Tony Curtis
Acting • Born 1925-06-03 – Died 2010-09-29
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.
Filmography
214 credits
Some Like It Hot
Movie • 1959
Joe (Josephine)
Spartacus
Movie • 1960
Antoninus
Sweet Smell of Success
Movie • 1957
Sidney Falco
Don't Make Waves
Movie • 1967
Carlo Cofield
The Count of Monte-Cristo
Movie • 1975
Fernand Morcerf Mondego
Casanova & Co.
Movie • 1977
Giacomo Casanova / Giacomino
Play It to the Bone
Movie • 1999
Tony Curtis (Ringside Fan)
Paris When It Sizzles
Movie • 1964
Actor Portraying Maurice or Philippe (uncredited)
Criss Cross
Movie • 1949
Gigolo (uncredited)
Center of the Web
Movie • 1992
Stephen Moore
Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball
Movie • 1997
Wald
The Mummy Lives
Movie • 1993
Aziru / Dr. Mohassid
The Mirror Crack'd
Movie • 1980
Martin N. Fenn
The Defiant Ones
Movie • 1958
John 'Joker' Jackson
The Great Race
Movie • 1965
The Great Leslie
Murder in Three Acts
Movie • 1986
Charles Cartwright
The List of Adrian Messenger
Movie • 1963
Organ Grinder
Naked in New York
Movie • 1993
Carl Fisher
The Black Shield of Falworth
Movie • 1954
Myles Falworth
Allen in Movieland
Movie • 1955
Self
Captain Newman, M.D.
Movie • 1963
Cpl. Jackson "Jake" Leibowitz
The Boston Strangler
Movie • 1968
Albert DeSalvo
Operation Petticoat
Movie • 1959
Lieutenant Nicholas Holden
Sex and the Single Girl
Movie • 1964
Bob Weston
Forbidden
Movie • 1953
Eddie Darrow
Hollywood Legenden
Movie • 2004
Self
The Manitou
Movie • 1978
Harry Erskine
Trapeze
Movie • 1956
Tino Orsini
The Immortals
Movie • 1995
Dominic
Six Bridges to Cross
Movie • 1955
Jerry Florea
Lepke
Movie • 1975
Louis 'Lepke' Buchalter
Winchester '73
Movie • 1950
Doan
The Lady Gambles
Movie • 1949
Bellboy (as Anthony Curtis)
Insignificance
Movie • 1985
The Senator
The Vikings
Movie • 1958
Eric
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
Movie • 2010
Self
Tony Curtis erzählt...
Movie • 2010
Self
People, Hopes, Medals
Movie • 1960
Self
Taras Bulba
Movie • 1962
Andrei Bulba
Houdini
Movie • 1953
Harry Houdini
Reflections of Evil
Movie • 2002
Host
Beachhead
Movie • 1954
Burke
The Last Tycoon
Movie • 1976
Rodriguez
City Across the River
Movie • 1949
Mitch (as Anthony Curtis)
Mission: Monte Carlo
Movie • 1974
Danny Wilde (archive footage)
The Great Impostor
Movie • 1960
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. / Martin Donner / Dr. Gilbert / Ben. W. Stone / Dr. Joseph Mornay / Robert Boyd Hammnd
Boeing, Boeing
Movie • 1965
Bernard Lawrence
Lobster Man from Mars
Movie • 1990
J.P. Shelldrake
Monte Carlo or Bust!
Movie • 1969
Chester Schofield
I Was a Shoplifter
Movie • 1950
Pepe
Little Miss Marker
Movie • 1980
Blackie
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
Movie • 1978
Marvin Lazar
Club Life
Movie • 1986
Hector
Johnny Stool Pigeon
Movie • 1949
Joey Hyatt
Goodbye Charlie
Movie • 1964
George Wellington Tracy
Pepe
Movie • 1960
Tony Curtis
Son of Ali Baba
Movie • 1952
Kashma Baba
The Prince Who Was a Thief
Movie • 1951
Julna
The Midnight Story
Movie • 1957
Joe Martini
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
Movie • 1966
Tom Ferris
Christmas in Connecticut
Movie • 1992
Alexander Yardley
BrainWaves
Movie • 1983
Dr. Clavius
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
Movie • 2009
Self
Kings Go Forth
Movie • 1958
Caporal Britt Harris
Flesh and Fury
Movie • 1952
Paul Callan
Kansas Raiders
Movie • 1950
Kit Dalton
The Rat Race
Movie • 1960
Pete Hammond Jr.
The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man
Movie • 1997
Jack Steele
Who Was That Lady?
Movie • 1960
David Wilson
The Rawhide Years
Movie • 1956
Ben Matthews
The Purple Mask
Movie • 1955
Rene de Traviere / The Purple Mask
Johnny Dark
Movie • 1954
Johnny Dark
Sierra
Movie • 1950
Brent Coulter
Death Becomes Me
Movie • 1979
Danny Wilde (archive footage)
The Masqueraders
Movie • 1980
Danny Wilde
The Persuaders!
Movie • 1973
Danny Wilde
The Last Appointment!
Movie • 1977
Danny Wilde
Sextette
Movie • 1978
Alexei Karansky
No Room for the Groom
Movie • 1952
Alvah Morrell
You Can't Win 'Em All
Movie • 1970
Adam Dyer
Midnight
Movie • 1989
Mr. B
Mister Cory
Movie • 1957
Cory
Where Is Parsifal?
