buntyskid's review
4.0
Fascinating read. The trials of the gorgeous man who has a chip on his shoulder, (with good reason, terrible childhood) plus had to deal with anti-Semitism, and classism of Hollywood (mocking his accent, etc) . Of course he became a lady-killer, to prop up his self esteem, always. He loved women, and other than acting, sex and women (he merged sex and love) were his main focus. Book is very name-droppy, esp in the love department.
Shame he really never got credit for being an amazing actor, in roles like Sydney Falco (Sweet Smell of Success) and others, like Some Like It Hot.
It was nice to read the explanation of his famous quote that kissing Marilyn was like "kissing Hitler". He didn't mean it like that. He had good things to say about her.
Also a shame his kids suffered so much from his absence as a father. He does acknowledge his faults in this area somewhat. Also good to read about his painting, and how that interest came about.
Shame he really never got credit for being an amazing actor, in roles like Sydney Falco (Sweet Smell of Success) and others, like Some Like It Hot.
It was nice to read the explanation of his famous quote that kissing Marilyn was like "kissing Hitler". He didn't mean it like that. He had good things to say about her.
Also a shame his kids suffered so much from his absence as a father. He does acknowledge his faults in this area somewhat. Also good to read about his painting, and how that interest came about.
bookwormerica's review
4.0
i enjoyed this book. an easy going read. He did stress his love of ladies and sex more than his kids tho. He would just randomly mention janet had a kid...and another.
Also the whole part where he thought janet was having an affair...tho he'd had many already...and nd had no proof and said he then didn't feel guilt for cheating :-/ come on man
he did blame alot of people as well
Also the whole part where he thought janet was having an affair...tho he'd had many already...and nd had no proof and said he then didn't feel guilt for cheating :-/ come on man
he did blame alot of people as well
turtlemagix's review
3.0
Tony Curtis starred in my all time favorite movie Some Like It Hot so I was excited to pick this up and learn more about the actor I felt I knew personally.
Let me be the first to say what a friggin let down this one ended up being. He came off as arrogant and very egotistical.
This is honestly a one star review, but gave two extra stars because I totally heard him reading it as Shell Oil Jr in my head.
Let me be the first to say what a friggin let down this one ended up being. He came off as arrogant and very egotistical.
This is honestly a one star review, but gave two extra stars because I totally heard him reading it as Shell Oil Jr in my head.
t_bone's review
5.0
What a pleasure! I knew I was going to enjoy this memoir from the opening chapter, which describes "bedding" Marilyn Monroe. I'd assumed, since watching him in The Defiant Ones mooning at Sydney Poitier, that Curtis was gay so the early reference to an off-screen romance provided a double hit of salaciousness and possible deception that really got me going. The way he goes on about all the women he slept with, in pretty much every single chapter, has a strong whiff of Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah's couch. The whole way through the book I had to resist googling "was Tony Curtis gay" because that is a tawdry thing to be enquiring about, far better to just speculate about it in a Goodreads review.
My investigations into Tony's sexuality aside, I loved the candid discussions of everyone he hated in Hollywood, and there were quite a few. It gave the book a wonderful gossipy feel. There were also deeper moments. He had a very miserable childhood that included a mentally ill mother and brother as well as another brother who died when a truck ran over him. His parents were Hungarian Jews which also led to some difficulties fitting in at school in New York. These things made him desperate to shine but also always left him feeling insecure. The difficulties are briefly described though, and a cynic might even say they're only offered as a means to explain away some of his bad behaviour.
It's impossible to come away from the book admiring Tony Curtis. The title, "American Prince" tells you all you need to know about Tony's fondness for Tony. Ego issues on top of his self-confessed neglect of his own children (he pins most blame for that on Janet Leigh, his first wife, and his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis's "cold" personality) combined with his poor attitudes toward women make this a case of loving the book, loathing the man. For me it was basically a case of so wrong it's right.
If you can take his bizarre accounts of womanizing with a grain of salt and you're a fan of old-time movies and Hollywood gossip then it is a fun read. The book could also be turned into an excellent drinking game. If you had to drink every time he described: a) his own good looks b) a Hollywood personality as hopeless, nasty and/or anti-Semitic c) a woman's voluptuous breasts d) a co-star he banged e) entering another marriage he soon realised was a terrible mistake - then you could get very very snoozled.
My investigations into Tony's sexuality aside, I loved the candid discussions of everyone he hated in Hollywood, and there were quite a few. It gave the book a wonderful gossipy feel. There were also deeper moments. He had a very miserable childhood that included a mentally ill mother and brother as well as another brother who died when a truck ran over him. His parents were Hungarian Jews which also led to some difficulties fitting in at school in New York. These things made him desperate to shine but also always left him feeling insecure. The difficulties are briefly described though, and a cynic might even say they're only offered as a means to explain away some of his bad behaviour.
It's impossible to come away from the book admiring Tony Curtis. The title, "American Prince" tells you all you need to know about Tony's fondness for Tony. Ego issues on top of his self-confessed neglect of his own children (he pins most blame for that on Janet Leigh, his first wife, and his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis's "cold" personality) combined with his poor attitudes toward women make this a case of loving the book, loathing the man. For me it was basically a case of so wrong it's right.
If you can take his bizarre accounts of womanizing with a grain of salt and you're a fan of old-time movies and Hollywood gossip then it is a fun read. The book could also be turned into an excellent drinking game. If you had to drink every time he described: a) his own good looks b) a Hollywood personality as hopeless, nasty and/or anti-Semitic c) a woman's voluptuous breasts d) a co-star he banged e) entering another marriage he soon realised was a terrible mistake - then you could get very very snoozled.
jana6240's review
4.0
Is this kind of a list of all the people Tony Curtis slept with? Yeah. Is it super entertaining and fun? Also yes.
brianajae's review
3.0
What this book boils down to is this paraphrase:
"You guys, Tony Curtis may be troubled but he's really, really handsome and he totally slept with Marilyn Monroe." - Tony Curtis
I found Curtis a bit pompous (although he did earn back some humility credit toward the end), hypocritical (Furious when his wives he had affairs even though he did all the time, at least he "was discrete about it) and ill-focused (I spent more time learning about his sexual conquests than his brother's childhood death).
"You guys, Tony Curtis may be troubled but he's really, really handsome and he totally slept with Marilyn Monroe." - Tony Curtis
I found Curtis a bit pompous (although he did earn back some humility credit toward the end), hypocritical (Furious when his wives he had affairs even though he did all the time, at least he "was discrete about it) and ill-focused (I spent more time learning about his sexual conquests than his brother's childhood death).
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