Born Bernie Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in the Bronx, N.Y., Tony Curtis survived a rough childhood and being wounded in action in World War II. He studied acting at New York's Dramatic Workshop and toured with a stock company. After signing with Universal, Curtis made his film debut in 1949's Criss Cross.A popular light leading man in such films as Houdini and The Black Shield of Falworth, Curtis rose above his pretty-boy looks and impressed critics with his dramatic turns in Sweet Smell of Success and The Defiant Ones (1958), for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination. More classic roles followed in The Vikings, Some Like It Hot (doing a dead-on Cary Grant riff), Spartacus, The Great Race and The Boston Strangler (1968).
In the 1970s, he moved into character roles, playing a variety of heavies and gangsters. More recently, he's made numerous TV appearances, including "CSI."
AddThe Defiant OnesTwo escaped convicts -- one black (Sidney Poitier), one white (Tony Curtis), and both shackled in the same pair of handcuffs -- battle the elements and each other as they travel Southern back roads eluding the ever-approaching posse. Although the device of binding two racial antagonists together for... Read More
AddSex and the Single GirlNatalie Wood stars as Helen Gurley Brown in this farce loosely based on Brown's book of the same name. Trying to land an interview with the noted psychologist, unscrupulous journalist Bob Weston (Tony Curtis) poses as a man seeking therapy for marital troubles. The two fall in love, but when... Read More
AddThe Boston StranglerDuring the mid-1960s, Boston was gripped with fear as women throughout the city were being raped and murdered by a serial killer. Based on a true story, this film recounts the events that led up to the capture of Albert DeSalvo (Tony Curtis), aka The Boston Strangler, a mentally unstable man later... Read More
AddTaras BulbaWith the words "Put your faith in your sword, and your sword in a Pole," Cossack leader Taras Bulba (Yul Brynner) vows to vanquish the Poles, who double-crossed his people after helping to expel the Turks from the European steppes. Sending his son (Tony Curtis) to school in Poland so he can learn... Read More
AddDaring Young Men in Their Jaunty JalopiesAn all-star cast drives this classic comedy tracking the contestants of an international auto race from the starting block in Monte Carlo all the way to the finish line. After playing a clever hand at cards, Chester (Tony Curtis) finds himself half-owner of a car company run by the ever-plotting Sir... Read More
