For six decades, Tony Curtis made more than 130 acting appearances, earned countless award nominations and opened up about his life off screen as a dad of six kids. Closer shares a look back at his life and career, including his biggest roles, his marriages and more.
Tony Curtis’ Early Years
Tony was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in New York City. His parents, Helen (née Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz, were Jewish immigrants from Hungary. His father was a tailor.
Tony opened up about the challenges his family faced when he was a child, as his mom and his brother Robert were diagnosed with schizophrenia. He and his brother Julius were sent to live in an orphanage because their parents did not have enough money for food. Julius was later killed after being struck by a truck, causing Tony to spiral and join the wrong crowd, a gang responsible for petty crime.
“I was always being fed by this disaster that happened in my life,” he once said. “And my behavior changed. I became very compulsive.”
Eventually, Tony was sent to Boy Scout camp, where he started to get his life in order. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943. He was discharged from the Navy in 1945, and, with the help of his G.I. Bill, went on to study acting at The New School in Greenwich Village in NYC.
Tony Curtis Moved to Hollywood and Flourished in Show Business
In 1948, Tony moved to Hollywood, signing a contract with Universal Pictures. It was then that he began going by Anthony Curtis. He was uncredited in his 1949 acting debut in Criss Cross. In several other early roles following Criss Cross, the actor was credited as Anthony Curtis. Soon, it was shortened to Tony Curtis from the early 1950’s and on.
By the mid-’50s, Tony was a certified movie star. Some of his earliest acting appearances came in Kansas Raiders, The Prince Who Was a Thief, which was a box office success, Flesh and Fury, All American, Forbidden and more. One of his biggest films, 1956’s Trapeze, costarred Burt Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida. In 1958, he appeared alongside Kirk Douglas and Janet Leigh in The Vikings and with Frank Sinatra and Natalie Wood in Kings Go Forth.
Tony Curtis
Tony earned an Academy Award nomination in 1959 for The Defiant Ones, which costarred Sidney Poitier. That year, he starred in Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon and opposite Cary Grant in Operation Petticoat. In the ‘60s, he starred in Spartacus, The Great Impostor, The Outsider, Captain Newman, M.D. and more. Throughout the decade, he appeared in more comedies before returning to the drama route by playing the lead in the biographical thriller The Boston Strangler opposite Henry Fonda. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama for the role.
From 1978 to 1981, Tony starred in Vega$ with Robert Urich. He later hosted Hollywood Babylon in the ‘90s. His final acting appearance came in 2008’s David & Fatima. His interests spanned outside of acting, launching a second career as a painter.
“He was happiest when he was creating,” his daughter Kelly Curtis told Closer in April 2022. “On a film set, in front of a group of fans, or alone in his art studio painting.”
Inside Tony Curtis’ Marriages and His Bond With His Kids
Tony was married six times in his life and became a father of six kids. Perhaps his most famous marriage was to actress Janet Leigh, with whom he costarred in a handful of films throughout their marriage, which lasted from 1951 to 1962. The Houdini costars welcomed kids Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis, both of whom followed their parents’ path into show business.
When accepting the award for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2023, Jamie said, “I’m wearing the wedding ring that my father gave my mother. They hated each other, by the way, by the end of it,” adding, “But my sister Kelly and I were born from love. My father was from Hungary and my mother was from Denmark, and they had nothing and they became these monstrous stars in this industry.”
Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis
The Golden Globe nominee was married to his second wife, Christine Kaufmann, from 1963 to 1968. They welcomed daughters Alexandra Curtis and Allegra Curtis during their marriage. They both also pursued acting and entertainment ventures.
With his third wife, Leslie Allen, to whom he was married from 1968 to 1982, Tony became a dad to kids Nicholas Curtis and Benjamin Curtis. On July 2, 1994, Nicholas died at age 23 from a heroin overdose.
“I was shattered: this son of mine to die so ignominiously,” he said of the heartbreak after losing his child.
Tony was married to his fourth wife, Andrea Savio, from 1984 to 1992, his fifth wife, Lisa Deutsch, from 1993 to 1994 and to his sixth wife, Jill Vandenberg, from 1998 up until his death.
Tony Curtis’ Final Years and Death
In his later years, Tony and Jill moved to Nevada, where they founded Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary. According to the nonprofit’s website, “Shiloh has rescued and rehabilitated over 700 horses, the majority of them rescued from slaughter.”
Two years before his death, Tony admitted, “Life’s been a battle, but now it’s eased its way. Those memories have softened up and I don’t feel so bad about things.”
On September 29, 2010, Tony died at his Nevada home at age 85 from cardiac arrest.
“My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages,” Jamie Lee said of her father’s passing. “He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world.”