During this time, he settled on the name Anthony Curtis and began a series of small movie roles, including Criss Cross (1949), Francis (1950) and No Room for the Groom (1952). Career HighlightsĬurtis's boyish good looks helped him to land a contract with Universal Pictures in 1948. Following his honorable discharge from the military, Curtis began acting lessons in New York at the New School for Social Research, where his classmates included fellow Seward Park alumnus Walter Matthau.
Navy, serving in World War II aboard the submarine U.S.S. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Shaken by the loss, Curtis was determined to make a better life for himself and began attending Seward Park High School on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In 1938, Julius was hit by a truck and killed. Curtis and Julius were placed in a state institution, where the boys were frequently involved in conflicts with anti-Semitic youngsters who often threw stones and started fistfights with the brothers.
In 1933, during the economic struggles of the Great Depression, Curtis's parents could no longer care for the boys financially. Curtis's mother suffered from schizophrenia and often beat the boys. His parents slept in one room, and Curtis shared the other with his two brothers, Julius and Robert. Curtis's father owned a tailor shop, and he and his family lived behind the business in a cramped apartment. He later appeared in a variety of low-profile films and on various television shows.Ĭurtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in the Bronx, New York, to Hungarian Jewish immigrants Helen and Emanuel Schwartz. In the late 1950s and 1960s, Curtis starred in films like Houdini, Operation Petticoat, Some Like It Hot, The Defiant Ones and Spartacus. His career took off following his high-profile marriage to Janet Leigh in 1951, which produced daughters Kelly Lee and Jamie Lee Curtis. Navy and serving in World War II, the aspiring actor moved to Hollywood, California. Tony Curtis's piercing blue eyes and good looks gained him a great deal of attention at a young age.
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