As the legendary escape artist, Curtis scored his first big hit with "Houdini" (1953)
Curtis married his "Houdini" co-star Janet Leigh, and the good looking pair became one of Hollywood's most photographed couples. They would divorce in 1962
Reteaming with Leigh on the historical epic "The Black Shield of Falworth" (1954) proved embarrassing for Curtis. Although he never actually uttered the line "yondah lies da castle of my foddah," the legend stuck.
Curtis regained his stride playing a circus performer opposite Burt Lancaster in "Trapeze" (1956).
"You're a cookie full of arsenic," Curtis told Lancaster's Broadway columnist J. J. Hunsecker in the great 1957 drama "Sweet Smell of Success."
Playing opposite Leigh and Kirk Douglas in the epic adventure "The Vikings" (1958) gave Curtis another box office smash and one of his most beloved parts.
It seems hokey now, but arriving in the midst of the Civil Rights struggle, "The Defiant Ones" (1958) was a timely plea for racial tolerance. The Stanley Kramer drama scored Curtis his only Oscar nomination.
Partnering with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Billy Wilder scored Curtis his greatest screen role in "Some Like It Hot" (1959). As jazz musicians on the run from the mob, Curtis and Lemmon were a comic cross dressing dream team.
Giving Sir Laurence Olivier a bath and answering questions about oysters in a homoerotic scene from Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" (1961) helped usher in a new era of sexual frankness in cinema.
Curtis poked holes in his pretty boy image playing a serial killer in "The Boston Strangler" (1968). It would prove to be his last significant movie role.
Tony Curtis was a sex symbol and a matinee idol, but his good looks often masked the fact that he was also an acomplished actor. Working with legendary directors such as Stanley Kubrick and Billy Wilder, Curtis appeared in over 100 films, some bad and some good. Among his greatest performaces were roles in "Some Like It Hot," "Spartacus," and "Sweet Smell of Success."
In honor of the Hollywood legend, who passed away Monday at age 85, TheWrap takes a look at his most iconic performances.
