Curtis was born Bernard Schwarz in New York on June 3, 1925. His parents were immigrants from the Hungarian village of Mátészalka.
Curtis took up acting after serving on a submarine in WWII, taking rolls in off-Broadway theatres. His first break in Hollywood came in 1948. There he appeared in the credits first as James Curtis, then Anthony Curtis and finally Tony Curtis.
His first big role came in 1957 with The Sweet Smell of Success. A role opposite Sidney Pointier in The Defiant Ones in the following year won him an Oscar nomination.
Curtis?s launch to stardom took place in 1959 with Some Like it Hot, a comedy featuring Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. The film, directed by Billy Wilder, has made generations laugh.
Curtis took on one of his best known serious roles in 1968, in The Boston Strangler, but returned to making comedies and lighter fare after that.
One of Hollywood?s best known leading men, a man with an irresistible face, Curtis was married six times. His last wife, 46 years his junior, was a horse trainer. Curtis had six children, of whom one, Jamie Lee Curtis, established her own place in Hollywood film.
Curtis travelled to Hungary many times, also visiting the Mátészalka. From 1988, he was the honourary chairman of the Emanuel Foundation, which was established to support the renovation of Budapest?s Dohány Street Synagogue.
In the 90s, Curtis participated in a campaign organised by the Hungarian Tourism Agency to raise the country?s profile among American senior citizens.
Cutis was presented the Order of the Hungarian Republic in 1996.
Curtis last visited Hungary in April to promote his autobiography The Prince of Hollywood.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
