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Vol. I · 2026
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Tier B
Cinema & TV · USA · Rus/Aust-Hun

Tony Curtis

Тони Кёртис

Son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants; star of Some Like It Hot

🇺🇸 Fame: USA🇷🇺 Origin: Rus/Aust-Hun🔗 Connection: Ancestry🗣 Russian: No
TC
Profile #880
ProfessionActor
Russian originÓpályi / Nagymihály (Kingdom of Hungary)Rus/Aust-Hun
ConnectionAncestryEmanuel Schwartz; Helen Klein
RussianNo
CategoryCinema & TVTier B
Biography

Tony Curtis — actor with roots in the Rus/Aust-Hun

Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz) was an American actor born in Manhattan to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants. His films include Some Like It Hot, Spartacus, The Defiant Ones and Sweet Smell of Success.

Russian Connection

Tracing the roots — Ópályi / Nagymihály (Kingdom of Hungary)

Born on 3 June 1925 at Fifth Avenue Hospital in East Harlem, Manhattan, to Emanuel Schwartz, from Ópályi near Mátészalka, and Helen Klein, from Nagymihály (now Michalovce, Slovakia) — both in the Kingdom of Hungary. He spoke only Hungarian until the age of six.

Family Tree
Subject
Tony Curtis🇺🇸 USA
↑
Parents
Emanuel Schwartz
Helen Klein
↑
Origin
Ópályi / Nagymihály (Kingdom of Hungary)🇷🇺 Rus/Aust-Hun
Key Achievements

A career defined by ambition

01
Some Like It Hot (1959) — one of the greatest comedies in cinema history
02
Academy Award nomination for Best Actor — The Defiant Ones (1958)
03
Spartacus (1960) — alongside Kirk Douglas
04
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) — career-defining dramatic performance
05
Over 100 films across a 50-year career
Russian diaspora
Sources