Tony Curtis: The Autobiography

by Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis is famous for his roles in films such as "Sweet Smell of Success", "Some Like It Hot" and "The Boston Strangler". He is also renown for saying that kissing Marilyn Monroe was "like kissing Hitler". In this autobiography, the reader can follow his fortunes from life in a New York street gang in the 1930s to the bath scene with Olivier in "Spartacus", from marriage to Janet Leigh, to his descent into alcohol and cocaine addiction in the 1970s. It contains many previously unpublished film stills, production shots and personal snaps.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

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 over 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.

In October 2008, Curtis's autobiography American Prince: A Memoir, was published. In it, he describes his encounters with other Hollywood legends of the time including Frank Sinatra and James Dean, as well as his hard-knock childhood and path to success. It was followed by the publication of his next book, The Making of Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie (2009). Curtis shared his memories of the making of the movie, in particular about Marilyn Monroe.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Curtis has to be one of the most interesting figures of Hollywood past. Arguably the best looking actor in the history of Hollywood and has starred in over 100 films.

His autobiography is refreshingly honest and at times egotistical - but it doesn't detract from the warmth of the story he is telling. He is able to make fun of himself and he can pick out his own faults but at times he is a bit hyper critical of the same faults in others.

The spirit of the man himself comes through in this book - as in the other book of his I have read American Prince. A truly great man - the world is a less amusing place without him.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book-he shares a lot with his readers although he has a huge ego and readily admits to it too. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an up close, personal memoir.

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony tells all about growing up poor in n.y.,and then Rich in Hollywood.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Janet Leigh’s autobiography, and I got her “take” on her eleven-year marriage to Tony Curtis. I thought it would be interesting to hear what he had to say about it, so I went to Tony Curtis: the Autobiography. Written by Tony Curtis with assistance from Barry Paris, the book told me very little about that infamous marriage. In fact, Curtis has almost nothing to say about any of his seven (eight?) marriages. I do have to admit, he does mention Leigh by name sometimes as he tells of some incident, which is more than he does with his other wives. A telling statement when he met some monarch or president or some such: he says he was with whatever wife he was with at the time. And that is telling to me for I found Curtis to be arrogant and self-centered. Yes, according to the “asides” written by Paris, which flesh out the stories Curtis tells, Tony Curtis was beloved by almost everybody. But I don’t buy it. Autobiographies are notorious for being personal accounts that either knowingly or unknowingly embellish stories, invent stories, and sometimes lie in telling stories. Curtis wants us to believe he was a good father, and yet his famous daughter Jamie Lee Curtis says she didn’t really know her dad until she was older and no longer needed him. At that point, she says, she got to know him and thought he was a good man. And I believe that could be true, for we all change as we age. Curtis made over a hundred movies, and he tells of the major ones, but his anecdotes are just that. In order to know about the movies themselves, it is Paris who tells of them. Curtis eventually became an accomplished artist, a painter and a maker of boxes (sort of shadowboxes) and won acclaim for his art. That acclaim and the joy he found in dedicating himself to art seemed to be a mellowing factor because he was much happier as an artist than as an actor. But the bulk of this book focuses on Curtis’s opinions about the movie industry (not great) and how wonderful he was as an actor (as revealed by him.) To his credit, his acting was acclaimed. He was a legend of old Hollywood, albeit the generation of Rock Hudson rather than Clark Gable, and it was enlightening and somewhat enjoyable to read his journey. I have to admit I enjoyed Janet Leigh’s autobiography more, but even she seemed to paint herself as a “goody-two-shoes.” If we can believe Tony Curtis’s accounts of his sexual appetite, I think Leigh was holding back some. But, then again, Curtis claims he was continually having affairs, so maybe Leigh wasn’t fulfilling his needs. Who cares, really? I, for one, didn’t, to the point that I really didn’t need to read his diatribes about his sexual escapades. Nor did I like that he refused—and this was the 1990s, long after “gay liberation”—to use the word gay. He talked of how he loved his homosexual friends (but don’t even think that he, himself, had any of those tendencies) and, to my disgust, often he replaced the word homosexual with the offending “f” word for gay men. As a gay man myself, I was not happy to see this man who professed to be an icon and beloved being so offensive. The time in which he wrote this account was long after he should have developed using the less offensive terms.

[Elvis2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished the book. Unlike American Prince, nearly every other page does not mention how anti-Semitic people in Hollywood were. Instead, on nearly every other page he states how handsome he is. Yes, he was very handsome but drugs, alcohol, and some really bad plastic surgery ended that far too soon. He believed he was the handsomest man to ever hit the movie industry. As someone who has seen many stars of that era up close, I disagree. Tony was short, which detracted from his looks in person. Rock Hudson gets my vote for the handsomest man in movies. Now let's get to the book.

