Curtis fondly remembered the actress Marilyn Monroe, with whom he co-starred in Some Like It Hot.
"Marilyn was a wonderful girl: not just beautiful and marvelously sexy, but an infinitely kind, pure-hearted person too," Curtis said. "When I wrote the book...I remembered back to when I was with Marilyn, something opened inside of me and from that point on the memories just got better and better."
Curtis said he became an actor to escape from home, where he did not get on with his mother, his father showed little interest, and his little brother, whom he adored, died young.
"I hated being at home, and though I didn't have enough education, because I was handsome enough, acting presented the only way out," Curtis said. "I took acting very seriously and made my best effort to cultivate the art," he added.
Curtis said he was proud of his Hungarian roots - Curtis's parents were Hungarian immigrants to the United States - and gladly visits Hungary, which he sees as his home.
Curtis earlier helped make a short promotional film for Hungary and said he would gladly do so again. But more girls could be in this one, he added.
Photo: MTI
