Blog Assignment #19:Tony Curtis

Today, Thursday, September 30, 2010, beloved actor Tony Curtis, father of Jamie Lee Curtis, passed away.


Tony was born on June 3, 1925, in New York City, being the oldest son. Tony's original name was Bernie Schwartz His father was a tailor and his mother raised their three boys. But the family was unexpectedly hit hard. One of Curtis' brothers was killed at the age of 9 when he was hit by a truck, and the other, who was 15 years  old, suffered from schizophrenia and was in and out of institutions throughout his life. 

At 17, he enlisted in the Navy, serving in the Pacific during WW2. After leaving the service, he attended acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. He ended up back in New York doing "Golden Boy" at the Cherry Lane Theater. It was there that he was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout and, by age 23, was under contract with Universal for $75 a week. 

"I got into movies so easy it was scary," he said. He changed his first name to Anthony and his last to Curtis. But before long, he was known simply as Tony Curtis. One of the first things Curtis did when he arrived in Hollywood was  learn to drive and then buy a convertible. He reveled in his "pretty-boy" image, regularly being mobbed by teenage fans. 


Throughout Curtis' life, women loved him, and vice versa. He was reportedly married six times, most famously to actress Janet Leigh in 1951. The Curtises were married 11 years. In 1984, after family and friends intervened to talk about his drug problem, he admitted himself to the Betty Ford Center in California.


Writing in his autobiography, Curtis said he was able to handle the adulation of fans because, "I'd had that all my life, even before I got into movies; in school, in the neighborhoods where I lived, always a lot of furor. Everybody liked the way I looked, including myself." "I'm telling you, I'm lucky to be me," Tony said. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be Tony Curtis, and that's exactly who I am."