Acting
Tony Curtis
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.
Movies with Tony Curtis
Sex and the Single Girl
1964
Some Like It Hot
1959
Spartacus
1960
Rosemary's Baby
1968
The Great Race
1965
The Vikings
1958
The Count of Monte-Cristo
1975
Operation Petticoat
1959
Houdini
1953
Winchester '73
1950
The Boston Strangler
1968
The Manitou
1978
Play It to the Bone
1999
The Defiant Ones
1958
Naked in New York
1993
Morceaux de Cannes
2021
Sweet Smell of Success
1957
The Mirror Crack'd
1980
The Last Tycoon
1976
Criss Cross
1949
The Lady Gambles
1949
The Masqueraders
1980
Paris When It Sizzles
1964
Taras Bulba
1962
Son of Ali Baba
1952
The Rat Race
1960
Goodbye Charlie
1964
The Immortals
1995
Pepe
1960
Balboa
1983
You Can't Win 'Em All
1970
Don't Make Waves
1967
Little Miss Marker
1980
Mafia Princess
1986
Captain Newman, M.D.
1963
Club Life
1986
The Prince Who Was a Thief
1951
The Great Impostor
1960
Magic with the Stars
1982
Murder in Three Acts
1986
Forbidden
1953
Trapeze
1956
Casanova & Co.
1977
100 Years at the Movies
1994
Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003
David & Fatima
2008
Louis & Frank
1998
Kansas Raiders
1950
The Celluloid Closet
1996
Who Was That Lady?
1960
Boeing, Boeing
1965
The Black Shield of Falworth
1954
Monte Carlo or Bust!
1969
The List of Adrian Messenger
1963
Insignificance
1985
The Perfect Furlough
1958
Reflections of Evil
2002
40 Pounds of Trouble
1962
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
1978
The Midnight Story
1957
The Rawhide Years
1956
The Purple Mask
1955
The Outsider
1961
The All American
1953
The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010
Tarzan in Manhattan
1989
Chamber of Horrors
1966
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
2012
Banter
1986
Flesh and Fury
1952
Portrait of a Showgirl
1982
Half Nelson
1985
Kings Go Forth
1958
Elvis Meets Nixon
1997
The Scarlett O'Hara War
1980
On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
1967
Arrivederci, Baby!
1966
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
1995
Woman in Hiding
1950
Francis
1950
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
Mission: Monte Carlo
1974
Mister Cory
1957
Sierra
1950
Center of the Web
1992
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
2012
The Users
1978
Johnny Dark
1954
Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
1994
Fairfax Avenue
1951
Rat Pack
2022
Lobster Man from Mars
1990
I Was a Shoplifter
1950
Sextette
1978
From Roger Moore with Love
2024
Beachhead
1954
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
1966
So This Is Paris
1954
Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten
2006
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time
1992
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
2009
Walter and Carlo in America
1989
Six Bridges to Cross
1955
A Century of Cinema
1994
London Conspiracy
1974
No Room for the Groom
1952
Marilyn at the Movies
2011
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
Hollywood sul Tevere
2009
The Mummy Lives
1993
Sparky's Magic Piano
1987
Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit
1994
The Persuaders!
1973
The Re-Inforcer
1951
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
2014
Hugh Hefner: American Playboy
2003
Lepke
1975
The Third Girl from the Left
1973
Pictures of Ghosts
2023
Inmates: A Love Story
1981
Where Is Parsifal?
1984
Rescued from the Closet
2001
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
1966
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970
The Switch
1976
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
The Square Jungle
1955
Prime Target
1991
Wild and Wonderful
1964
The Million Dollar Face
1981
Meet Danny Wilson
1952
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
2001
Sporting Chance
1975
Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball
1997
Allen in Movieland
1955
Hollywood Legenden
2004
Title Shot
1979
Nightmare
1956
City Across the River
1949
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006
An Eye for an Eye
1952
Johnny Stool Pigeon
1949
Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever
1998
The Last Appointment!
1977
People, Hopes, Medals
1960
Midnight
1989
BrainWaves
1983
The Passenger – Welcome to Germany
1988
Thanksgiving Day
1990
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
1954
Christmas in Connecticut
1992
Death Becomes Me
1979
Come Back Little Shiksa
1952
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006
The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man
1997
That's Insignificance
2011
It Rained All Night the Day I Left
1980
Stargames
1998
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
2008
Black Commando
1982
Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté
2017
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1986
The World's Most Beautiful Girls
1953
Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration
1979
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
2010
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
1949
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
1991
Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'
2001
Norman Jewison, Film Maker
1971
Tony Curtis erzählt...
2010
TV Shows with Tony Curtis
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Sacrée soirée
1987
The Flintstones
1960
The View
1997
Wetten, dass..?
1981
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
1993
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
The Persuaders!
1971
What's My Line?
1950
Bambi
1948
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
1998
The Oscars
1953
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
People's Choice Awards
1975
Vega$
1978
The Steve Allen Show
1956
Dinah!
1974
Goldene Kamera
1984
Hope & Faith
2003
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968
Startime
1959
The UnXplained
2019
This Is Your Life
1952
Talking Pictures
2013
Suddenly Susan
1996
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
Roseanne
1988
Bracken's World
1969
The Late Late Show
1962
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
Please Turn the Page
1977
The Hollywood Greats
1977
Shrink Rap
2007
The Dame Edna Experience
1987
Matin Bonheur
1987
The Mrs Merton Show
1995
Un film et son époque
2003
The Rosemary Clooney Show
1956
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
General Electric Theater
1953
This Morning
1988
McCoy
1975
Marilyn Monroe, la célébrité à tout prix
2022