
Tony Curtis
Born June 3, 1925 · Bronx, New York, USA
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.
Movies

Sex and the Single Girl

Rosemary's Baby

Some Like It Hot

Spartacus

Operation Petticoat

The Vikings

The Great Race

Play It to the Bone

The Mirror Crack'd

The Count of Monte-Cristo

Sweet Smell of Success

Paris When It Sizzles

Captain Newman, M.D.

You Can't Win 'Em All

The Defiant Ones

Naked in New York

Son of Ali Baba

The Last Tycoon

Murder in Three Acts

Don't Make Waves

The Boston Strangler

The Prince Who Was a Thief

Criss Cross

The Black Shield of Falworth

Who Was That Lady?

From Roger Moore with Love

The List of Adrian Messenger

Six Bridges to Cross

Winchester '73

Taras Bulba

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

The Manitou

Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Boeing, Boeing
TV Shows

Sacrée soirée

What's My Line?

The Dick Cavett Show

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

The Flintstones

Wetten, dass..?

Bambi

Dinah!

The Oscars

The Steve Allen Show

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Colgate Comedy Hour

People's Choice Awards

Vega$

Hope & Faith

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

The Persuaders!

Startime

This Is Your Life

Suddenly Susan

The UnXplained

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

The Late Late Show

Talking Pictures

Roseanne

Bracken's World

Un film et son époque

Matin Bonheur

The Dame Edna Experience

Shrink Rap

This Morning

The Hollywood Greats

The Mrs Merton Show

General Electric Theater

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Dream Girl: The Making of Marilyn Monroe
More Movies

The Rat Race

The Fabulous Allan Carr

The Midnight Story

Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor

Rat Pack

Magic with the Stars

On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...

40 Pounds of Trouble

Houdini

Arrivederci, Baby!

The Scarlett O'Hara War

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

Trapeze

The Lady Gambles

Monte Carlo or Bust!

A Century of Cinema

No Room for the Groom

Not With My Wife, You Don't!

Rescued from the Closet

Little Miss Marker

Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball

Pepe

Insignificance

The Great Impostor

Portrait of a Showgirl

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

The Immortals

Roger Moore: A Matter of Class

The Purple Mask

Francis

The Celluloid Closet

Club Life

The Masqueraders

Kings Go Forth

Pictures of Ghosts

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

Goodbye Charlie

Morceaux de Cannes

The Perfect Furlough

Christmas in Connecticut

Hugh Hefner: American Playboy

I Was a Shoplifter

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom

A Star Is Born World Premiere

Elvis Meets Nixon

Marilyn at the Movies

Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit

The Outsider

Inmates: A Love Story

So This Is Paris

Sparky's Magic Piano

Half Nelson

Forbidden

Casanova & Co.

Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration

The Passenger – Welcome to Germany

Kansas Raiders

Chamber of Horrors

The Rawhide Years

David & Fatima

The Million Dollar Face

Lobster Man from Mars

The Third Girl from the Left

City Across the River

Walter and Carlo in America

The Legend of Marilyn Monroe

Woman in Hiding

Mission: Monte Carlo

Sierra

Johnny Stool Pigeon

Center of the Web

Banter

Sextette

Tarzan in Manhattan

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

Lepke

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

Mister Cory

Come Back Little Shiksa

Beachhead

The All American

Louis & Frank

Flesh and Fury

Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever

Jamie Lee Curtis: Hollywood Call of Freedom

Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot

It Rained All Night the Day I Left

BrainWaves

Where Is Parsifal?

The World's Most Beautiful Girls

The Square Jungle

The Persuaders!

Thanksgiving Day

Midnight

The Mummy Lives

The Switch

Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood

Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved

Johnny Dark

The Last Appointment!

How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border

Wild and Wonderful

Allen in Movieland

Reflections of Evil

London Conspiracy

Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'

People, Hopes, Medals

Norman Jewison, Film Maker

Title Shot

The Jill & Tony Curtis Story

The Users

Mafia Princess

Prime Target

Hollywood sul Tevere

Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box

The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man

The Re-Inforcer

Meet Danny Wilson

Sporting Chance

Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté

Stargames

Balboa

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

Black Commando




