tony curtis

tony curtis

Tony Curtis, whose brash charm and matinee-idol looks helped make him one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1950s and early '60s, died at his home in Las Vegas. He was 85. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.Mr. Curtis, who appeared in more than 120 movies, was best-known for his roles as an amoral publicist in "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957), a chain-gang escapee in "The Defiant Ones" (1958), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; a cross-dressing musician in "Some Like It Hot"(1959), and a rebellious slave in "Spartacus"(1960).

In 1958, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assocation named Mr. Curtis "the world's favorite movie actor." He was Hollywood royalty, married to a fellow movie star, Janet Leigh (they would divorce in 1962), and the father of a future movie star, Jamie Lee Curtis.