Tribute: Tony Curtis

Today we mourn the passing of one of Hollywood’s greatest leading men, Tony Curtis. He was born Bernie Schwartz to a very poor and troubled family in the Bronx and became determined to make it as a movie star. He may be best remembered for starring in the film the American Film Institute placed at the top of their list of the funniest movies of all time: “Some Like it Hot.” But he left behind an extraordinary body of work that included classic drama (“Spartacus” and “The Sweet Smell of Success”) and historical figures (“Houdini” with then-wife Janet Leigh, “The Great Impostor,” and “The Boston Strangler”) as well as a range of light comedies and romances with names like “Boeing Boeing” and “Not With My Wife You Don’t.” He appeared with his idol, Cary Grant, in Grant’s top-grossing film, “Operation Petticoat,” with Burt Lancaster in “Trapeze”and more and with Gregory Peck in one of my favorites, “Captain Newman, M.D.” And with his “Some Like It Hot” co-star Jack Lemmon he made a film on my all-time top family movie list, “The Great Race.” The family legacy continues with his daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, who appears in last week’s release, “You Again.”