fox to interpret a schizophrenic serial-killers in "L'Etrangleur de Boston". Director Richard Fleischer trusts him and Tony Curtis performs his most noticed performance. However, he began to move away from the cinema from the 1970s for the benefit of television, where he will make an impression with the character of Danny Wilde.

In 1976, he participated in the film "The Last Nabab" by Elia Kazan, adapted from the latest novel by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. His role as an old fallen actor is his last big appearance on the screen. Since the 1980s, Tony Curtis alternates roles on television and in small films.

Tony Curtis was an American actor known for his roles in films such as The DESIDE ONES, Some Like It Hot, and Spartacus. He was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925 in New York. His family was of Hungarian origin and he grew up in the New York Lower East Side.

Curtis began his acting career in the 1950s and quickly gained popularity thanks to his charming and expressive performances. He played in many successful films during his career, especially in The Sweet Smell of Success of 1957, where he played the role of Sidney Falco, an ambitious manipulator. He also played in some Like It Hot of 1959, alongside Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon, in which he embodies a musician who disguises himself as a woman to escape gangsters.

In 1958, Curtis won the Golden Globe Award for best actor in a musical film or comedy for his role in The Prince Who Was A Thief. He was also nominated for an Oscar for this role.

During his career, Curtis worked with great directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Billy Wilder and Robert Aldrich. He also played in historical films such as Spartacus from 1960 and The Boston Strangler of 1968.

In addition to his film career, Curtis also published several books, including the Autobiography The Making of A Movie Star in 1991. He died on September 29, 2010 at the age of 85.

Photos

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Filmography

Title Role
Reflections of Evil (2002) Narrator
Louis & Frank (1998) Lenny Star Springer
Stargames (1998)
Elvis Meets Nixon (1997) (TV) (uncredited) Cameo appearance
Alien X Factor (1997) Dr. Lancaster
Brittle Glory (1997) Jack Steele
Hardball (1997) Wald
The Immortals (1995) Dominic
A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor (1994) (TV) Johnny Steele
Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (1994) (TV) Lucky Bergstrom
The Mummy Lives (1993) Aziru/Dr. Mohassid
Naked in New York (1993) Carl Fisher
Center of the Web (1992) Stephen Moore
Christmas in Connecticut (1992) (TV) Alexander Yardley
Prime Target (1991) Marietta Copella
Thanksgiving Day (1990) (TV) Max Schloss
Walter & Carlo i Amerika (1989) Willy La Rouge
Midnight (1989) Mr. B
Tarzan in Manhattan (1989) (TV) Archimedes Porter
Lobster Man from Mars (1989) J.P. Shelldrake
Charlie (1989) (TV) Special appearance by
Passagier - Welcome to Germany, Der (1988) Mr. Cornfield
Murder in Three Acts (1986) (TV) Charles Cartwright aka Edward W. Muggins
The Last of Philip Banter (1986) Charles Foster
Mafia Princess (1986) (TV) Sam (Salvatore) 'Momo' Giancana
Balboa (1986) Ernie Stoddard
Insignificance (1985) The Senator
Club Life (1985) Hector
BrainWaves (1983) Dr. Clavius
Where Is Parsifal? (1983) Parsifal Katzenellenbogen
Portrait of a Showgirl (1982) (TV) Joey DeLeon
Othello, el comando negro (1982) Col. Iago
The Million Dollar Face (1981) (TV) Chester Masterson
Inmates: A Love Story (1981) (TV) Flanagan
The Mirror Crack'd (1980) Martin N. Fenn
It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980) Robert Talbot
The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) (TV) David O. Selznick
Little Miss Marker (1980) Blackie
Title Shot (1979) Frank Renzetti
Double Take (1979) McCoy
Vega$ (1978) TV Series Philip Roth (1978-1981)
The Users (1978) (TV) Randy Brent
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) Marvin Lazar
The Manitou (1978) Harry Erskine
Vega$ (1978) (TV) (uncredited) Bernie Roth
Sextette (1978) Alexei Andreyev Karansky
Casanova & Co. (1977) Giacomo Casanova
The Last Tycoon (1976) Rodriguez
London Conspiracy (1976) Danny Wilde
Sporting Chance (1976) (TV) Daniel Wilde
McCoy (1975) TV Series McCoy (1975-76)
The Big Rip-Off (1975) (TV) McCoy
Lepke (1975) Louis 'Lepke' Buchalter
The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975) (TV) Fernand Mondego
Mission: Monte Carlo (1974) Danny Wilde
The Third Girl from the Left (1973) (TV) Joey Jordan
The Persuaders! (1971) TV Series Danny Wilde
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970) Shannon Gambroni
You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) Adam Dyer
Monte Carlo or Bust (1969) Chester Schofield
The Boston Strangler (1968) Albert DeSalvo
Rosemary's Baby (1968) (voice) (uncredited) Donald Baumgart
Cintura di castitĂ , La (1968) Guerrando da Montone
Don't Make Waves (1967) Carlo Cofield
Drop Dead Darling (1966) Nick Johnson
Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) Tom Ferris
Chamber of Horrors (1966) (uncredited) Mr. Julian (at Madame Corona's)
Boeing (707) Boeing (707) (1965) Bernard Lawrence
The Great Race (1965) Leslie 'The Great Leslie' Gallant III
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) Bob Weston
Goodbye Charlie (1964) George Wellington Tracy
Wild and Wonderful (1964) Terry Williams
Paris - When It Sizzles (1964) (uncredited) Maurice/Philippe, 2nd policeman
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) Cpl. Jackson 'Jake' Leibowitz
The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) Cameo
40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) Steve McCluskey
Taras Bulba (1962) Andrei Bulba
The Outsider (1961) Ira Hamilton Hayes
The Great Impostor (1961) Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. (as Martin Donner/Dr. Gilbert/Ben. W. Stone/Dr. Joseph Mornay/Robert Boyd Hammnd)
Pepe (1960) Cameo appearance
Spartacus (1960) Antoninus
The Rat Race (1960) Pete Hammond Jr.
Who Was That Lady? (1960) David Wilson
The Young Juggler (1960) (TV) The Juggler
Operation Petticoat (1959) Lt. Nicholas Holden
Some Like It Hot (1959) Joe/Josephine/Junior
The Perfect Furlough (1958) Cpl. Paul Hodges
The Defiant Ones (1958) John 'Joker' Jackson
Kings Go Forth (1958) Cpl. Britt Harris
The Vikings (1958) Eric
The Midnight Story (1957) Joe Martini
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Sidney Falco
Mister Cory (1957) Cory
Trapeze (1956) Tino Orsini
The Square Jungle (1955) Eddie Quaid/Packy Glennon
The Rawhide Years (1955) Ben Matthews
The Purple Mask (1955) Rene de Traviere/The Purple Mask
So This Is Paris (1955) Joe Maxwell
Six Bridges to Cross (1955) Jerry Florea
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) Myles Falworth
Johnny Dark (1954) Johnny Dark
Beachhead (1954) Burke
Forbidden (1953) Eddie Darrow
All American (1953) Nick Bonelli
Houdini (1953) Harry Houdini
Son of Ali Baba (1952) Kashma Baba
No Room for the Groom (1952) Alvah Morrell
Flesh and Fury (1952) Paul Callan
The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) Julna
Kansas Raiders (1950) Kit Dalton
Winchester '73 (1950) (as Anthony Curtis) Doan
Sierra (1950) (as Anthony Curtis) Brent Coulter
I Was a Shoplifter (1950) (as Anthony Curtis) Pepe
Francis (1950) (as Anthony Curtis) Capt. Jones
Woman in Hiding (1950) (uncredited) Voice of Dave Shaw
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) (as Anthony Curtis) Joey Hyatt
Take One False Step (1949) (scenes deleted) Hot Rod Driver
The Lady Gambles (1949) (as Anthony Curtis) Bellboy
City Across the River (1949) (as Anthony Curtis) Mitch
Criss Cross (1949) (uncredited) Gigolo
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949)

