Tony Curtis

Acting · 3.1 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

Some Like It Hot

19598.1

Rosemary's Baby

19687.8

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

Winchester '73

19507.3

The Great Race

19657.1

Operation Petticoat

19597.3

The Manitou

19785.4

Sweet Smell of Success

19577.6

Club Life

19864.2

Paris When It Sizzles

19646.3

The Boston Strangler

19686.6

The Last Tycoon

19766.3

Taras Bulba

19626.3

Houdini

19536.6

Play It to the Bone

19995.4

Woman in Hiding

19506.3

The Defiant Ones

19587.1

Don't Make Waves

19675.2

Criss Cross

19497.1

You Can't Win 'Em All

19705.9

Monte Carlo or Bust!

19695.9

Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration

2003

Roger Moore: A Matter of Class

19957.7

Morceaux de Cannes

20212.0

Boeing, Boeing

19656.4

The Lady Gambles

19496.1

The List of Adrian Messenger

19636.7

The Black Shield of Falworth

19546.2

Hugh Hefner: American Playboy

20039.3

The Celluloid Closet

19967.2

The Prince Who Was a Thief

19515.7

Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten

20066.0

Insignificance

19856.4

Forbidden

19536.3

Trapeze

19566.3

Son of Ali Baba

19525.6

From Roger Moore with Love

20248.0

Murder in Three Acts

19865.9

Naked in New York

19934.8

The Fabulous Allan Carr

20174.5

Fairfax Avenue

1951

Pepe

19606.3

Little Miss Marker

19806.6

Banter

19865.8

The Rat Race

19606.8

Not With My Wife, You Don't!

19665.8

Casanova & Co.

19773.9

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

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

19674.6

Mafia Princess

198610.0

David & Fatima

20085.0

Rat Pack

20229.0

The Immortals

19955.6

The Great Impostor

19606.9

Captain Newman, M.D.

19636.7

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan

19784.8

40 Pounds of Trouble

19625.4

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom

20127.4

Reflections of Evil

20026.8

The Perfect Furlough

19586.8

Chamber of Horrors

19665.6

Kings Go Forth

19586.1

A Century of Cinema

19948.3

Kansas Raiders

19506.0

Flesh and Fury

19526.6

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

20106.7

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

20068.5

Portrait of a Showgirl

19828.7

Who Was That Lady?

19606.4

People, Hopes, Medals

19604.6

The All American

19536.0

Magic with the Stars

19829.0

Six Bridges to Cross

19556.2

Mister Cory

19576.0

Hollywood sul Tevere

2009

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

20147.2

Beachhead

19545.7

Arrivederci, Baby!

19665.9

Rescued from the Closet

20016.5

Sparky's Magic Piano

19875.9

The Rawhide Years

19565.6

The Million Dollar Face

19818.0

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

20096.0

A Star Is Born World Premiere

19548.0

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

20017.0

Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time

19925.2

Walter and Carlo in America

19896.0

I Was a Shoplifter

19505.8

Sextette

19784.0

Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor

19946.4

The Midnight Story

19576.1

Francis

19505.8

Sierra

19505.4

The Masqueraders

1980

Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit

19944.7

The Purple Mask

19555.8

The Third Girl from the Left

19739.5

Come Back Little Shiksa

1952

The Outsider

19616.5

Goodbye Charlie

19645.8

Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball

19974.2

So This Is Paris

19549.0

The Mummy Lives

19934.2

Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood

1954

Lepke

19754.9

Marilyn at the Movies

2011

BrainWaves

19834.3

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

20067.0

Jamie Lee Curtis: Hollywood Call of Freedom

20227.0

No Room for the Groom

19525.8

Christmas in Connecticut

19924.7

Title Shot

19798.0

Pictures of Ghosts

20238.1

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

19705.5

The Passenger – Welcome to Germany

19886.2

Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever

19986.0

Mission: Monte Carlo

19746.2

Allen in Movieland

19554.5

Balboa

19834.7

The Square Jungle

19556.1

City Across the River

19496.0

Wild and Wonderful

19647.0

The Users

19784.0

Tarzan in Manhattan

19894.0

The Legend of Marilyn Monroe

19666.7

Half Nelson

1985

The Re-Inforcer

19515.5

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies

20127.0

Johnny Dark

19545.8

The Last Appointment!

197710.0

Hollywood Legenden

20044.5

Johnny Stool Pigeon

19496.3

It Rained All Night the Day I Left

19805.2

London Conspiracy

19748.5

Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration

19791.0

Lobster Man from Mars

19905.2

The Switch

1976

Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'

20018.0

The Scarlett O'Hara War

19806.2

Where Is Parsifal?

19843.9

Midnight

19894.7

Center of the Web

19924.0

Elvis Meets Nixon

19977.0

Meet Danny Wilson

19524.4

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

20127.2

Sporting Chance

19756.5

Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté

20177.0

Louis & Frank

19984.5

Prime Target

19915.1

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal

19867.3

An Eye for an Eye

1952

Norman Jewison, Film Maker

19717.0

That's Insignificance

2011

Inmates: A Love Story

19818.0

The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man

199710.0

The Persuaders!

19738.2

Black Commando

19823.2

Nightmare

1956

The World's Most Beautiful Girls

1953

Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved

2010

Stargames

19982.5

Thanksgiving Day

19907.5

The Jill & Tony Curtis Story

20081.0

Death Becomes Me

1979

Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box

1991

How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border

19498.0

Tony Curtis erzählt...

2010