Tony Curtis Net Worth

Bernard Schwartz was born on 3 June 1925, in The Bronx, New York City USA, of Hungarian-Jewish and Slovak ancestry. Tony was an actor, whose career spanned six decades. He’s been part of various films including “Houdini”, “Sweet Smell of Success”, and “The Boston Strangler”. All of his efforts helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing in 2010.

How rich was Tony Curtis? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $60 million, mostly earned through a successful career as an actor. He also worked on radio, and all of these ensured his wealth before his passing.

Tony Curtis Net Worth $60 million

Tony was born into a very problematic family – he didn’t learn English until he was five or six years old. His mother was also very aggressive, beating him up and being a negative influence in his life; she would be diagnosed with schizophrenia, so when he was eight years old he was placed in an orphanage, and then became involved with local gangs. He was helped by a neighbor who offered to send him to a Boy Scout camp, and that changed his life. He attended Seward Park High School and experienced his first acting opportunity there. Inspired by newsreels, he joined the US Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. and served aboard the submarine USS Proteus. After finishing his service, he attended the City College of New York and then studied acting at The New School. Eventually he was discovered, and he moved to Hollywood, changing his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis.

He made his debut in the film “Criss Cross” though he was not credited for it. He then continued with an appearance in the film “City Across the River”, but would truly get recognition for his performance as the press agent Sidney Falco in the film “Sweet Smell of Success”. He also got his first Academy Award nomination for his performance in “The Defiant Ones” in 1958. After these films, Curtis became one of the most in-demand stars in Hollywood. He continued to do a lot of drama and comedy films including “Sex and the Single Girl”, “Spartacus”, and “The Last Tycoon”. He also made regular appearances on television including in “The Persuaders!” alongside Roger Moore and “Vega$”. Tony also did a voice over for “The Flinstones”. His net worth mounted steadily.

Aside from films and television, Curtis was well known for his paintings and some of them are now valued at around $25,000. Later in his career he focused more on painting than films and was inspired by the works of Picasso and Van Gogh. He received several honors later in his life including the Sony Ericsson Empire Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Curtis also released an autobiography entitled “American Prince: A Memoir” which includes stories of his time with legends such as James Dean and Frank Sinatra. He also wrote the book “The Making of Some Like it Hot: My Memories of Marilyn Monroe and the Classic American Movie”. He was featured in the documentary “The Jill & Tony Curtis Story” and also participated in philanthropic work with her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.

For his personal life, Tony was married six times, first to actress Janet Leigh from 1951 to 1962; they had two daughters, one of whom was Jamie Lee. The following year he married Christine Kaufmann, who was 17 years old at the time. They also had two daughters but divorced in 1968. His next marriage was to Leslie Allen(1968-82) who he had two sons with. His other marriages were to Andrea Savio(1984-92), Lisa Deutsch(1993-94), and Jill Vanderberg. Jill was 42 years younger than Tony and she remained with him until his death. He died on September 2010 as a result of cardiac arrest. He had suffered from lung problems later in his life due to smoking, though he had quit thirty years earlier.