IMDb: Most Popular People Born In 1925 Most Popular People Born In 1925 1-50 of 3,069 names. Sort by: STARmeter▲ | A-Z | Height | Birth Date | Death Date 1. Angela Lansbury Actress, Murder, She Wrote British character actress, long in the United States. The daughter of an actress and the granddaughter of a high-ranking politician, Lansbury studied acting from her youth, departing for the United States as the Second World War began. She was contracted by MGM while still a teenager and nominated for an Academy Award for her first film... 2. Paul Newman Actor, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Paul Newman won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for his performance in the The Color of Money , a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy Award, and many honorary awards. Despite being colorblind, he won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing... 3. Lee Van Cleef Actor, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly One of the great movie villains, Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Jr.

was born in Somerville, New Jersey, to Marion Lavinia (Van Fleet) and Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef, Sr. His parents were both of Dutch ancestry. Van Cleef started out as an accountant. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers and subchasers during World War II... 4. Dick Van Dyke Actor, Diagnosis Murder Dick Van Dyke was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, to Hazel Victoria (McCord), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. His younger brother is entertainer Jerry Van Dyke . His ancestry includes English, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and Dutch. Although he'd had small roles beforehand... 5. Jack Lemmon Actor, The Apartment Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Mildred Burgess LaRue (Noel) and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company. His ancestry included Irish (from his paternal grandmother) and English. Jack attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age 9 he was sent to Rivers Country Day School... 6.

Tony Curtis Actor, Some Like It Hot Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz, the eldest of three children of Helen (Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz, Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks" and learned from a young age that the only person who ever had his back was himself... 7. Richard Burton Actor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Probably more frequently remembered for his turbulent personal life and multiple marriages, Richard Burton was nonetheless regarded as one of the great British actors of the post-WWII period. Burton was born Richard Walter Jenkins in Pontrhydyfen, Wales, to Edith Maude (Thomas) and Richard Walter Jenkins... 8. Donald O'Connor Actor, Singin' in the Rain Born into a vaudeville family, O'Connor was the youthful figure cutting a rug in several Universal musicals of the 1940s. His best-known musical work is probably Singin' in the Rain , in which he did an impressive dance that culminated in a series of backflips off the wall.

O'Connor was also effective in comedic lead roles, particularly as the companion to Francis the Talking Mule in that film series. 9. Peter Sellers Actor, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Often credited as the greatest comedian of all time, Peter Sellers was born to a well-off English acting family in 1925. His mother and father worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. As a child, Sellers was spoiled, as his parents' first child had died at birth. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force and served during World War II... 10. Doris Roberts Actress, Everybody Loves Raymond Doris Roberts was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Ann (Meltzer) and Larry Green. She was raised in New York, and took her stepfather's surname. Roberts was a 20-year veteran of the Broadway stage before she began appearing steadily in character roles in film and on television during the 1970s. A versatile player with an inescapably "mom-like" presence... 11. Rock Hudson Actor, Giant Rock Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.

in Winnetka, Illinois, to Katherine (Wood), a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, an auto mechanic. He was of German, Swiss-German, English, and Irish descent. His parents divorced when he was eight years old. He failed to obtain parts in school plays because he couldn't remember lines... 12. Corinne Calvet Actress, General Hospital Statuesque, seductive French leading lady who underwent several early career changes before settling on the acting profession. Corinne Calvet first ventured into the field of criminal law (at the Sorbonne), then gained qualification as an interior decorator with an appreciation of fine arts and antiques... 13. George Kennedy Actor, Cool Hand Luke George Harris Kennedy, Jr. was born on February 18, 1925 in New York City, to Helen A. (Kieselbach), a ballet dancer, and George Harris Kennedy, an orchestra leader and musician. Following high school graduation, Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 with the hope to become a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps... 14.

Hal Holbrook Actor, Into the Wild Hal Holbrook is an Emmy- and Tony-Award winning actor who is one of the great craftsman of stage and screen. He is best known for his performance as Mark Twain , for which he won a Tony and the first of his ten Emmy Award nominations. Aside from the stage, Holbrook made his reputation primarily on television... 15. Scottie MacGregor Actress, Little House on the Prairie Best known for her performance as the nasty, gossiping, greedy and arrogant Mrs. Harriet Oleson on the TV series Little House on the Prairie . Katherine (Scottie) MacGregor could not appear in the final feature length episode "The Last Farewell" because she was on a pilgrimage in India. Before moving to Los Angeles in 1970 Ms... 16. Gwen Verdon Actress, All My Children A star was born January 13, 1925 in Culver City, California. Her name was Gwyneth Evelyn Verdon, and she was the only Broadway star who had the capability of outshining greats, such as Ethel Merman .

Her parents were English emigrants, Joseph William and Gertrude Verdon and she had one brother, William Vernon... 17. Rod Steiger Actor, On the Waterfront Rodney Stephen Steiger was born in Westhampton, New York, to Augusta Amelia (Driver) and Frederick Jacob Steiger, both vaudevillians. He was of German and Austrian ancestry. After his parents' divorce, Steiger was raised by his mother in Newark, New Jersey. He dropped out of Westside High school at age 16 and joined the Navy... 18. Honor Blackman Actress, Goldfinger Comparing this sultry-eyed blonde to Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich may seem a bit overzealous, but Honor Blackman's stylish allure over the years cannot be denied. One of four children, Blackman was born in London's East End to a statistician father employed with the civil service and a homemaker mother... 19.

