Oscar-nominated actor Tony Curtis was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1925. After serving in the US Navy in WWII, he went on to star in more than 100 films, most memorably alongside Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959). Towards the end of his life, Curtis had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and died from a heart attack outside his Las Vegas home in 2010, aged 85. Artwork and memorabilia that he produced, received and collected during his intriguing, if sometimes tragic, life, is now being auctioned by his estate.
Paintings by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol are included in the collection. One piece, entitled Some Like it Hot Shoe, was painted for Curtis specially by Warhol, and is expected to fetch up to $30,000 (18,500). There are also pieces by Curtis himself - he was a keen painter whose work has been displayed in locations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and which collectors are willing to pay handsomely for.
Also up for grabs will be the sailor's jacket worn by Curtis during the scene where he kisses Marilyn Monroe on a yacht in Some Like it Hot, as well as a 14-carat gold and sapphire Faberge cigarette case and a rosewood flute that Frank Sinatra gave to Curtis.
Before the auction takes place in Beverly Hills on 17th September, the items will go on display in an exhibition lasting 10 days. Darren Julien, of Julien's Auctions, said that Curtis always regarded himself as "an artist first and an actor second."
Curtis' had a fairly turbulent personal life, encompassing five marriages, and battles with drug and alcohol addiction. In 1984, his son Nicholas died of a heroin overdose at the age of 23. That same year, Curtis was rushed to hospital with cirrhosis of the liver resulting from his alcoholism and cocaine abuse. He had heart bypass surgery in 1994, and was left in a coma for several days after after contracting pneumonia in 2006. Arnold Schwarzenegger and pornstar Ron Jeremy were amongst the guests at his funeral in 2010.
Paintings by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol are included in the collection. One piece, entitled Some Like it Hot Shoe, was painted for Curtis specially by Warhol, and is expected to fetch up to $30,000 (18,500). There are also pieces by Curtis himself - he was a keen painter whose work has been displayed in locations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and which collectors are willing to pay handsomely for.
Also up for grabs will be the sailor's jacket worn by Curtis during the scene where he kisses Marilyn Monroe on a yacht in Some Like it Hot, as well as a 14-carat gold and sapphire Faberge cigarette case and a rosewood flute that Frank Sinatra gave to Curtis.
Before the auction takes place in Beverly Hills on 17th September, the items will go on display in an exhibition lasting 10 days. Darren Julien, of Julien's Auctions, said that Curtis always regarded himself as "an artist first and an actor second."
Curtis' had a fairly turbulent personal life, encompassing five marriages, and battles with drug and alcohol addiction. In 1984, his son Nicholas died of a heroin overdose at the age of 23. That same year, Curtis was rushed to hospital with cirrhosis of the liver resulting from his alcoholism and cocaine abuse. He had heart bypass surgery in 1994, and was left in a coma for several days after after contracting pneumonia in 2006. Arnold Schwarzenegger and pornstar Ron Jeremy were amongst the guests at his funeral in 2010.
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