I found his biography very interesting when he told about his childhood and gave us inside information about stars and films that he acted in. He was mostly complimentary to his co-stars. Stories about bedroom conquests were unnecessary, sophomoric, and bogged the book down. What stood out to me was how tragic a figure he was. His childhood was devastating. He became an addict and alcoholic. He went from woman to woman, usually looking for not much more than big breasts, and was a mediocre father, at best, to six children. Money and fame solve only so much, especially when a childhood is so painful.

[Scott Breschini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t finish this but got halfway, reason why was because of how his daughter (Jamie Lee Curtis) viewed him, autobiography’s are interesting. This was a huge star in the 50’s-60’s but it seemed that he wasn’t too involved in his family’s life. Once I read about that through separate media I wasn’t too keen on reading the rest of the book. Tony did have it all looking from the outside in, but everything always comes out as the years go by.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a collection of anecdotes, a lot of them fixated on breasts, and his art is terrible, but this is still an interesting read if only because it spans almost all of 20th Century movie history - he starts out signed to a studio contract (albeit one that's a little more permissive of 'outside' films) and ends up in a TV movie directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger!

[Claudia R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book alright but not to sound prudish, I found his tone very crude and the writing style was slapdash and lackluster. I am mostly interested in how Curtis interacted with his co-stars at the time, rather than the mundane details of his sex life. Some parts were funny, though.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was entertaining to hear this story read by the author. He recognized how lucky he was. I thought he was a little hard on all his wives except the last one. It was fun to hear the back 'stage' happenings while famous movies were being made.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1994. Fascinating portrait one a major star of the 60's, 70's and 80's.

[Bret Minges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Curtis: The Autobiography by Tony Curtis and Barry Paris is an excellent autobiography of Tony Curtis who was one of the most handsome and versatile actors of the 1950's and 1960's.

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a rough and tough childhood in New York in the 30s-40s Bernard Swartz eventually becomes Tony Curtis the film star of the 50s-2098. (The book came out in 1993) He was in around 100 movies/TV Movies/Series, etc. From what I can remember I have seen about 5 of his films. Especially Some Like it Hot! with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon. The Boston Strangler and Houdini.

The book is very well written and fascinating. I just found out he also wrote the book: The Making of Some Like It Hot which is now in my TBR pile.

Trivia: What was Tony Curtis’s last movie?
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[Letitia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Curtis weaves his personal story against the backdrop of Hollywood in the 1950s and '60s.
I read this book because I loved him in the movie "Some Like it Hot," to me, a real Hollywood classic. I never particularly liked any of his other movies, but "Some Like it Hot" was really off the top.
In reading about his personal life, I think he really understood how Hollywood works. But he was very naive about his personal behavior and how it affected his family. Basically, he was a selfish man, who was lucky enough to become a movie star!

[Keith Astbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're into movie biography's then this is well worth a read. Written in the early 90's when Tony Curtis was in his late 60's, it's a great look back at an interesting career. There's lots on his major films like Some Like It Hot and Spartacus, with some funny anecdotes along the way. It's an honest book and Tony clearly has a decent sized ego - he doesn't exactly tire of telling us how good looking he was, but then if I looked like that I wouldn't either! Glad I finally got round to reading it.

[Bethia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seeing that the man has passed, I will not be insulting. It is interesting to learn that Mr. Curtis signed on with the wrong studio, as in the cheaper productions studio, and felt his career was forever handicapped by this fact. Also, he was a rather unapologetic philanderer, but in a good natured way. He goes way back, has worked with everyone.

[Luanne Lusic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony has lead quite a life. Admire his blunt honesty about his life . . . the drugs, promiscuous sex, alienation from his children when they were growing up. He has done great things in the movies, but his faults really bring out his human nature, warts and all. This book was written from his heart, from how he sees the world and his place in it. Awesome read.

[Rachel Kratofil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Curtis story is definitely interesting. Lived a long life with good and bad things. Struggled with childhood issues, was a success in Hollywood, and was notoriously a womanizer. Had issues with his children but made up with them. It's amazing how he started acting in 1948 and saw the changes of Hollywood and embraced it.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cheeky rascal with a permanent glint in his eye. A hugely entertaining read. A working class poor boy made good who enjoyed every minute gifted to him. The kind of bloke you'd want around to cheer the place up. A stag do Captain of the team. They won't be many more personalities like him around soon. Big loss. Thanks for making me laugh Bernie Schwartz!

[Ilena Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely loved this book. full of in-depth gossipy details of Tony's life, from the get-go as a little boy. Experience his heartbreaks and triumphs. I am hanging onto my copy so I can check it on and off when his old movies air on TV.

[Jennie Smith]

Very interesting read, thanks for lending it to me Lorna.

[Creative Kids Tales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored the actor. Adored the book.