In 1948, Curtis arrived in Hollywood at age 23. In his autobiography, Curtis described how by chance he met
Jack Warner on the plane to California.
Universal as "Anthony Curtis" Under contract at
Universal Pictures, he changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Anthony Curtis and met unknown actors
Rock Hudson,
James Best,
Julie Adams and
Piper Laurie. The first name was from the novel
Anthony Adverse and "Curtis" was from Kurtz, a surname in his mother's family. Although Universal Pictures taught him fencing and riding, Curtis admitted he was initially only interested in girls and money—adding that he was pessimistic regarding his chances of becoming a major star. Curtis's biggest fear was having to return home to the Bronx as a failure: I was a million-to-one shot, the
least likely to succeed. I wasn't low man on the totem pole, I was
under the totem pole, in a sewer, tied to a sack. Curtis's uncredited screen debut came in the crime drama
Criss Cross (1949) playing a
rumba dancer, dancing with
Yvonne de Carlo. The male star was
Burt Lancaster who would make a number of films with Curtis. In his second film,
City Across the River (also in 1949), he was credited as "Anthony Curtis" He had four lines in
The Lady Gambles (1949) and a bigger part in
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949). He was also in
Francis (1950),
Woman in Hiding (1950), and
I Was a Shoplifter (1950). He was additionally in three Westerns,
Sierra (1950), ''
Winchester '73 (1950), and Kansas Raiders'' (1951), in which he was billed as "Tony Curtis".
Stardom Curtis was receiving numerous fan letters, so Universal gave him the starring role in
The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), a
swashbuckler set in the Middle East with Piper Laurie. It was a hit at the box office and Curtis was now established. He followed it up with
Flesh and Fury (1952), a
boxing movie;
No Room for the Groom (1952), a comedy with Laurie directed by
Douglas Sirk; and
Son of Ali Baba (1952), another film set in the Middle East with Laurie. Curtis then starred with then-wife
Janet Leigh in
Houdini (1953), in which Curtis played the title role. His next movies were more "B" fare:
All American (1953), as a football player;
Forbidden (1953), as a criminal;
Beachhead (1954), a war film;
Johnny Dark (1954), as a racing car driver; and
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), a medieval swashbuckler with Leigh. They were moderately successful financially, and Curtis was growing in popularity. Curtis then starred in the musical
So This Is Paris in (1955), before appearing in
Six Bridges to Cross (1955), as a bank robber;
The Purple Mask (1955), as a swashbuckler; and the boxing film
The Square Jungle (1955).
Major star Curtis graduated to larger projects when he was cast as a co-star of
Burt Lancaster and
Gina Lollobrigida in
Hecht-Lancaster Productions'
Trapeze (1956). It was one of the biggest hits of the year. Curtis and Leigh formed their own independent film production company,
Curtleigh Productions, in early 1955. Curtis made a Western,
The Rawhide Years (1957), was a gambler in
Mister Cory (1957) and a cop in
The Midnight Story (1957). Lancaster asked for him again, to play scheming press agent Sidney Falco in
Sweet Smell of Success (1957), starring and co-produced by Lancaster. The film was a box office disappointment, but Curtis, for the first time in his career, received sensational reviews. Curtis starred alongside
Kirk Douglas and
Janet Leigh in
The Vikings (1958, produced by Douglas'
Bryna Productions), which was a major box office hit. Curtis then co-starred with
Frank Sinatra and
Natalie Wood in the war movie
Kings Go Forth (1958), before starring in
The Defiant Ones the following year as a bigoted white escaped convict chained to a black man (played by
Sidney Poitier). At the
31st Academy Awards, Curtis was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance—losing to
David Niven in
Separate Tables. in
Some Like It Hot (1959) Curtis and Janet Leigh then starred in
Blake Edwards'
The Perfect Furlough (1958). He subsequently co-starred with
Jack Lemmon and
Marilyn Monroe in
Some Like It Hot as well as Cary Grant in
Operation Petticoat (1959). Curtis and Leigh made one more film together
Who Was That Lady? (1960), a comedy with
Dean Martin. He and
Debbie Reynolds then starred in
The Rat Race (1960). He then started in a supporting role in
Spartacus (1960), before making two biopics:
The Great Impostor (1961), directed by
Robert Mulligan, playing
Ferdinand Waldo Demara; and
The Outsider (1961), in which he played war hero
Ira Hayes. He returned to epics with
Taras Bulba (1962), co starring
Yul Brynner and
Christine Kaufmann, who became Curtis's second wife.
