Monday, February 6, 2012

Great On Screen Couples: Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh


One of my favorite on screen couples was Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. At one time, they were a real life couple. Married from 1952 - 1961 and had two daughters, Jamie Lee and Kelly. They starred in 5 films together: Houdini (1953), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), The Vikings (1958), The Perfect Furlough (1958) and Who was That Lady? (1960). Proud to say I have seen three of them: Falworth, Furlough and Lady. I think they had a pretty good chemistry together. Being married in real life made their on screen coupling work that much better.

Stunning!

Leigh's career had begun  few years earlier with roles in such films as The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947),  If Winter Comes (1947) with Deborah Kerr and Hills of Home (1948) sharing the screen with Lassie. One of her first big roles came in the underrated holiday classic, Holiday Affair (1949) with Robert Mitchum. Meanwhile Tony Curtis start came a little slower. Houdini was his first major film after bit parts and uncredited roles. But then he had a slew of great films in the 50's such as The Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Defiant Ones (1958) and of course Some Like It Hot (1959).
We just wanted to stop by to say hi to everyone!

After the couple divorced in 1962, each enjoyed a strong run in the 60's. Leigh of course was unforgettable in Psycho (1960). But she also had strong follow up films with The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), and Wives & Lovers (1963). Curtis was equally good in Spartacus (1960), Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and The Great Race (1965).

You can tell how in love they are by this photo can't you

For a time Leigh and Curtis was one of Hollywood's best and biggest couples. Sadly all good things must come to an end. And their union did. But we do have the five films they did together and their legacy lives on with daughters Jamie Lee and Kelly, both actresses themselves.

The entire family..so happy

And were they not just super gorgeous? I think so.

Janet is like "No..get out" while Tony takes a little nap


enjoy this wonderful video of the happy couple!

2 comments:

  1. Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh were one of Hollywood's Golden Couples of the 1950s and early '60s. I have only seen them in the film, Houdini.

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  2. "Being married in real life made their on screen coupling work that much better."

    Yep. I've said the same thing about the Champions.

    I see from that video that Jerry Lewis was Tony Curtis' best man. Didn't know that.


    Cheers,

    JAVA

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