June Lockhart Actress, Lassie Born in New York City on June 25, 1925, the daughter of actors Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart , June Lockhart made her professional debut at age eight in a Metropolitan Opera production of "Peter Ibbetson", playing Mimsey in the dream sequence. In the mid-1930s, the Lockharts relocated to California... 20. Elaine Stritch Actress, One Life to Live A brash, incorrigible scene-stealer now entering her sixth decade in a career that has had many highs and lows, veteran Elaine Stritch certainly lives up to the Stephen Sondheim song "I'm Still Here". Having stolen so many moments on stage that she could be convicted of grand larceny, this tough old broad broaching 80 with the still-shapely legs... 21. Arlene Dahl Actress, One Life to Live Elegance and femininity are fitting descriptions for Arlene Dahl. She is considered to be one of the most beautiful actresses to have graced the screen during the postwar period.

Audiences were captivated by her breathtaking beauty and the way she used to it to her advantage, progressing from claimer to character roles... 22. Lee Grant Actress, In the Heat of the Night Academy Award winner Lee Grant was born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal on October 31, 1925 in Manhattan, New York City, to Witia (Haskell), a teacher and actress, and Abraham Rosenthal, an educator and realtor. Her father was of Romanian Jewish descent, and her mother was a Russian Jewish immigrant. Lee made her stage debut at age 4 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City... 23. Gloria DeHaven Actress, Out to Sea Vaudeville headliners Carter and Flora DeHaven made sure their daughter would be educated at the very best private schools. They also indulged her ambition to be in show business by packing her off to the Mar-Ken Professional School in Hollywood (1940-42). Diminutive of stature and dark-haired, budding musical star Gloria (her nickname then was "Glo") enjoyed collecting perfume... 24.

Robert Altman Director, Gosford Park Robert Altman was born on February 20th, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, to B.C. (an insurance salesman) and Helen Altman. He entered St. Peters Catholic school at the age six, and spent a short time at a Catholic high school. From there, he went to Rockhurst High School. It was then that he started exploring the art of exploring sound with the cheap tape recorders available at the time... 25. Mike Connors Actor, Mannix 26. Oona Chaplin Actress, Broken English Oona O'Neil was born in Warwick Parish, Bermuda, the daughter of famed American playwright Eugene O'Neill and English-born socialite Agnes Boulton. Oona had a fairly happy childhood, although she rarely saw her busy father. During her teens Oona attended boarding school in New York where she met Gloria Vanderbilt and Carol Marcus... 27. Sammy Davis Jr. Self, That's Dancing! Sammy Davis Jr. was often billed as the "greatest living entertainer in the world". He was born in Harlem, Manhattan, the son of dancer Elvera Davis (née Sanchez) and vaudeville star Sammy Davis Sr.

. His father was African-American and his mother was of Puerto Rican ancestry. Davis Jr. was known as someone who could do it all--sing... 28. Hugh O'Brian Actor, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Hugh O'Brian had the term "beefcake" written about him during his nascent film years in the early 1950s, but he chose to avoid the obvious typecast as he set up his career. O'Brian was born Hugh Charles Krampe in Rochester, New York, to Ohio-born parents Edith Lillian (Marks) and Hugh John Krampe, a United States Marine Corps officer... 29. Farley Granger Actor, Strangers on a Train Farley Earle Granger was born in 1925 in San Jose, California, to Eva (Hopkins) and Farley Earle Granger, who owned an automobile dealership. Right out of high school, he was brought to the attention of movie producer Samuel Goldwyn , who cast him in a small role in The North Star . He followed it up with a much bigger part in The Purple Heart and then joined the army... 30.

Eric Fleming Actor, Rawhide At the age of eight, Fleming hopped on a freight train to Chicago to escape his abusive father. Following hospitalization for gang fight injuries, he returned to California where he lived with his mother and worked at Paramount as a laborer. Fleming joined the Merchant Marine, and then he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific in WW II, where he was a Master Carpenter in the Seabees... 31. Lola Albright Actress, Champion After modeling and working for a radio station in Akron, Ohio, Lola Albright moved to Hollywood in the mid-1940s. Considered one of the most stylish, sultriest and beautiful actresses in Hollywood, with one of the throatiest, smokiest and most distinctive voices in the business, she starred with Kirk Douglas in the 1949 hit Champion ... 32. Dorothy Malone Actress, Peyton Place The blonde, sultry, dreamy-eyed beauty of Dorothy Malone, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, took some time before it made an impact with American filmgoing audiences.

But once she did, she played it for all it was worth in her one chance Academy Award-winning "bad girl" performance, a role quite unlike the classy and straight-laced lady herself... 33. Johnny Carson Self, The Johnny Carson Show Johnny Carson, the legendary "King of Late Night TV" who dominated the medium's nether hours for three decades, was born in Corning, Iowa, but moved with his family to nearby Norfolk, Nebraska when he was eight years old. It was in Norfolk, where he lived until he was inducted into the US Navy in 1943... 34. John Fiedler Actor, 12 Angry Men Typical of busy character actors, Fiedler made his face (and voice) recognizable to millions. Many know the bald-pated Fiedler as therapy patient "Mr. Peterson" on The Bob Newhart Show ; others might first recognize him for the 1968 movie, The Odd Couple , and spin-off TV show, The Odd Couple , or perhaps even from the Broadway play that preceded them... 35. Sam Peckinpah Writer, The Wild Bunch "If they move", commands stern-eyed William Holden , "kill 'em".

