Tony Curtis, father of actress Jamie Lee Curtis and 1950s movie heartthrob, has died. He was 85.
The acclaimed star of "Some Like It Hot" died Wednesday night (Sept. 29) in his Henderson, Nev., hom of a cardiac arrest.
Curtis began his film career with films such as "Son of Ali Baba" and "Houdini." It wasn't until he starred in 1957's "Sweet Smell of Success," in which he plays an unscrupulous and sleazy press agent, that he started getting cast in more substantial roles.
A year later, he received an Oscar nomination for his role in "The Defiant Ones." The film paired him with Sidney Poitier as escaped convicts handcuffed to each other.
Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" is seen as one of Hollywood's funniest films. In it, he and Jack Lemmon masquerade as women to hide out in an all-girl band, which includes Marilyn Monroe, after witnessing a mob hit.
Other highlights of his resume include "Spartacus" and "The Great Race."
Curtis' life was also marked by drug and alcohol abuse.
He was also married multiple times. His and his first wife, Janet Leigh of "Psycho," are the parents to Jamie Lee Curtis and daughter Kelly Curtis.
Curtis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a mural of Curtis greets drivers heading southbound on Highway 101 southbound at the Sunset Blvd. exit.
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Photo credit: MPTV Images, United Artists
1950s heartthrob Tony Curtis has died.
He was 85.
He passed away at his Las Vegas area home of a cardiac arrest.
He appeared in such films as Sweet Smell of Success and Some Like It Hot. He earned an Oscar nod for 1958's The Defiant Ones.
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His first wife was Psycho star Janet Leigh; actress Jamie Lee Curtis is their daughter.
After retiring from film and battling drug and alcohol abuse, he turned to painting (some of his canvasses sold for as much as $20,000) later in his life.
"I'm not ready to settle down like an elderly Jewish gentleman, sitting on a bench and leaning on a cane," he said at 60. "I've got a helluva lot of living to do."
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Subscribe & be notified of new videos from CelebTV - www.youtube.com Follow Us! - www.twitter.com Become a Fan! - www.facebook.com Tony Curtis, star of Spartacus and Some Like It Hot, dies at 85 after suffering a heart attack. HOLLYWOOD LEGEND TONY CURTIS DIED WEDNESDAY IN LAS VEGAS OF A HEART ATTACK. THE ACTOR -- WHOSE DAUGHTER IS JAMIE LEE CURTIS -- IS PROBABLY BEST KNOWN FOR HIS ROLE IN THE 1960 EPIC "SPARTACUS" AND AS MARILYN MONROE'S CO-STAR IN "SOME LIKE IT HOT.
Tony Curtis 1925-2010 – with daughter Jamie Lee Curtis
Film actor Tony Curtis, the father of Jamie Lee Curtis, died of cardiac arrest at his Las Vegas home on September 29, 2010. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had been hospitalized in July after suffering an asthma attack. He was 85.
He appeared in over 100 films and was best known for his roles in Some Like It Hot and The Defiant Ones. His played a rumba dancer in his debut film Criss Cross in 1949 following a stint in the Navy during World War II.
Tony made painting his second career beginning in the early 1980’s. In his later years his work was commanding more than $25,000 per canvas. He gravitated to a surrealist style. His painting The Red Table was on display in the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan in 2007 – see photo below.
Curtis, married six times, had been confined to a wheel chair in recent years. He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Jill Vandenberg Curtis, 43, two daughters from his union to actress Janet Lee, and one child from his marriage to Leslie Allen. A son, Nicholas Curtis, died of a heroin overdose at age 23 in 1993.
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More family photos below:
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