One of the hottest couples at the time, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh first met at an RKO publicity party in 1950. A very powerful attraction at first sight, with Curtis recalling that he was “stunned by the way she looked,” while Leigh was more specific, “a devastatingly handsome young man – beautiful really – with black unruly hair, large sensitive eyes fringed by long dark eyelashes, a full sensuous mouth – and an irresistible personality.”
August 1956. Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis pose for a portrait at home in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Richard C. Miller.
Upon their choice to get married in 1951, Universal executives, who rarely interfered with their stars’ love lives, spent three days trying to talk Curtis out of it, even threatened to banish him. The couple decided to defy the studio heads and held a private ceremony in Greenwich, Connecticut, with close friend Jerry Lewis, who had earlier advised the couple against their marriage, present as a witness. Curtis and Leigh had two children, Kelly (born 1956) and Jamie Lee (1958), who both subsequently became actresses, with the latter having a more successful career.
Their marriage ended in 1962, when Curtis had divorced papers served to Leigh on the set of The Manchurian Candidate. Often more forthcoming about the reasons for their break-up, Curtis claimed that in public Leigh began “bossing me around, just as my mother had bossed my father around.” While later Leigh would comment that their split came from “outside problems,” such as the death of Curtis’ father, maybe even his battle with drugs.
Let’s take a look back at the time when the couple was together:
1951. Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh in their honeymoon suite at the Waldorf, New York City. Photo by Bettmann.
February 1952. Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, star in Model Wife on the CBS Radio program, ‘Stars in the Air.’ Photo by CBS.
May 1953. Delighted at his master’s magical artistry, Houdini, pet poodle of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, would like to know what’s going on in that silk hat, Manhattan, New York. Photo by Bettmann.
1954. Tony Curtis and wife Janet Leigh enjoying a dance at a party held at James Mason’s home in Beverly Hills. Photo by Slim Aarons.
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