So begins The Wild Bunch , Sam Peckinpah's bloody, high-body-count eulogy to the mythologized Old West. "Pouring new wine into the bottle of the Western, Peckinpah explodes the bottle", observed critic Pauline Kael . That exploding bottle... 36. Jeanne Crain Actress, State Fair Jeanne Crain was born in Barstow, California, on May 25, 1925. The daughter of a high school English teacher and his wife, Jeanne was moved to Los Angeles not long after her birth after her father got another teaching position in that city. While in junior high school, Jeanne played the lead in a school production which set her on the path to acting... 37. Robert Hardy Actor, All Creatures Great and Small One of England's most enduringly successful character actors, Robert Hardy is noted for his versatility and depth. Born in Cheltenham in 1925, he studied at Oxford University and, in 1949, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. Television viewers most fondly remember him... 38.

Morgan Woodward Actor, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp 39. Jonathan Winters Writer, The Jonathan Winters Show Jonathan Harshman Winters III was born on November 11, 1925 in Dayton, Ohio. His father, also Jonathan, was a banker who became an alcoholic after being crushed in the Great Depression. His parents divorced in 1932. Jonathan and his mother then moved to Springfield to live with his grandmother. There his mother remarried and became a radio personality... 40. Rosemary Murphy Actress, To Kill a Mockingbird 42. John Neville Actor, The Fifth Element When he was in his early sixties, Terry Gilliam cast him in the title role of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen . Although the film was a financial failure, his starring role in this major production, as well as his fine performance, led to an explosion in his career. He has since had numerous roles in feature films and television... 43.

Dickie Moore Actor, Out of the Past Dickie Moore made his acting and screen debut at the age of 18 months in the 1927 John Barrymore film The Beloved Rogue as a baby, and by the time he had turned 10 he was a popular child star and had appeared in 52 films. He continued as a child star for many more years, and became the answer to the trivia question... 44. Steve Forrest Actor, Spies Like Us A ruggedly handsome action man of the 1960s and '70s, Steve Forrest was born William Forrest Andrews in Huntsville, Texas, the youngest of thirteen children of Annis (Speed) and Charles Forrest Andrews, a Baptist minister. His brother was actor Dana Andrews . Forrest began his screen career as a small part contract player with MGM... 45. Warren Frost Actor, Twin Peaks Born and raised in upstate Vermont, Warren Frost left home at age 17 to enlist in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After his service, he worked mainly in theater.

He has a doctorate in theater arts from the University of Minnesota and a published playwright with four plays to his credit and has writen a novel. 46. Kasey Rogers Actress, Strangers on a Train Kasey Rogers was born Josie Imogene Rogers in Morehouse, Missouri, to Ina Mae (Mocabee) and Eben Elijah Rogers. She moved with her family to California at age two and a half. She got the nickname "Casey" when her neighborhood playmates discovered how well she handled a baseball bat ("I could hit a baseball farther than anybody in grammar school except Robert Lewis... 47. Virginia Capers Actress, Ferris Bueller's Day Off With plenty of heart and soul, actress Virginia Capers served up loads of music in a career that spanned several decades. Born in 1925, she attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., then studied voice at Juilliard in Manhatten. By happenstance, she was introduced to band leader Abe Lyman who hired her for his radio program and for on-the-road tours... 48.

Tony Curtis - Film Actor - Biography.com Tony Curtis From 'Some Like It Hot' to 'The Defiant Ones,' Tony Curtis was the reigning Hollywood heartthrob of the 1950s. He's also known as actress Jamie Lee Curtis's dad. IN THESE GROUPS “My longevity is due to my good timing.” “Where there is no art show, I would still be painting.” Tony Curtis Synopsis Born in New York on June 3, 1925, Tony Curtis's piercing blue eyes and good looks gained him a great deal of attention at a young age. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy and serving in World War II, the aspiring actor moved to Hollywood, California. His career took off following his high-profile marriage to Janet Leigh in 1951, which produced daughters Kelly Lee and Jamie Lee Curtis. In the late 1950s and '60s, Curtis starred in films like Houdini, Operation Petticoat, Some Like It Hot, The Defiant Ones and Spartacus. He later appeared in a variety of low-profile films and on various television shows.

He died of cardiac arrest on September 30, 2010, in Henderson, Nevada. Early Life Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in the Bronx, New York, to Hungarian Jewish immigrants Helen and Emanuel Schwartz. Curtis's father owned a tailor shop, and he and his family lived behind the business in a cramped apartment. His parents slept in one room, and Curtis shared the other with his two brothers, Julius and Robert. Curtis's mother suffered from schizophrenia, and often beat the boys. In 1933, during the economic struggles of the Great Depression, Curtis's parents could no longer care for the boys financially. Tony 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 1938, Julius was hit by a truck and killed. He was 12 years old. 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. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S.

Navy, serving in World War II aboard the submarine U.S.S. Proteus. 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. Career Highlights Tony Curtis's boyish good looks helped him to land a contract with Universal Pictures in 1948. 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). Thanks in large part to his high-profile marriage to Hollywood beauty Janet Leigh in 1951, Curtis went on to star in a string of successful roles in the late 1950s and '60s, including Houdini (1953), in which Leigh was his co-star.

Other films include the military comedy Operation Petticoat (1959); the famed romantic comedy Some Like It Hot, with co-star Marilyn Monroe; and the Stanley Kubrick historical epic Spartacus (1960) which he co-starred along with Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. Personal Life The star's career all but collapsed in 1962, however, when he divorced Janet Leigh after having an affair with 17-year-old German actress Christine Kaufmann. By then, he and Leigh had two children: Kelly Lee and Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis and Kaufmann married in 1963 and divorced in 1967. Shortly thereafter, in 1968, the actor married 23-year-old model Leslie Allen. Following their 1982 divorce, he would have three more marriages—to Andrea Savio (1984-1992), Lisa Deutsch (1993-1994) and Jill Vandenberg (from 1998 until his death in 2010). In addition to six different marriages, Curtis engaged in several high-profile romances with icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood.