Movie • 1984
Parsifal Katzanella-Boden
The Million Dollar Face
Movie • 1981
Chester Masterson
The Outsider
Movie • 1961
Ira Hamilton Hayes
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Passenger – Welcome to Germany
Movie • 1988
Mr. Cornfield
The Users
Movie • 1978
Randy Brent
Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration
Movie • 1979
Self
Magic with the Stars
Movie • 1982
Harry Houdini (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Third Girl from the Left
Movie • 1973
Joey Jordan
Balboa
Movie • 1983
Ernie Stoddard
Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
The Perfect Furlough
Movie • 1958
Cpl. Paul Hodges
Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'
Movie • 2001
Self
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Movie • 2006
Self
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Movie • 2006
Self
Prime Target
Movie • 1991
Copella
The All American
Movie • 1953
Nick Bonelli
40 Pounds of Trouble
Movie • 1962
Steve McCluskey
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
Movie • 1949
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Movie • 1970
Shannon Gambroni
Portrait of a Showgirl
Movie • 1982
Joey DeLeon
Arrivederci, Baby!
Movie • 1966
Nick Johnson
Stargames
Movie • 1998
King Fendel
Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever
Movie • 1998
Bernard (voice)
Meet Danny Wilson
Movie • 1952
Nightclub Patron
Louis & Frank
Movie • 1998
Lenny Star Springer
The Square Jungle
Movie • 1955
Eddie Quaid / Packy Glennon
Tarzan in Manhattan
Movie • 1989
Archimedes Porter
Rat Pack
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Black Commando
Movie • 1982
Col. Iago
Thanksgiving Day
Movie • 1990
Max Schloss
On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
Movie • 1967
Guerrando da Montone
It Rained All Night the Day I Left
Movie • 1980
Robert Talbot
The Celluloid Closet
Movie • 1996
Self
The Scarlett O'Hara War
Movie • 1980
David O. Selznick
David & Fatima
Movie • 2008
Mr. Schwartz
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
Movie • 1995
Self
Francis
Movie • 1950
Captain Jones
So This Is Paris
Movie • 1954
Joe Maxwell
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Movie • 1986
Self
Half Nelson
Movie • 1985
Sparky's Magic Piano
Movie • 1987
Woman in Hiding
Movie • 1950
Dave Shaw (voice) (uncredited)
Wild and Wonderful
Movie • 1964
Terry Williams
Mafia Princess
Movie • 1986
Sam Giancana
Banter
Movie • 1986
Charles Foster
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
Movie • 2012
Self
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
Movie • 1991
Narrator (voice) / Self
Rosemary's Baby
Movie • 1968
Donald Baumgart (voice) (uncredited)
Title Shot
Movie • 1979
Frank Renzetti
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Movie • 1954
Self
The Re-Inforcer
Movie • 1951
Baffo
Come Back Little Shiksa
Movie • 1952
Chamber of Horrors
Movie • 1966
Mr. Julian
Fairfax Avenue
Movie • 1951
An Eye for an Eye
Movie • 1952
Nightmare
Movie • 1956
Tony
Hugh Hefner: American Playboy
Movie • 2003
Self
A Century of Cinema
Movie • 1994
Self
London Conspiracy
Movie • 1974
Danny Wilde (archive footage)
That's Insignificance
Movie • 2011
Self
Norman Jewison, Film Maker
Movie • 1971
Self (uncredited)
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Movie • 2014
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Movie • 2001
Self
Sporting Chance
Movie • 1975
Danny Wilde (archive footage)
The Switch
Movie • 1976
Danny Wilde
Inmates: A Love Story
Movie • 1981
Flanagan
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
Movie • 1994
Johnny Steele
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Movie • 2010
Eric (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rescued from the Closet
Movie • 2001
Self
The World's Most Beautiful Girls
Movie • 1953
Self
Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit
Movie • 1994
Lucky Bergstrom
Elvis Meets Nixon
Movie • 1997
Tony Curtis
From Roger Moore with Love
Movie • 2024
Self (archive footage)
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
Movie • 1954
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time
Movie • 1992
Self
Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté
Movie • 2017
Danny Wilde
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 1966
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
Movie • 2008
Pictures of Ghosts
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)
Walter and Carlo in America
Movie • 1989
WIlly La Rouge
Hollywood sul Tevere
Movie • 2009
Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Movie • 2003
This Morning
TV • 1988
Self
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
TV • 2000
Tony Curtis
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
Hope & Faith
TV • 2003
Morris
The View
TV • 1997
Self
Roseanne
TV • 1988
Un film et son époque
TV • 2003
Self
The Persuaders!
TV • 1971
Danny Wilde
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Mario Galindo
McCoy
TV • 1975
McCoy
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self (uncredited)
This Is Your Life
TV • 1952
Self
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Charlie
Bracken's World
TV • 1969
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Recipient
The Hollywood Greats
TV • 1977
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Talking Pictures
TV • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Wetten, dass..?
TV • 1981
Self
The Dame Edna Experience
TV • 1987
Self
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
David
The Mrs Merton Show
TV • 1995
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The Rosemary Clooney Show
TV • 1956
Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
TV • 1971
Self
Vega$
TV • 1978
Roth
Shrink Rap
TV • 2007
Self
Goldene Kamera
TV • 1984
Self
Bambi
TV • 1948
Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Guest
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
TV • 1998
Self
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
TV • 1993
Dr. Mamba
The UnXplained
TV • 2019
Self (archive footage)
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Mystery Guest
Please Turn the Page
TV • 1977
Self
Suddenly Susan
TV • 1996
Peter DiCaprio
Matin Bonheur
TV • 1987
Self
The Flintstones
TV • 1960
Stony Curtis (voice)
Dinah!
TV • 1974
Self
Sacrée Soirée
TV • 1987
Self
Marilyn Monroe, La Célébrité à tout prix
TV • 2022
Tony Curtis
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self
People's Choice Awards
TV • 1975
Self
The Late Late Show
TV • 1962
Self