
Tony Curtis
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.
216 acting credits
Acting · 216

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

The Graham Norton Show
2007

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
1993

The View
1997

The Flintstones
1960

Bambi
1948

Sacrée soirée
1987

Wetten, dass..?
1981
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
1998

What's My Line?
1950

The Oscars
1953

The Dick Cavett Show
1968

People's Choice Awards
1975

The Ed Sullivan Show
1948

The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950

Vega$
1978

The Steve Allen Show
1956

Dinah!
1974
Goldene Kamera
1984

The Persuaders!
1971

Hope & Faith
2003

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968

Suddenly Susan
1996

Startime
1959

This Is Your Life
1952

The UnXplained
2019

Spartacus
1960
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971

Rosemary's Baby
1968

The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973

Roseanne
1988

Some Like It Hot
1959

Bracken's World
1969

The Late Late Show
1962
Please Turn the Page
1977

Talking Pictures
2013

Operation Petticoat
1959

General Electric Theater
1953

The Great Race
1965

The Vikings
1958

The Hollywood Greats
1977
Matin Bonheur
1987

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951

The Dame Edna Experience
1987

The Count of Monte-Cristo
1975

Shrink Rap
2007

Un film et son époque
2003

Winchester '73
1950

This Morning
1988

Sweet Smell of Success
1957

Taras Bulba
1962

Sex and the Single Girl
1964

The Mirror Crack'd
1980

The Mrs Merton Show
1995

Captain Newman, M.D.
1963

The Boston Strangler
1968

The Defiant Ones
1958

The Last Tycoon
1976

Trapeze
1956
The Rosemary Clooney Show
1956

The Celluloid Closet
1996

Criss Cross
1949

Paris When It Sizzles
1964

Pepe
1960

Houdini
1953

You Can't Win 'Em All
1970

Sierra
1950

Sparky's Magic Piano
1987

Murder in Three Acts
1986

Naked in New York
1993

The Users
1978

Insignificance
1985

Boeing, Boeing
1965
McCoy
1975

The Lady Gambles
1949

Play It to the Bone
1999

Lepke
1975

The List of Adrian Messenger
1963

40 Pounds of Trouble
1962

Mission: Monte Carlo
1974

The Manitou
1978

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010

Chamber of Horrors
1966

Casanova & Co.
1977

From Roger Moore with Love
2024

Sextette
1978

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
1978

Who Was That Lady?
1960

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
2014

Francis
1950

On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
1967

The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017

Johnny Stool Pigeon
1949

The Prince Who Was a Thief
1951

Rescued from the Closet
2001

Rat Pack
2022

Morceaux de Cannes
2021

Pictures of Ghosts
2023

Kansas Raiders
1950

The Midnight Story
1957

The Great Impostor
1960

Half Nelson
1985

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970

Son of Ali Baba
1952

The Black Shield of Falworth
1954

Bounty Hunters 2: Hardball
1997

Monte Carlo or Bust!
1969

Arrivederci, Baby!
1966

Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration
1979

The Purple Mask
1955

Little Miss Marker
1980

Midnight
1989

The Outsider
1961

The Square Jungle
1955

The Immortals
1995

Elvis Meets Nixon
1997

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012

Woman in Hiding
1950

The Rawhide Years
1956

Don't Make Waves
1967

Beachhead
1954
Hollywood Legenden
2004

A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954

Goodbye Charlie
1964

BrainWaves
1983

Mafia Princess
1986

Forbidden
1953

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1986

The World's Most Beautiful Girls
1953

The Rat Race
1960

Perry Mason: The Case of the Grimacing Governor
1994

Kings Go Forth
1958

Banter
1986

Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
2001

Stargames
1998

Come Back Little Shiksa
1952

The Mummy Lives
1993

The Scarlett O'Hara War
1980

Sporting Chance
1975

The Switch
1976
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time
1992

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
2009

The Passenger – Welcome to Germany
1988

The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man
1997

Lobster Man from Mars
1990

Tarzan in Manhattan
1989

Louis & Frank
1998

Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003

A Century of Cinema
1994

No Room for the Groom
1952

Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
1995

Mister Cory
1957

I Was a Shoplifter
1950

Magic with the Stars
1982

Flesh and Fury
1952

Portrait of a Showgirl
1982

The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
1966

The Masqueraders
1980

The Third Girl from the Left
1973

City Across the River
1949

Reflections of Evil
2002

Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit
1994

Center of the Web
1992

Where Is Parsifal?
1984

Club Life
1986

Johnny Dark
1954

Marilyn Monroe, la célébrité à tout prix
2022

Six Bridges to Cross
1955

Christmas in Connecticut
1992

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
2012

The Persuaders!
1973

Walter and Carlo in America
1989

The All American
1953

Hollywood sul Tevere
2009

London Conspiracy
1974

Prime Target
1991

It Rained All Night the Day I Left
1980

The Perfect Furlough
1958

Title Shot
1979

So This Is Paris
1954

Balboa
1983

Wild and Wonderful
1964

The Last Appointment!
1977
Death Becomes Me
1979

Allen in Movieland
1955

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006

Not With My Wife, You Don't!
1966

Norman Jewison, Film Maker
1971

Inmates: A Love Story
1981

Thanksgiving Day
1990

Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
2010

Hugh Hefner: American Playboy
2003

The Million Dollar Face
1981

Roxanne's Best Christmas Ever
1998

That's Insignificance
2011

Meet Danny Wilson
1952

Marilyn at the Movies
2011

People, Hopes, Medals
1960

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006

How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
1949
Jerry Lewis - König der Komödianten
2006

Amicalement vôtre : Hollywood au service de sa Majesté
2017

David & Fatima
2008
An Eye for an Eye
1952

Black Commando
1982

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
2012
Fairfax Avenue
1951

Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
1991
Nightmare
1956

The Re-Inforcer
1951

The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
2008

Tony Curtis on 'Some Like It Hot'
2001

Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
1954
Tony Curtis erzählt...
2010