By the 1970s, Curtis was struggling with an addiction to alcohol and drugs. In his later career, he appeared in a variety of low-profile films and on various TV shows, but eventually headed to rehab in 1982 and reinvented himself as a fine art painter. He also wrote published two autobiographies during this time: Tony Curtis: The Autobiography (1994) and American Prince: A Memoir. In 2002, he toured in a musical adaptation of Some Like It Hot. His final film was David & Fatima (2008). By then he was struggling with frequent health issues, which included heart bypass surgery in 1994 and a recurring battle with obstructive pulmonary disease. Tony Curtis died on September 30, 2010, at the age of 85, in Henderson, Nevada, of cardiac arrest. He was survived by his sixth wife, Jill VandenBerg; his two daughters with Janet Leigh, Kelly Lee and Jamie Lee; two daughters with Christine Kaufmann, Alexandra and Allegra; and a son, Benjamin, with Leslie Allen. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness.

If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information Tony Curtis Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth Tony Curtis Net Worth Tony Curtis net worth: $60 Million Tony Curtis Net Worth: Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades who had a net worth of $60 million dollars. Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925 in New York City, New York. Curtis arrived in Hollywood in 1948 when he was 23 years old. When he was placed under contract at Universal Pictures, he changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis. He had his greatest popularity as an actor and heartthrob during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama. In his earliest parts he acted in a string of mediocre films, including swashbucklers westerns, light comedies, sports films, and a musical. He won his first serious recognition as a skilled dramatic actor in 1957's "Sweet Smell of Success".

The following year he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in another drama, "The Defiant Ones". Curtis then gave what could arguably be called his best performance: three interrelated roles in the 1959 comedy "Some Like It Hot". That was followed by Blake Edwards's comedy. Curtis was married six times. Jamie Lee Curtis is his daughter. Bernard Schwartz Income - Tony Curtis Net Worth Bernard Schwartz Income Read more... Tony Curtis Tony Curtis Net Worth is $60 Million. Tony Curtis was a well known actor of films, with a net worth of $60 million. Tony Curtis accumulated his net worth through his many dramatic and comedic roles in films and television, as well as voice over actor. Tony Curtis (born Bernard Sc... Tony Curtis Net Worth is $60 Million. Tony Curtis Net Worth is $60 Million. Tony Curtis was a well known actor of films, with a net worth of $60 million.

Tony Curtis accumulated his net worth through his many dramatic and comedic roles in films and television, as well as voice over actor Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 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 1950s 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 with his wife Janet Leigh, "his first clear success," notes critic David Thomson, his acting had progressed immensely. He won his first serious recognition a...

YouGov | What the world thinks | Tony Curtis (Actor) Type Actor Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; 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 (...) read full article at Wikipedia Which rating would you choose for Tony Curtis? Ratings About Fans of Tony Curtis ? People who dislike this actor describe this actor as.. People who like this actor describe this actor as... Natural (1) JUF : Tweens : Celebrities : Tony Curtis JUF's Jewish Celebrities Tony Curtis Tony Curtis, who died near the end of 2010, was one of the last actors remaining from what many call Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” You’ve heard of Cary Grant, Clark Gable, and Jimmy Stewart? Tony was from that time, and is just as good as any of them. Tony was born as Bernard Schwartz in 1925 (which means was over 80!) and has been in more than 100 movies. He’s also Jamie Lee Curtis ’ dad!

We’re telling you about him now because he was in a movie just before he died, his most Jewish one ever. It’s called David and Fatima, and it’s set in today’s Israel. It’s a Romeo and Juliet-type story, except David is Israeli and Fatima is Palestinian. Another classic Jewish actor, Martin Landau , is in it, as is Jewish up-and-comer Sascha Knopf . This is not Tony’s first role playing a Jewish character, however; he has also played two famous Jewish figures from the 20th Century. One was the master magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (one of David Blaine ’s influences). The other was the notorious gangster Louis “Lepke” Buchalter. Tony has incredible range. Probably his most famous movie is Some Like it Hot, which stars Marilyn Monroe (who converted to Judaism to marry Arthur Miller) as a nightclub singer. Tony and Jack Lemmon are on the run from the mob, so they disguise themselves as women and join Marilyn's act!

It was directed by late great Jewish director Billy Wilder (more about him in the Bonus area below)… and it’s considered by the American Film Institute to be the #1 best American comedy of the first 100 years of movies! Tony’s other great comedy, Operation Petticoat, co-starred Cary Grant. They were officers on a submarine that rescues some nurses. Also, they run out of paint for their sub, so they end up making it… pink! In real life, Tony was in the Navy before he went into acting, and served on a real submarine. In fact, he got to witness the Japanese surrender that ended World War II! Tony has also been in some great dramas, too. He was in the classic Western Winchester ’73, starring Jimmy Stewart and the late great Jewish actress Shelley Winters (see this Bonus). He was in the swords-and-sandals epic Sparticus, which stars Kirk Douglas as the original rebellious gladiator (sorry, Russell Crowe!). He was in The Sweet Smell of Success, about an actor trying to win the favor of a gossip columnist played by Burt Lancaster.

