GEORGE WAYNE Q & A

A Tony affair

VANITIES

Tony Curtis purportedly identified the secret to a long and happy life as "young women's saliva." The Hollywood ladies' man has been married five times. (His current wife, Jill Vandenberg, is more than 40 years his junior.) He has also created an impressive body of work, including the corrosive Sweet Smell of Success and The Defiant Ones. As he prepares to tread the boards in the musical adaptation of one of his hits, Some Like It Hot, he tells our columnist about surviving Lotusland.

George Wayne:Where did you get that nickname "Boinie" from?

Tony Curtis: Sinatra gave me the name.

G.W.They could open a library to house all the movies you've appeared in.

T.C. One hundred and twenty.

G.W.I thought it was 130.

T.C. Fifteen of those were child-support payments.

G.W.Most of them are umvatchable. Which are your all-time favorites?

T.C. Some Like It Hot, Sweet Smell of Success, Spartacus, The Outsider, The Vikings, The Boston Strangler.

G.W.What was the last movie you were in?

T.C. It was called The Continued Adventures of Reptile Man, about two years ago, but it didn't get much distribution.

I'm not that interested in films anymore.

G.W.You got lucky with your career. Did you really want to be an actor?

T.C. I wanted to be in the movies. I wanted to be a movie star. And it happened for me. Isn't that fabulous?

G.W.A career that spanned decades.

T.C. I've always dedicated myself to my profession. I love being a movie star. I'm as privileged as anybody in the world can be. I'm handsome, I'm wealthy, and I have a beautiful 30-year-old wife. And now I have this opportunity to do a play. Can you imagine, at 77 years old? I'm starting out on a brand-new career.

G.W.The Library of Congress has called Some Like It Hot a national treasure.

T.C. I can be candid with you—it is.

G.W.I read somewhere that you said "kissing Marilyn was like kissing Hitler."

T.C. Never said it! It's all bullshit. It all happened when Marilyn was at her most difficult time. And the studio was so angry with her they put her on suspension.

Marilyn and I were lovers in 1950. She went much too quickly. The biggest woman star in the business and she was living like a bag woman. There was no one to look after her. Where were all her friends? Why wasn't anyone with her after she had tried to kill herself a few times before?

G.W. So you did make whoopee with Marilyn!

T.C. Yes. We were on for a few months. We were in our 20s. There was nothing special or unique about it.

G.W.How many of your leading ladies did you bed?

T.C. I bedded every leading lady except one—Jack Lemmon.

G.W.Didn't you do Cary Grant?

T.C. No, no, I did not. There was no carnal relationship at all.

G.W.You've been a Hollywood stud for decades and you never had a homo affair?

T.C. What are you talking about? No, no, never did. I attracted a lot of gay friends, but I never had any inclination. Rock Hudson was a great friend; he and I started at Universal together. That just never happened. I was what you call pussywhipped.

G.W.Tony, what's the first thing to go at 75? Have you had a testicle tuck?

T.C. No, no, I have had nothing tucked. In a year or two I plan to do a little facial work. I had to have some work done on my nose, but that was for a deviated septum from too much cocaine.

G.W.What's breakfast like for Tony Curtis?

T.C. Going to McDonald's and having a bagel with sausage, egg, and cheese.

Once in a while I do that. Usually, it's a grapefruit and cereal. At dinnertime I love to take my beautiful wife out and really live it up.

G.W.I was just about to ask you about the glamazon. Where did you meet this fifth wife?

T.C. Having dinner with some guy. I went up and introduced myself to the guy. I never looked at her until halfway through the conversation. She told me she was an equestrian with a riding school. And I asked her where her stable was. "May I have your number?" Right under this guy's nose.

G.W.Most of your peers are six feet under.

T.C. That makes me so sad. Grant, Gable, Lancaster. Gary Cooper was a wonderful man to be around. Marilyn, Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood. We would all call each other, and have dinner occasionally. I don't see that or hear that anymore, and it makes me sad.

G.W.Whom do you miss the most?

T.C. Jack Lemmon was the best fucking man.

G.W.Well, what can I say: What becomes a legend most? You, Tony Curtis!

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