Elvis Presley copied his duck-tail hairstyle after seeing it on screen.
According to his autobiography, he really desired the lead male role of Paul Varjack in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Director Blake Edwards considered the idea, but the role eventually went to George Peppard.
Admits that he is largely estranged from all six of his children, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis, one of his children by first wife Janet Leigh.
Along with Ernest Borgnine, Curtis refused to watch, and publicly condemned, Brokeback Mountain (2005).
Appeared in [i]Sugar[/i], a stage musical based on Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959) . He appeared as millionaire Osgood Fielding III, the character played by Joe E. Brown in the film.
Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Arriving in Hollywood in 1948 at age 23, Tony Curtis (then Bernard Schwartz) was placed under contract at Universal Pictures and changed his name to Tony Curtis, taking his first name from the novel Anthony Adverse and his last name from "Kurtz", a surname from his mother's family.
Born to Emanuel Schwartz, a Hungarian tailor who emigrated to the United States, and his wife Helen, he grew up with two brothers, Julius and Robert.
Broke a Hollywood taboo in the 1950s by insisting that an African-American actor, Sidney Poitier, have co-starring billing next to him in the movie The Defiant Ones (1958).
Claims he probably had a sexual addiction. Among his female conquests boasted of in his 2008 memoir was a pre-star Marilyn Monroe who was a very young, pony-tailed redhead during their teenage affair.
Claims that his mother was physically abusive and that his father was impassive.
Curtis enlisted in the United States Navy after Pearl Harbor was bombed and war was declared. He chose submarine duty and served aboard USS Proteus, a submarine tender. From his sub tender's signal bridge, he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from about a mile away.
Curtis was the father of actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis whom he fathered with his wife, actress Janet Leigh.
Enjoys painting and creating shadow boxes. In late 2005, the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY) acquired one of his canvasses for its permanent collection.
Following his death, he was buried with some of his favorite possessions - a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, an iPhone and a copy of his favorite novel, "Anthony Adverse," a book that inspired his celebrity name.
From the top of his submarine in Tokyo Bay, using a pair of binoculars, he was able to witness the Japanese surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri, about a mile away. He considered this experience to be one of the highlights of his life.
Has appeared in tourism advertisements for his ancestral homeland Hungary.
He disinherited all of his children from his will and left the bulk of his estate to his wife Jill Vandenberg Curtis.