And Tony was nominated for an Oscar in The Defiant Ones; he and African-American Sidney Poitier (say: PWAT-ee-ay), although from different racial backgrounds, are convicts who must work together to escape the sherriff… played by legendary Jewish singer and actor Theodore Bikel. Bernie was born in the US, but his parents were from Hungary (after he got famous, Tony did tourism ads for that country!). His dad was a tailor, and they lived in an apartment behind the shop, which was common back then. Tony worked for his dad for a while, delivering clothes, then served in the military, which we mentioned above. Then Bernie studied acting with the late great Jewish actor Walter Matthau (see this Bouns). Bernie changed his name to Tony Curtis when he went to Hollywood at 23. For a while, he was so popular that Elvis copied his hairstyle! Even though he acted ustil justbefore he died, Tony mainly focused on another art twoard the end of his life, painting, which he had been doing since the 1980s. Tony also played the flute!

Speaking of music, he is one of the people the Beatles chose to put on the cover of their album Seargent Pepper’s Lonley Hearts Club Band (we bet your parents have it!) Tony also hated smoking so much he helped both Michael Caine and Roger Moore quit! We will miss Tony, but will keep him alive in our hearts... and our Netflix cues! Bonus: Billy Wilder, who directed Marylin Monroe in Some Like it Hot and The Seven-Year Itch, was one of the most important and influential diectors in Hollywood history. But many people don’t know that he also wrote many of his screenplays. Most of these starred Jack Lemmon, either with Shirley MacLaine (The Apartment, Irma La Douce), or Walter Matthau (The Fortune Cookie, The Front Page). Billy also put tough-guy actors in other kinds of roles. He put Humphrey Bogart in a romance (Sabrina), James Cagney in a comedy (One, Two, Three), and Jimmy Stewart in an adventure story (The Spirit of St. Louis, about Charles Lindbergh).

Yes, Billy both wrote and directed all of these, too, and also the gritty classics Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., and The Lost Weekend. Billy was nominated for a Best Director Oscar eight times (winning twice), and for Best Writer Oscar an amazing 12 times (winning three times)! He won directing and writing for The Lost Weekend… and both plus Best Picture for The Apartment. All of this is more amazing when you realize that Billy didn’t even speak English when he arrived in America! He was a reporter and screenwriter in Berlin when he realized that being Jewish was going to be a problem under Hitler, so be moved here. Luckily, he roomed with Jewish actor Peter Lorre (most famous for his role in Casablanca), who helped Billy break into American film. Actor Tony Curtis. Biography and Filmography Tony Curtis. Buy movies Tony Curtis 3 June 1925 The Bronx, New York, USA Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m) What makes a Tony Curtis performance so compelling is you never know what to expect.

Tony Curtis has always been an actor who has refused to play it safe, and has devoted his working life to performing in a vast array of characters, as Curtis has alternatively played the handsome leading man, the sidekick, the comic relief, the villain and a host of other roles that demonstrate how versatile he is. Yet what stands out about all his performances in the inner vulnerability and humility he finds in his unsympathetic characters and the never-say-die attitude of the heroes he plays. However, his unique ability to tap into what makes his characters tick comes as no surprise, seeing as how Curtis' own life was also one of triumph over adversity and fighting the odds.Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on the 3rd of June, 1925, the eldest of three children to immigrant parents, Emanuel and Helen Schwartz. Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks", and learned from a young age that the only person who ever had his back was himself, so he learned how to take care of both himself and younger brother Julius.

Curtis grew up in poverty, as his father Emanuel, who worked as a tailor, had the sole responsibility of providing for his entire family on his meager income. This led to constant bickering between Curtis' parents over money, and Curtis began to go… Show more » What makes a Tony Curtis performance so compelling is you never know what to expect. Tony Curtis has always been an actor who has refused to play it safe, and has devoted his working life to performing in a vast array of characters, as Curtis has alternatively played the handsome leading man, the sidekick, the comic relief, the villain and a host of other roles that demonstrate how versatile he is. Yet what stands out about all his performances in the inner vulnerability and humility he finds in his unsympathetic characters and the never-say-die attitude of the heroes he plays. However, his unique ability to tap into what makes his characters tick comes as no surprise, seeing as how Curtis' own life was also one of triumph over adversity and fighting the odds.Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on the 3rd of June, 1925, the eldest of three children to immigrant parents, Emanuel and Helen Schwartz.

Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks", and learned from a young age that the only person who ever had his back was himself, so he learned how to take care of both himself and younger brother Julius. Curtis grew up in poverty, as his father Emanuel, who worked as a tailor, had the sole responsibility of providing for his entire family on his meager income. This led to constant bickering between Curtis' parents over money, and Curtis began to go to movies as a way of briefly escaping the constant worries of poverty and other family problems.The financial strain of raising two children on a meager income became so tough that in 1935 Curtis' parents decided that their children would have a better life under the care of the state, and briefly had Tony and his brother admitted to an orphanage. During this lonely time the only companion Curtis had was his brother Julius, and the two became inseparable as they struggled to get used to this new way of life.

Weeks later Curtis' parents came back to reclaim custody of Tony and his brother , but by then Curtis had learned one of life's toughest lessons: the only person you can count on is yourself.In 1938, shortly before Tony had his bar mitzvah, tragedy struck when Tony lost the person most important to him, when his brother Julius was killed after being hit by a truck. After this tragedy, Curtis' parents became convinced that a formal education was the best way that Tony could avoid the same "never knowing where your next meal is coming from" life that they had. However, Tony rejected this as he felt that learning about literary classics and algebra wasn't going to advance him in life as much as some real hands-on life experience would.Tony was to find this real life experience a few years later when he enlisted in the Marines in 1942.

