Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s.

He acted in more than 100 films, in roles covering a wide range of genres.

In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances.

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, at the Fifth Avenue Hospital corner of East 105th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan the first of three boys born to Helen (née Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz.

His parents were Jewish emigrants from Hungary: his father was born in Ópályi, near Mátészalka, and his mother was a native of Michalovce, Slovakia; she later said she arrived in the U.S. from Vaľkovo, Slovakia.

He spoke only Hungarian until the age of six, delaying his schooling.

His father was a tailor and the family lived in the back of the shop.

His mother was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

His youngest brother Robert was institutionalized with the same mental illness.

When Curtis was eight, he and his brother Julius were placed in an orphanage for a month because their parents could not afford to feed them.

Four years later, Julius was struck and killed by a truck.

Curtis joined a neighborhood gang whose main crimes were playing truant from school and minor pilfering at the local dime store.

When Curtis was 11, a friendly neighbor saved him from what he felt would have led to a life of delinquency by sending him to a Boy Scout camp, where he was able to work off his energy and settle down.

He attended Seward Park High School.

At 16, he had his first small acting part in a school stage play.

Curtis enlisted in the United States Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Inspired by Cary Grant's role in Destination Tokyo and Tyrone Power's in Crash Dive (1943), he joined the Pacific submarine force.

Curtis served aboard a submarine tender, the USS Proteus, until the end of the Second World War.

On September 2, 1945, Curtis witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from his ship's signal bridge about a mile away.

Following his discharge from the Navy, Curtis attended City College of New York on the G.I. Bill.

He then studied acting at The New School in Greenwich Village under the influential German stage director Erwin Piscator.

His contemporaries included Elaine Stritch, Harry Belafonte, Walter Matthau, Beatrice Arthur, and Rod Steiger.

While still at college, Curtis was discovered by Joyce Selznick, the notable talent agent, casting director, and niece of film producer David O. Selznick.

In 1948, Curtis arrived in Hollywood at age 23.

In his autobiography, Curtis described how by chance he met Jack Warner on the plane to California, and also how he briefly dated Marilyn Monroe before either was famous.

Under contract at Universal Pictures, he changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Anthony Curtis and met unknown actors Rock Hudson, James Best, Julie Adams and Piper Laurie.

The first name was from the novel Anthony Adverse and "Curtis" was from Kurtz, a surname in his mother's family.

Although Universal Pictures taught him fencing and riding, Curtis admitted he was initially only interested in girls and money—adding that he was pessimistic regarding his chances of becoming a major star.

He achieved his first major recognition as a dramatic actor in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with co-star Burt Lancaster.

The following year he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Defiant Ones (1958) alongside Sidney Poitier (who was also nominated in the same category).

This was followed by the comedies Some Like It Hot and Operation Petticoat in 1959.

In 1960, Curtis played a supporting role in the epic historical drama Spartacus.

His stardom and film career declined considerably after 1960.

Curtis also took on the role of the Ukrainian Cossack Andrei in the historical action romance epic Taras Bulba in 1962 and starred in the ITC TV series The Persuaders!, with Curtis playing American millionaire Danny Wilde.

The series ran for twenty-four episodes.

Curtis married six times and fathered six children.

He was the father of actresses Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis with his first wife, actress Janet Leigh, and actresses Allegra Curtis and Alexandra Curtis with his second wife Christine Kaufmann.

He had two sons with his third wife Leslie Allen, one of whom predeceased him.

His most significant dramatic part came in 1968 when he starred in the true-life drama The Boston Strangler.

From 1998 until his death, he was married to horse trainer Jill Vandenberg.