American Prince: A Memoir [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Tony Curtis (Author), Peter Golenbock (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 14, 2008

“All my life I had one dream and that was to be in the movies.”

He was the Golden Boy of the Golden Age. A prince of the silver screen. Dashing and debonair, Tony Curtis arrived on the scene in a blaze of bright lights and celluloid. His good looks, smooth charm, and natural talent earned him fame, women, and adulation—Elvis copied his look and the Beatles put him on their Sgt. Pepper album cover. But the Hollywood life of his dreams brought both invincible highs and debilitating lows. Now, in his captivating, no-holds-barred autobiography, Tony Curtis shares the agony and ecstasy of a private life in the public eye.

No simple tell-all, American Prince chronicles Hollywood during its heyday. Curtis revisits his immense body of work—including the unforgettable classics Houdini, Spartacus, and Some Like It Hot—and regales readers with stories of his associations with Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, director Billy Wilder, and film industry heavyweight Lew Wasserman, as well as paramours Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe, among others.

As forthright as he is enthralling, Tony Curtis offers intimate glimpses into his succession of failed marriages (and the one that has endured), his destructive drug addiction, and his passion as a painter. Written with humor and grace, American Prince is a testament to the power of living the life of one’s dreams.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[F]illed with fond recollections of [Curtis’s] friendships with the famous and powerful but punctuated, too, by harsh words for Hollywood legends he says did him wrong….Curtis spares few intimate details about his years as a Hollywood lothario, including his teenage affair with a redheaded, ponytailed Marilyn Monroe.”
—USA Today


Praise for Tony Curtis

“When you’re with Tony Curtis, you’re with somebody very alive. He was—and is—one of the most ‘up’ people I have ever known.”
—Sidney Poitier

“Tony Curtis could have just been the beautiful young leading man, handsome, charming as hell . . . [but] he wanted to be a good actor, and he’s the only guy I know wholearned his craft successfully.”
—Jack Lemmon

“For Some Like It Hot, I wanted a straight leading man and a comedian. I was sure Tony was right for it. Tony is so open and animated. . . . It was a huge, wonderful
plus for the picture.”
—Billy Wilder

About the Author

TONY CURTIS is one of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Today, he lives with his wife, Jill, outside of Las Vegas, where he continues to create paintings that have made him newly famous as a visual artist the world over. They are the founders of the Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary, a nonprofit foundation that rehabilitates abused and neglected horses for adoption.

PETER GOLENBOCK has written six New York Times bestsellers over a thirty-year career. In 2006 he cowrote the bestselling Idiot with then–Boston Red Sox, now–New York Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon. His book Seven, about Mickey Mantle, was published in 2007.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; 1 edition (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307408493
• ISBN-13: 978-0307408495
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Actors & Actresses

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs to be compared with previous autobiography October 24, 2008

By Eunice

Format:Hardcover

This book needs to be read in conjunction with Mr. Curtis's previous autobiography: Tony Curtis the autobiography by Tony Curtis (Author)and Barry Paris, which I found to be a far better book. The text is virtually identical, except for the removal of Mr. Paris's notes which filled in the background story. The biggest difference is that whereas the first book was kind to costars, ex-wives and everyone but Marilyn Monroe, Shelly Winters and his mother, the current memoirs tell all and trash the dead (except for Ms. Monroe who has been transformed into "the great love of my early youth", with nary a peep about the immoral drug abusing self-destructive narcissistic woman previously recollected. Whereas in his previous book, if he hadn't a good word to say about someone, he would merely note that "we had our differences", this time the conveniently dead come in for more savage recollections.

I was never a fan of Tony Curtis, he simply happened to be in films that I saw from time to time. His name on a marquee would not draw me into the cinema, but I enjoyed his first bio for the insight into movie making, especially the cost accounting, and finished it with a respect for the author's discretion. Sadly, this latest effort has changed that opinion. The book is simply a rehash with a few unkind and salacious titbits thrown in.

51 of 56 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet and honest, had to get 2 copies - here's why October 15, 2008

By K. Corn TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The first copy was immediately grabbed from my hands by an avid Tony Curtis fan. So (sigh) I got another because I knew that first copy was history.

For those of you who like honest, open memoirs written with "no holds barred"....this ought to be very appealing. I prefer when writers write openly about their revelations, confessions, regrets and joys with readers...and I felt Mr. Curtis did this. There is also plenty of info in here that I didn't know before but I can't say for sure if a die hard Curtis fan would already know these facts about his marriages, estrangements from children, resentments about roles that went to other actors, etc.

For me, much of the information was new and I also enjoyed the style of this book. For those he likes (Sidney Poitier), his affection is clear. For those he hates, he pulls no punches and isn't particularly kind toward Jerry Lewis or Danny Kaye, among others.

As hard as he can be on some actors, Curtis is also able to look at himself with judgment, admitting to his shortcomings as both spouse and father. He isn't particularly close to Jamie Lee Curtis or his other children.

Confession time...when I was young,I had a huge crush on Curtis. As a result, I'm a bit baffled about how and why he didn't get many parts as a mature or older actor, something noted by film critics and others. As Newman and Redford and others aged, they continued to appear on screen but Curtis seemed to have a smoldering, edgy sexuality that may have overshadowed his very real acting talent. Just a personal take. I heard rumors of drug problems, too, but I never delved too deeply into that so they remain rumors to me - and nothing more.

For those interested in art, do check out his artwork. Information about that can be found if you search online, very easily.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Hardly a prince among men October 26, 2008

By HeyJudy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Simply by acknowledging the title of this memoir, Tony Curtis obviously fancies himself a prince among men. Yet the behavior he recounts here, divulging it of his own volition, makes it clear that he is anything but regal.

Much to his credit, Mr. Curtis is brutally self-aware and revelatory regarding his life in AMERICAN PRINCE. His honesty is admirable; his life, less so.

He seems to have no shame about the way in which he regularly cheated on all of his wives; if anything, he seems rather proud. He also is unashamed of--if somewhat perplexed by--the fact that he has not been able to sustain ongoing relationships with any of the children he had by three of those wives, or with his children's children in turn.

The report of his brother Julie's death is one of the most touching I ever have read. Taken in the context of this larger work, however, one cannot help wondering whether his failure to supervise the younger boy, as he was instructed to do by his parents, led to the circumstances which killed Julie.

Even the report of his mother's death, horrible as she apparently was to him, reflects so poorly on Curtis that one wonders why he included it in the memoir.

Still, Tony Curtis did arrive in Hollywood at the very end of the famous studio system and he has some wonderful anecdotes to share about that time. He knew almost everyone who counted in what was a golden era, most of them now long gone. His life was peopled with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Mae West, Burt Lancaster, Rock Hudson, Debbie Reynolds and on and on.

He does not hesitate, either, to tell things as he saw them, even if his recollections are less than kind. He is nothing if not forthcoming. On the other hand, he and his editor do not get everything right. Contrary to the assertion contained in AMERICAN PRINCE, Debbie Reynolds did marry after her divorce from Eddie Fisher; in fact, she married another two times.

The studios fostered the theory that movie stars were America's royalty. Still, the simple fact is that movie stars are very ordinary people, often blessed with shockingly good looks ... perhaps a bit of talent ... and a great deal of luck. Certainly, in common with many others, nothing about Tony Curtis' life is particularly uplifting. Very much the opposite: Many of these people clearly are gauche, ill-educated and obsessively self-involved.

This doesn't take away from the fact that Tony Curtis was a genuine beauty when he was young, that he starred or co-starred in some classic films and that he has written a book that is a fascinating read.