Tony spent the next three years getting the life experience he desired, as he did everything from working as a crewman on a submarine to honing his future craft as an actor by performing as a sailor in a stage play at the Navy Signalman School in Illinois.In 1945 Curtis was honorably discharged from the navy and when he realized that the GI Bill would allow him to go to acting school without paying for it, Tony now saw that his lifelong pipe-dream of being an actor might actually be achievable. Tony auditioned for the New York Dramtic Workshop, and after being accepted on the strength of his audition piece (A scene from 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' in pantomime) Tony enrolled in early 1947. Tony then began to pay his dues by appearing in a slew on stage productions, including "Twelfth Night" and "Golden Boy". Tony then saw a small theatrical agent named Joyce Selznick, who was the niece of film producer David Selznick. After seeing his potential, Sleznick arranged an interview for Tony to see David Selznick at Universal Studios, where Tony was offered a seven year contract.

After changing his name to what he saw as an elegant, mysterious moniker 'Tony Curtis' (Named after the novel 'Anthony Adverse' by Harvey Allen and a cousin of Tony's named Janush Kertiz), Tony began making a name for himself by appearing in small, offbeat roles in small-budget productions. Tony's first notable performance was a two minute role in 'Criss Cross' (1949), with Burt Lancaster, in which he makes Lancaster jealous by dancing with Yvonne De Carlo. This off-beat role resulted in Curtis being typecast as heavies for the next few years, such as playing a gang-member in 'City Across the River'.Curtis continued to build up a show-reel by accepting any paying job, as he acted in a number of bit-part roles for the next few years. It wasn't until late 1949 that Tony finally got the chance to demonstrate his acting flair, as he was cast in an important role in an Action-Western, Sierra (1950). On the strength of his performance in this, Tony was finally cast in a big-budget movie, Winchester '73 (1950).

While Tony only appears in this movie very briefly, it was a chance to for him to act alongside a Hollywood legend, Jimmy Stewart.As his career developed, Curtis wanted to act in movies that had some kind of social relevance, movies that would challenge audiences, so he began to appear in movies such as Spartacus and The Defiant Ones. Tony was advised against appearing as the subordinate sidekick in Spartacus, playing second fiddle to the equally as famous Kirk Douglas. However, Curtis saw no problem with this as the had recently acted together in dual leading roles in The Vikings. Off-Screen, Curtis became equally famous for his romantic escapades, as he had relationships with a number of famous actresses, including Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, and of course, Janet Leigh.Despite having worked in movies for sixty years, Curtis' performances continue to resonate with the same spark they had when he was just starting out. It's been said that the closet thing America has to royalty are genuine movie stars, and Curtis is a prime example of one.

Despite having an extremely tough childhood full of tragedy, much like many of the characters he has portrayed, Curtis refused to do what was expected of him and follow his father's footsteps, and all of his experiences, whether it be the death of his brother or living in an orphanage, contributed to Curtis' driving ambition that would not sway. American National Biography Online Click Print on your browser to print the article. Close this window to return to the ANB Online. Curtis, Tony (3 June 1925-29 Sept. 2010), Hollywood film star, was born Bernard Schwartz in New York City, the eldest son of Emanuel Schwartz, a tailor, and Helen Klein. A child of immigrant Hungarian Jews, ten-year-old Bernard was badly beaten by older German boys from Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood, an area he called "Nazi land." This early introduction to anti-Semitism, along with time spent in an orphanage because his parents could not afford to feed him or his younger brother, Julius, and the death of Julius when he was run over by a truck, toughened the inexperienced boy. After Julius's death, Bernard was often physically abused by his mother, who suffered from schizophrenia--another early traumatic experience.

In 1943 seventeen-year-old Bernard Schwartz enlisted in the navy and spent time in Guam aboard USS Proteus, a submarine tender; at the end of the war, through binoculars, Schwartz witnessed the signing of the peace treaty with Japan in Tokyo Bay. After leaving the service, Schwartz moved into his parents' home in the Bronx and enrolled in the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research under the GI Bill. His peers included the future stars Walter Matthau, Harry Belafonte, Rock Hudson, Rod Steiger, and Bea Arthur. Athletic and extremely good-looking, Schwartz quickly landed jobs in the Catskills and in the Yiddish theater in Chicago. Schwartz was soon noticed by the casting agent Joyce Selznick, niece of the producer David O. Selznick, and in 1948 the twenty-three-year-old actor was off to Hollywood under contract to Universal Studios at seventy-five dollars per week. He changed his name from Bernie Schwartz to the more Hollywood-like Anthony Curtis (first name from the costume drama Anthony Adverse, and last name from a form of his mother's Hungarian family name, Kurtis).

The gregarious young actor quickly adapted to the fast-paced Southern California lifestyle and delighted in his new celebrity friends Marlon Brando, Jerry Lewis, Gene Kelly, and especially Frank Sinatra, with whom he maintained a lifelong relationship. In his first movie, Criss Cross (1949), an uncredited Curtis was cast in a two-minute scene doing the rumba with Yvonne de Carlo. His first break came in late 1949 with a large role in Sierra, a western starring the war hero Audie Murphy. Curtis's first big-budget film was Winchester '73 (1950), featuring Jimmy Stewart. At this early point in his career, Curtis was still best known primarily for his rich black hair and bragged that many young American men copied his look, including a teenage Elvis Presley. After playing the field with a string of starlets, in 1951 Curtis married the budding actress Janet Leigh, with whom he had two daughters, Kelly and Jamie. For a time in the mid-1950s Curtis and the glamorous Leigh were one of Hollywood's golden couples. Curtis's first leading role came in the acclaimed biopic Houdini (1953).

