Editing Tony Curtis (section)

==Early life==
Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, at the Fifth Avenue Hospital corner of East 105th Street in [[East Harlem, Manhattan]], the first of three boys born to Helen (née Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz.<ref name=a&e>{{cite web| title=Tony Curtis biography| url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Tony-Curtis-9263844| website=Biography.com| access-date=August 11, 2011| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907041843/http://www.biography.com/articles/Tony-Curtis-9263844| archive-date=September 7, 2011}}</ref><ref name=encyclopedia>{{cite encyclopedia| title=Curtis, Tony 1925–| url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Tony_Curtis.aspx| encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]| access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref>

His parents were [[History of the Jews in Hungary|Jewish]] immigrants from [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]]: his father was born in [[Ópályi]], near [[Mátészalka]], and his mother was a native of [[Michalovce]], Slovakia; she later said she arrived in the U.S. from Vaľkovo, Slovakia.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.slovenskecentrum.sk/sk/news/read/15615/usa-zomrel-americky-herec-tony-curtis-po-matke-slovenskeho-povodu| title=USA: Zomrel americký herec Tony Curtis, po matke slovenského pôvodu| language=sk| trans-title=USA: American actor Tony Curtis died, after a mother of Slovak origin| date=September 30, 2010| agency=[[News Agency of the Slovak Republic]]| website=Slovak Centre London}}</ref> He spoke only [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] until the age of six, delaying his schooling.<ref name="tcmcurtis"/> His father was a tailor and the family lived in the back of the shop. His mother was later diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]]. His youngest brother Robert was [[Involuntary commitment|institutionalized]] with the same mental illness.

When Curtis was eight, he and his brother Julius were placed in an orphanage for a month because their parents could not afford to feed them. Four years later, Julius was struck and killed by a truck. Curtis joined a neighborhood gang whose main crimes were truancy and minor pilfering. When Curtis was 11, a friendly neighbor saved him from what he felt would have led to a life of [[Juvenile delinquency|delinquency]] by sending him to a [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] camp, where he was able to work off his energy and settle down. He attended [[Seward Park High School]]. At 16, he had his first small acting part in a school stage play.<ref name=Lifemag/>

===Military service===
Curtis enlisted in the [[United States Navy]] after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. Inspired by [[Cary Grant]]'s role in ''[[Destination Tokyo]]'' and [[Tyrone Power]]'s in ''[[Crash Dive]]'' (1943), he joined the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Pacific submarine force]].<ref name="tcmcurtis">''Private Screenings: Tony Curtis'' [[Turner Classic Movies]], January 19, 1999.</ref> Curtis served aboard a [[submarine tender]], the [[USS Proteus (AS-19)|USS ''Proteus'']]'','' until the end of the [[Second World War]]. On September 2, 1945, Curtis witnessed the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Japanese surrender]] in [[Tokyo Bay]] from his ship's signal bridge about a mile away.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tendertale.com/ttiii/ttiii1.html |title=World War Two − and a young man serves his country |website=TenderTale |access-date=June 18, 2010}}</ref>

Following his [[Military discharge|discharge]] from the Navy, Curtis attended [[City College of New York]] on the [[G.I. Bill]]. He then studied acting at [[The New School]] in [[Greenwich Village]] under the influential German stage director [[Erwin Piscator]]. His contemporaries included [[Elaine Stritch]], [[Harry Belafonte]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Bea Arthur|Beatrice Arthur]], and [[Rod Steiger]]. While still at college, Curtis was discovered by [[Joyce Selznick]], the notable [[talent agent]], [[casting director]], and niece of film producer [[David O. Selznick]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chad |date=2019-10-25 |title=Tony Curtis |url=https://walkoffame.com/tony-curtis/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Joyce Selznick {{!}} Casting Director, Casting Department, Writer |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0783679/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>