Comedic roles On October 6, 1961, Curtis formed a new film production company,
Curtis Enterprises, Incorporated. The company would make
40 Pounds of Trouble, which co-starred Curtis,
Suzanne Pleshette and
Phil Silvers; it was the first motion picture ever filmed at
Disneyland. On August 3, 1962, Curtis formed another new film production company, Reynard Productions, Incorporated. Curtis was one of many stars who had small roles in
The List of Adrian Messenger (1963). He supported
Gregory Peck in
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) and had an uncredited dual role in
Paris When It Sizzles (1964). He and Kaufmann made their third movie together, the comedy
Wild and Wonderful (1964). His focus remained on comedies:
Goodbye Charlie (1964), with Debbie Reynolds;
Sex and the Single Girl (1964), with Natalie Wood;
The Great Race (1965), with Wood and Lemmon for Blake Edwards – the most expensive comedy film up till that time, but popular;
Boeing Boeing (1965) a sex farce with
Jerry Lewis; ''
Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) with George C. Scott; Drop Dead Darling (1966), a British comedy with Rosanna Schiaffino; Don't Make Waves (1967), a satire of beach life from director Alexander Mackendrick, with Claudia Cardinale; and On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1967), an Italian comedy with Monica Vitti. In the early 1960s, he was a voice-over guest star on The Flintstones'' as "Stoney Curtis".
The Boston Strangler Because of the poor performance of a series of comedies, Curtis fired his agent and took a pay cut to $100,000 to play the title role in
The Boston Strangler (1968), his first dramatic film in several years. Response from the critics and public was excellent. He returned to comedy for
Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969), an all-star car race film in the vein of
The Great Race. He made some comic adventure tales: ''
You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) with Charles Bronson and Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came'' (1970). Curtis was signed by British producer
Lew Grade for the TV series,
The Persuaders!, which he co-starred with
Roger Moore. (1971). He was one of the villains in
The Count of Monte Cristo (1975) and had the title role in the gangster film
Lepke (1975). Curtis had the lead in a TV series that did not last,
McCoy (1975–76). He was one of many names in
The Last Tycoon (1976) and had the title role in an Italian comedy
Casanova & Co. (1977). Later, Curtis co-starred as a casino owner in the
Robert Urich 1978–1981 ABC series
Vega$ and appeared in the 1978 movie
The Users.
Later career Curtis supported
Mae West in
Sextette (1978) and starred in
The Manitou (1978), a horror film, and
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), a comedy. He had good roles in
It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980),
Little Miss Marker (1980) and ''
The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) and was one of many stars in The Mirror Crack'd (1980). On ABC, he co-starred from 1978 to 1981 in prime time, as Las Vegas Desert Inn casino owner Philip (Slick) Roth, in 17 episodes of the Aaron Spelling produced series hit series, Vega$. After Vega$
, on television, Curtis continued to make occasional guest appearances (sometimes playing fictional versions of himself) into the mid-2000s. His final TV series was as host of the documentary-retrospective series Hollywood Babylon'' (adapting
Kenneth Anger's
book series) in 1992–1993; each episode would include Curtis recalling some anecdotes from his own career. In 2002, Curtis was in the national tour of
Some Like it Hot, a modified revival of the 1972 musical
Sugar, itself based on the film in which he starred. Curtis played the supporting role of Osgood Fielding.
Painter Throughout his life, Curtis enjoyed painting and, beginning in the early 1980s, painted as a second career. In the last years of his life, he concentrated on painting rather than movies. A surrealist, Curtis claimed
Van Gogh,
Matisse,
Picasso and
Magritte as influences. ==Personal life==