As his star rose in the movie industry, Curtis became a client of the Hollywood powerbroker Lew Wasserman, who booked him in a leading role opposite Burt Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida in Trapeze (1956). Two years and five pictures later (including Sweet Smell of Success [1957], where he played a hustling Broadway press agent), the director Stanley Kramer cast Curtis as an escaped prisoner chained to a black convict, played by Sidney Poitier, in The Defiant Ones, which established his reputation as a serious actor. In 1959 Curtis reached the pinnacle of his career in Billy Wilder's comic masterpiece Some Like It Hot, in which he portrayed Joe, a saxophone player. Joe and his fellow musician and best friend, Jerry (played by Jack Lemmon), accidently witness the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. With gangsters in hot pursuit, Joe and Jerry decide to cross-dress and join an all-girl band, posing as Josephine and Daphne.

Curtis took on a third role in Wilder's farce when he assumed the identity of Junior, mimicking his early role model, Cary Grant, in order to woo singer Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, played by the sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. Curtis's last two notable films were Spartacus (1960) and The Boston Strangler (1968). Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted during the McCarthy era, starred Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, who leads a slave revolt against the Romans, and Laurence Olivier as Crassus, a Roman general out to stop him. Curtis played the young slave Antoninus, loyal to Spartacus. The controversial bathhouse scene in which Crassus makes a homosexual pass at Antoninus was cut from the film and not restored until 1991. In the biopic The Boston Strangler, Curtis put on weight and played against type for his darkest role, as suspected serial killer Albert DeSalvo. After Janet Leigh's great success in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), her fame rivaled that of her husband's.

However, because of Curtis's chronic infidelity and Leigh's growing alcoholism, the two stars divorced in 1962. A year later Curtis married the eighteen-year-old German starlet Christine Kaufmann, with whom he had costarred in Taras Bulba (1962). Kaufmann bore him two more daughters before they divorced in 1968. Curtis married four more times: Leslie Allen (1968-1982), Andrea Savio (1984-1992), Lisa Deutsch (1993-1994), and Jill VandenBerg (1998-2010), with whom he lived happily for the rest of his life. Curtis had two sons with Allen. Their eldest, Nicholas, died of a heroin overdose in 1994, and Curtis himself developed a heavy alcohol and cocaine habit in the late 1970s. In 1984 he spent time rehabilitating from his addictions at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, California. Because Curtis was being offered fewer good film roles, in his later years he tried to establish himself as a television actor.

Unhappy with his limited success on the small screen, he turned to painting as a new outlet for his creative talents. Influenced by Picasso, Magritte, Matisse, and Chagall, Curtis's best paintings commanded upward of $25,000. Because he had concentrated his energies on his burgeoning film career, Curtis always regretted not being closer to his children, especially the actress Jamie Lee Curtis, but in 1990 father and daughter worked together, publicizing their Hungarian-Jewish heritage to raise money to rebuild the war-ravaged Great Synagogue in Budapest. Curtis also funded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture and dedicated the organization to Jewish Holocaust victims. Weary of cutthroat Hollywood culture, in 1998 Curtis moved to Las Vegas, where his longtime friend, the casino owner Kirk Kerkorian, hosted Curtis's marriage to Jill VandenBerg at the billionaire's MGM Grand hotel. The newlyweds built a ranch outside Las Vegas and quickly established the Shiloh Horse Sanctuary, dedicated to rescuing horses from abuse or neglect.

In 2008 the couple appeared in The Jill and Tony Curtis Story documenting their work on the ranch and encouraging legislators to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Throughout a legendary film career that lasted more than half a century, Tony Curtis parlayed his classic good looks and easy charm into large and small roles in more than 130 feature films. One of the last great Hollywood contract players, Curtis was disappointed that he never won an Oscar, but he was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor in a leading role for The Defiant Ones and was nominated for two Golden Globes as best actor in in that role as well as for The Boston Strangler. Curtis was also proud that he was an honorary member of Hollywood's infamous Rat Pack and partied regularly with Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. In 1994 Curtis underwent heart bypass surgery; in 2006 he was hospitalized with obstructive pulmonary disease. He remained in a drug-induced coma for more than a month, and after intensive rehabilitation he was well enough to make one last movie, David and Fatima (2008). He continued painting and writing poetry until his death at his home in Henderson, Nevada.

Bibliography Curtis wrote two autobiographies, Tony Curtis: The Autobiography (with Barry Paris, 1993) and American Prince: A Memoir (with Peter Golenbock, 2008), as well as The Making of Some Like It Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie (with Mark A. Vieira, 2009). Many of Curtis's sketches, assemblages, collages, and paintings are housed at the Gallerie Amsterdam in Carmel, California. An obituary appeared in the New York Times, 30 Sept. 2010. Bruce L. Janoff Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary Actor Tony Curtis. Biography and Filmography Tony Curtis. Buy movies Tony Curtis 3 June 1925 The Bronx, New York, USA Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m) What makes a Tony Curtis performance so compelling is you never know what to expect.

Tony Curtis has always been an actor who has refused to play it safe, and has devoted his working life to performing in a vast array of characters, as Curtis has alternatively played the handsome leading man, the sidekick, the comic relief, the villain and a host of other roles that demonstrate how versatile he is. Yet what stands out about all his performances in the inner vulnerability and humility he finds in his unsympathetic characters and the never-say-die attitude of the heroes he plays. However, his unique ability to tap into what makes his characters tick comes as no surprise, seeing as how Curtis' own life was also one of triumph over adversity and fighting the odds.Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on the 3rd of June, 1925, the eldest of three children to immigrant parents, Emanuel and Helen Schwartz. Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks", and learned from a young age that the only person who ever had his back was himself, so he learned how to take care of both himself and younger brother Julius.

