Tony Curtis

Acting · 3.0 popularity

Age

101

Movies

171

Born: June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010
From: Bronx, New York, USA

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.

Works

171 films

Rosemary's Baby

19687.8

Some Like It Hot

19598.1

Spartacus

19607.5

Sex and the Single Girl

19646.6

The Vikings

19587.0

The Mirror Crack'd

19806.1

The Count of Monte-Cristo

19756.8

Sweet Smell of Success

19577.6

Winchester '73

19507.3

Paris When It Sizzles

19646.3

The Great Race

19657.1

Operation Petticoat

19597.3

The Manitou

19785.4

Don't Make Waves

19675.2

The Boston Strangler

19686.6

Criss Cross

19497.1

Taras Bulba

19626.3

Play It to the Bone

19995.4

The Last Tycoon

19766.3

The Defiant Ones

19587.1

Club Life

19864.2

Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration

2003

Houdini

19536.6

Boeing, Boeing

19656.4

Woman in Hiding

19506.3

The Prince Who Was a Thief

19515.7

Morceaux de Cannes

20212.0

Monte Carlo or Bust!

19695.9

Insignificance

19856.4

You Can't Win 'Em All

19705.9

The Lady Gambles

19496.1

Trapeze

19566.3

The List of Adrian Messenger

19636.7

The Black Shield of Falworth

19546.2

Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten

20066.0

Little Miss Marker

19806.6

Roger Moore: A Matter of Class

19957.7

Forbidden

19536.3

Murder in Three Acts

19865.9

The Immortals

19955.6

Hugh Hefner: American Playboy

20039.3

People, Hopes, Medals

19604.6

The Rat Race

19606.8

The Celluloid Closet

19967.2

40 Pounds of Trouble

19625.4

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

20106.7

The Perfect Furlough

19586.8

Pepe

19606.3

The Great Impostor

19606.9

From Roger Moore with Love

20248.0

Captain Newman, M.D.

19636.7

Banter

19865.8

Casanova & Co.

19773.9

Not With My Wife, You Don't!

19665.8

The Million Dollar Face

19818.0

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

19784.8

Chamber of Horrors

19665.6

A Star Is Born World Premiere

19548.0

Naked in New York

19934.8

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

David & Fatima

20085.0

The Fabulous Allan Carr

20174.5

The All American

19536.0

Rat Pack

20229.0

Six Bridges to Cross

19556.2

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

20068.5

The Rawhide Years

19565.6

Son of Ali Baba

19525.6

Kings Go Forth

19586.1

Who Was That Lady?

19606.4

Francis

19505.8

Kansas Raiders

19506.0

Mister Cory

19576.0

Arrivederci, Baby!

19665.9

Goodbye Charlie

19645.8

Lepke

19754.9

A Century of Cinema

19948.3

Magic with the Stars

19829.0

Reflections of Evil

20026.8

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

20147.2

I Was a Shoplifter

19505.8

Fairfax Avenue

1951

Flesh and Fury

19526.6

Rescued from the Closet

20016.5

Sextette

19784.0

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom

20127.4

Sierra

19505.4

Hollywood sul Tevere

2009

Mission: Monte Carlo

19746.2

So This Is Paris

19549.0

Sparky's Magic Piano

19875.9

The Midnight Story

19576.1

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

19674.6

Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time

19925.2

Christmas in Connecticut

19924.7

Portrait of a Showgirl

19828.7

The Passenger – Welcome to Germany

19886.2

The Last Appointment!

197710.0

Beachhead

19545.7

Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor

19946.4

BrainWaves

19834.3

Tarzan in Manhattan

19894.0

Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit

19944.7

Half Nelson

1985

Mafia Princess

198610.0

The Masqueraders

1980

The Third Girl from the Left

19739.5

Pictures of Ghosts

20238.1

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

20096.0

Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever

19986.0

The Outsider

19616.5

The Purple Mask

19555.8

Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball

19974.2

Walter and Carlo in America

19896.0

Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood

1954

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

20017.0

Come Back Little Shiksa

1952

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

19705.5

Elvis Meets Nixon

19977.0

The Square Jungle

19556.1

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

20067.0

The Re-Inforcer

19515.5

Wild and Wonderful

19647.0

Hollywood Legenden

20044.5

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

20127.2

Balboa

19834.7

The Users

19784.0

Jamie Lee Curtis: Hollywood Call of Freedom

20227.0

Johnny Dark

19545.8

It Rained All Night the Day I Left

19805.2

Johnny Stool Pigeon

19496.3

London Conspiracy

19748.5

Inmates: A Love Story

19818.0

The Mummy Lives

19934.2

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies

20127.0

Marilyn at the Movies

2011

Title Shot

19798.0

Louis & Frank

19984.5

No Room for the Groom

19525.8

Black Commando

19823.2

Thanksgiving Day

19907.5

Lobster Man from Mars

19905.2

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

19867.3

City Across the River

19496.0

Center of the Web

19924.0

The Legend of Marilyn Monroe

19666.7

The Scarlett O'Hara War

19806.2

Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'

20018.0

Allen in Movieland

19554.5

Prime Target

19915.1

Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration

19791.0

Stargames

19982.5

The Switch

1976

The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man

199710.0

An Eye for an Eye

1952

Sporting Chance

19756.5

Midnight

19894.7

Norman Jewison, Film Maker

19717.0

Where Is Parsifal?

19843.9

Meet Danny Wilson

19524.4

The World's Most Beautiful Girls

1953

The Persuaders!

19738.2

That's Insignificance

2011

Nightmare

1956

Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved

2010

Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté

20177.0

How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border

19498.0

The Jill & Tony Curtis Story

20081.0

Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box

1991

Death Becomes Me

1979

Tony Curtis erzählt...

2010