Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz, the eldest of three children of Helen (Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz, Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Curtis has acknowledged that he received little formal education but learned from an early age through life's challenges, taking care of both himself and his younger brother, Julius. Growing up in poverty, his father, Emanuel, a tailor, struggled to support the family on a limited income. The financial strain led to frequent arguments between his parents, and Curtis often turned to movies as an escape. In 1935, due to the financial difficulties, his parents briefly sent Tony and Julius to an orphanage, believing it might offer them a better life. During this time, the brothers became very close. Weeks later, his parents reclaimed custody, but the experience taught Curtis an early lesson about self-reliance. In 1938, shortly before Tony's Bar Mitzvah, his brother Julius was killed in a truck accident, a tragedy that deeply affected him. His parents then believed a formal education would help Tony avoid the hardships they had faced, but Tony preferred hands-on experience. He found such experience when he enlisted in the navy in 1942, spending over two years working as a crewman on the submarine tender USS Proteus (AS-19) and performing in a stage play at the Navy Signalman School in Illinois. Discharged in 1945, he used the GI Bill to attend acting school after being accepted into the New York Dramatic Workshop in 1947. He began his stage career with roles in productions such as "Twelfth Night" and "Golden Boy," and was represented by agent Joyce Selznick, niece of producer David O. Selznick. Through her, he met Selznick, who offered him a seven-year contract at Universal Studios. After changing his name to Tony Curtis, inspired by the novel *Anthony Adverse* (1936) and a cousin named Janush Kertiz, he began appearing in small-budget films. His first notable role was a brief part in *Criss Cross* (1949), opposite Burt Lancaster, which led to being typecast as a heavy in films such as *City Across the River* (1949). Curtis continued to build his reel with bit parts until landing a significant role in the western *Sierra* (1950), which earned him a spot in the big-budget *Winchester '73* (1950), where he acted alongside James Stewart. As his career progressed, he sought roles in socially relevant films, including *The Defiant Ones* (1958) and *Spartacus* (1960). Despite being advised against playing a subordinate role to Kirk Douglas in *Spartacus*, Curtis was comfortable with the arrangement, having previously shared leading roles with Douglas in *The Vikings* (1958).