Curtis grew up in poverty, as his father Emanuel, who worked as a tailor, had the sole responsibility of providing for his entire family on his meager income. This led to constant bickering between Curtis' parents over money, and Curtis began to go… Show more » What makes a Tony Curtis performance so compelling is you never know what to expect. Tony Curtis has always been an actor who has refused to play it safe, and has devoted his working life to performing in a vast array of characters, as Curtis has alternatively played the handsome leading man, the sidekick, the comic relief, the villain and a host of other roles that demonstrate how versatile he is. Yet what stands out about all his performances in the inner vulnerability and humility he finds in his unsympathetic characters and the never-say-die attitude of the heroes he plays. However, his unique ability to tap into what makes his characters tick comes as no surprise, seeing as how Curtis' own life was also one of triumph over adversity and fighting the odds.Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on the 3rd of June, 1925, the eldest of three children to immigrant parents, Emanuel and Helen Schwartz.

Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the "school of hard knocks", and learned from a young age that the only person who ever had his back was himself, so he learned how to take care of both himself and younger brother Julius. Curtis grew up in poverty, as his father Emanuel, who worked as a tailor, had the sole responsibility of providing for his entire family on his meager income. This led to constant bickering between Curtis' parents over money, and Curtis began to go to movies as a way of briefly escaping the constant worries of poverty and other family problems.The financial strain of raising two children on a meager income became so tough that in 1935 Curtis' parents decided that their children would have a better life under the care of the state, and briefly had Tony and his brother admitted to an orphanage. During this lonely time the only companion Curtis had was his brother Julius, and the two became inseparable as they struggled to get used to this new way of life.

Weeks later Curtis' parents came back to reclaim custody of Tony and his brother , but by then Curtis had learned one of life's toughest lessons: the only person you can count on is yourself.In 1938, shortly before Tony had his bar mitzvah, tragedy struck when Tony lost the person most important to him, when his brother Julius was killed after being hit by a truck. After this tragedy, Curtis' parents became convinced that a formal education was the best way that Tony could avoid the same "never knowing where your next meal is coming from" life that they had. However, Tony rejected this as he felt that learning about literary classics and algebra wasn't going to advance him in life as much as some real hands-on life experience would.Tony was to find this real life experience a few years later when he enlisted in the Marines in 1942.

Tony spent the next three years getting the life experience he desired, as he did everything from working as a crewman on a submarine to honing his future craft as an actor by performing as a sailor in a stage play at the Navy Signalman School in Illinois.In 1945 Curtis was honorably discharged from the navy and when he realized that the GI Bill would allow him to go to acting school without paying for it, Tony now saw that his lifelong pipe-dream of being an actor might actually be achievable. Tony auditioned for the New York Dramtic Workshop, and after being accepted on the strength of his audition piece (A scene from 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' in pantomime) Tony enrolled in early 1947. Tony then began to pay his dues by appearing in a slew on stage productions, including "Twelfth Night" and "Golden Boy". Tony then saw a small theatrical agent named Joyce Selznick, who was the niece of film producer David Selznick. After seeing his potential, Sleznick arranged an interview for Tony to see David Selznick at Universal Studios, where Tony was offered a seven year contract.

After changing his name to what he saw as an elegant, mysterious moniker 'Tony Curtis' (Named after the novel 'Anthony Adverse' by Harvey Allen and a cousin of Tony's named Janush Kertiz), Tony began making a name for himself by appearing in small, offbeat roles in small-budget productions. Tony's first notable performance was a two minute role in 'Criss Cross' (1949), with Burt Lancaster, in which he makes Lancaster jealous by dancing with Yvonne De Carlo. This off-beat role resulted in Curtis being typecast as heavies for the next few years, such as playing a gang-member in 'City Across the River'.Curtis continued to build up a show-reel by accepting any paying job, as he acted in a number of bit-part roles for the next few years. It wasn't until late 1949 that Tony finally got the chance to demonstrate his acting flair, as he was cast in an important role in an Action-Western, Sierra (1950). On the strength of his performance in this, Tony was finally cast in a big-budget movie, Winchester '73 (1950).

While Tony only appears in this movie very briefly, it was a chance to for him to act alongside a Hollywood legend, Jimmy Stewart.As his career developed, Curtis wanted to act in movies that had some kind of social relevance, movies that would challenge audiences, so he began to appear in movies such as Spartacus and The Defiant Ones. Tony was advised against appearing as the subordinate sidekick in Spartacus, playing second fiddle to the equally as famous Kirk Douglas. However, Curtis saw no problem with this as the had recently acted together in dual leading roles in The Vikings. Off-Screen, Curtis became equally famous for his romantic escapades, as he had relationships with a number of famous actresses, including Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, and of course, Janet Leigh.Despite having worked in movies for sixty years, Curtis' performances continue to resonate with the same spark they had when he was just starting out. It's been said that the closet thing America has to royalty are genuine movie stars, and Curtis is a prime example of one.

Despite having an extremely tough childhood full of tragedy, much like many of the characters he has portrayed, Curtis refused to do what was expected of him and follow his father's footsteps, and all of his experiences, whether it be the death of his brother or living in an orphanage, contributed to Curtis' driving ambition that would not sway.

Question: Which late US actor was born Bernard Schwartz in 1925?
Answer: Tony Curtis