"Acting is something that we all practice at some time in our lives."
Bernard Schwartz, better known as Tony Curtis (June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010), was an American actor from New York City.
His career spanned six decades, but he was mostly popular as a leading man in the late 1950s and early '60s. He played in more than 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to epic movies and serious drama. In his later years, Curtis also made numerous television appearances.
He had six marriages, most notably a highly publicized one to Janet Leigh from 1951 to 1962, and had two daughters with her. One of them is Jamie Lee Curtis.
His filmography includes:
- Winchester '73 (1950; bit part as a cavalryman)
- Trapeze (1956)
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
- The Vikings (1958)
- The Defiant Ones (1958)
- Operation Petticoat (1959)
- Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Spartacus (1960)
- Taras Bulba (1962)
- Paris When It Sizzles (1964; uncredited)
- Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
- The Great Race (1965)
- Boeing Boeing (1965)
- Don't Make Waves (1967)
- The Boston Strangler (1968)
- Rosemary's Baby (1968; uncredited voice)
- Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969)
- The Persuaders! (1971)
- Sextette (1978)
- The Manitou (1978)
- The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1980)
- The Immortals (1985)
- Bounty Hunters 2 Hardball (1997)
- Star Games (1997)
- Play It To The Bone (1999)
- David And Fatima (2008, final film role)
Tropes associated with the actor:
- Fake Nationality: His parents were Hungarian Jews, but he played characters of Italian descent in Trapeze, Sweet Smell of Success, and The Boston Strangler.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: He spoke with a Bronx accent no matter what character he played; this is why the apocryphal line "Yonder lies the castle of my fodda" is associated with him.
- Those Two Actors:
- He was friends with Larry Storch and the two appeared in six films together, including The Great Race.
- Curtis and Natalie Wood appeared in three films together (Kings Go Forth, Sex and the Single Girl, The Great Race) even though they had acrimonious interactions on set.
- He played alongside Kirk Douglas in The Vikings and Spartacus.
- He played with Jack Lemmon in two pictures, Some Like It Hot and The Great Race.
- He played in two films with Burt Lancaster, Trapeze and Sweet Smell of Success.
