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Tony Curtis Facts
| Sign | Gemini |
| Born |
Jun 3, 1925 The Bronx, NY |
| Died |
Sep 29, 2010 Henderson, Las Vegas |
| Age | Died at 85 |
| Total Facts | 54 |
Elvis Presley copied his duck-tail hairstyle after seeing it on screen.
According to his autobiography, he really desired the lead male role of Paul Varjack in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Director Blake Edwards considered the idea, but the role eventually went to George Peppard.
Admits that he is largely estranged from all six of his children, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis, one of his children by first wife Janet Leigh.
Along with Ernest Borgnine, Curtis refused to watch, and publicly condemned, Brokeback Mountain (2005).
Appeared in [i]Sugar[/i], a stage musical based on Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959) . He appeared as millionaire Osgood Fielding III, the character played by Joe E. Brown in the film.
Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Arriving in Hollywood in 1948 at age 23, Tony Curtis (then Bernard Schwartz) was placed under contract at Universal Pictures and changed his name to Tony Curtis, taking his first name from the novel Anthony Adverse and his last name from "Kurtz", a surname from his mother's family.
Born to Emanuel Schwartz, a Hungarian tailor who emigrated to the United States, and his wife Helen, he grew up with two brothers, Julius and Robert.
Broke a Hollywood taboo in the 1950s by insisting that an African-American actor, Sidney Poitier, have co-starring billing next to him in the movie The Defiant Ones (1958).
Claims he probably had a sexual addiction. Among his female conquests boasted of in his 2008 memoir was a pre-star Marilyn Monroe who was a very young, pony-tailed redhead during their teenage affair.
Claims that his mother was physically abusive and that his father was impassive.
Curtis enlisted in the United States Navy after Pearl Harbor was bombed and war was declared. He chose submarine duty and served aboard USS Proteus, a submarine tender. From his sub tender's signal bridge, he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from about a mile away.
Curtis was the father of actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis whom he fathered with his wife, actress Janet Leigh.
Enjoys painting and creating shadow boxes. In late 2005, the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY) acquired one of his canvasses for its permanent collection.
Father of Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis (with Janet Leigh).
Father of Allegra Curtis and Alexandra Curtis (with Christine Kaufmann).
Following his death, he was buried with some of his favorite possessions - a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, an iPhone and a copy of his favorite novel, "Anthony Adverse," a book that inspired his celebrity name.
From the top of his submarine in Tokyo Bay, using a pair of binoculars, he was able to witness the Japanese surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri, about a mile away. He considered this experience to be one of the highlights of his life.
Has appeared in tourism advertisements for his ancestral homeland Hungary.
He disinherited all of his children from his will and left the bulk of his estate to his wife Jill Vandenberg Curtis.
He enjoys playing the flute for pleasure and relaxation. He is a very accomplished player.
He has two adopted sons.
He is a militant anti-smoker. Both Sir Michael Caine and Sir Roger Moore have credited Curtis with helping them quit smoking cigarettes in the early 1970s, though not cigars.
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.
His brother Julius died after being hit by a truck (1938).
His favorite movie star was Cary Grant.
His sixth wife, Jill Vandenberg Curtis (since 1998), who is 46 years younger than he, runs a wild-horse refuge.
His son, Nicholas Curtis, died of seizures due to an overdose of heroin (2 July 1994).
In 1998, Tony Curtis founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, and served as honorary chairperson. The organization works for the restoration and preservation of synagogues and 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. Curtis dedicated this to the 600,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Hungary and lands occupied by the Hungarian Army.
In 1998, Tony Curtis founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, and served as honorary chairperson. The organization works for the restoration and preservation of synagogues and 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. Curtis dedicated this to the 600,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Hungary and lands occupied by the Hungarian Army.
In the early 1960s, Tony Curtis was immortalized as "Stony Curtis," a voice-over guest star on The Flintstones.
In Tony Curtis' second film, City Across the River (1949), he was credited as "Anthony Cross".
Like many before and after, he changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis, partly in response to Hollywood anti-Semitism.
Lives in Henderson, Nevada.
Nearly died in hospital from pneumonia at Christmas 2006.
Now in his 80s, he spends most of his time painting. Some of his works are a part of a permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Recovered from a cocaine addiction in the 1980s.
Serving with "F Troop" (1965) actor Larry Storch in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945 aboard a submarine tender, he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from a vantage point 300 yards away. He and Storch have had a lifelong friendship. They appeared together in The Great Race (1965). Storch also co-starred as his room mate/asst' in the comedy 'Forty Pounds of Trouble' (1962).
Since re-dubbing the bath scene in Spartacus (1960) in which he starred with Laurence Olivier, Curtis has said that whenever he encounters Anthony Hopkins (who did the voiceover for Olivier in the re-dubbed version following Olivier's death), he hollers "Oh Tony... it's Antoninus".
Suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Suffers from fear of flying.
Tony Curtis 'appears' as the Stone Age Celebrity "Stony Curtis" in the cartoon, The Flintstones.
Tony Curtis and his daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, took an interest in their family's Hungarian-Jewish heritage, and helped finance the rebuilding of the "Great Synagogue" in Budapest, Hungary.
Tony Curtis enjoyed painting, and since the early 1980s, painted as a second career. His work commands more than $25,000 a canvas now. In the last years of his life, he concentrated on painting rather than movies. A surrealist, Curtis claimed "Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Magritte" as influences. "I still make movies but I'm not that interested in them any more. But I paint all the time." In 2007, his painting The Red Table was on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His paintings can also be seen at the Tony Vanderploeg Gallery in Carmel, California.
Tony Curtis studied at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German stage director Erwin Piscator, along with Elaine Stritch, Walter Matthau, and Rod Steiger.
Tony Curtis was immortalized as "Stony Curtis," a voice-over guest star on The Flintstones.
Tony Curtis was married five times. His first wife was actress Janet Leigh, to whom he was married from 1951 to 1962, and with whom he fathered actresses Kelly and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Tony Curtis' mother had once made an appearance as a participant on the television show You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx.
Tony Curtis's uncredited screen debut came in Criss Cross (1949) playing a rumba dancer.
Was originally considered for one of the leading roles of Lady L (1965).