Trivia

He had heart bypass surgery in April 1994. One of his sons, Nicholas, died of seizures on July 2, 1994 due to an overdose of heroin.

Son of a tailor from Hungary, Curtis still speaks Hungarian.

Enjoys painting and creating "shadow boxes" of art objects.

Lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club

Suffers from fear of flying

He made a literary cameo in Matt Whyman's debut romantic comedy novel, 'Man or Mouse', in which the main character, Ren, e-mails Curtis with his love-life problems, and finally meets him briefly.

Was the inspiration for, and voice of, the character "Stoney Curtis" in "The Flintstones."

Since re-dubbing the bath scene in Spartacus (1960) with Anthony Hopkins, Curtis has said that whenever he encounters Hopkins, he hollers "Oh Tony... it's Antininus".

Has appeared in a musical based on Billy Wilder's "Some Like it Hot" (1959) in which he appears as millionaire Osgood Fielding III, originally assayed by Joe E. Brown on screen.

Is portrayed by Bruce Neckles in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980) (TV)

Family

Spouse : Jill Vandenberg (6 November 1998 - present), Lisa Deutsch (28 February 1993 - 1994) (divorced), Leslie Allen (20 April 1968 - 1982) (divorced) 2 children, Christine Kaufmann (8 February 1963 - 1967) (divorced) 2 children, Janet Leigh (4 June 1951 - June 1962) (divorced) 2 children.

Father of Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis.

Father of 'Allegra Kaufmann-Curtis' (with Christine Kaufmann).

His current wife, Jill Vandenberg, is 45 years younger than him.

He has two adopted sons.

Author of the card

  • Creation date: 01/07/2003 by misou
  • Last update: 01/05/2007 by Hanson

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