What makes a Tony Curtis performance so compelling is you never know what to expect. Tony Curtis has always been an actor who has refused to play it safe, and has devoted his working life to performing in a vast array of characters, as Curtis has alternatively played the handsome leading man, the sidekick, the comic relief, the villain and a host of other roles that demonstrate how versatile he is. Yet what stands out about all his performances in the inner vulnerability and humility he finds in his unsympathetic characters and the never-say-die attitude of the heroes he plays. However, his unique ability to tap into what makes his characters tick comes as no surprise, seeing as how Curtis’ own life was also one of triumph over adversity and fighting the odds.
Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on the 3rd of June, 1925, the eldest of three children to immigrant parents, Emanuel and Helen Schwartz. Curtis himself admits that while he had almost no formal education, he was a student of the «school of hard knocks», and learned from a young age that the only person who ever had his back was himself, so he learned how to take care of both himself and younger brother Julius. Curtis grew up in poverty, as his father Emanuel, who worked as a tailor, had the sole responsibility of providing for his entire family on his meager income. This led to constant bickering between Curtis’ parents over money, and Curtis began to go to movies as a way of briefly escaping the constant worries of poverty and other family problems.