Some Like It Hot

I had a thing for Tony Curtis when I was young. Yeah, you heard me, Tony Curtis, the actor. And so did my mother. I thought he was so handsome. My mom was a big Hollywood film lover and so I got an education about the big stars that she grew up with as a teen during the forties.

During my childhood these films were always on the teley and so we would watch them together. And she would tell me some of the scandals and the gossip about each star. She loved Elizabeth Taylor, felt sorry for Marilyn Monroe, and as a youth was obsessed with the few black movie stars: Lena, Eartha, Dorothy, Sidney & Harry. My dad loved “war pictures” and there were plenty of them on TV too – mostly on Sunday afternoons.

Back to Tony Curtis: I used to dream about him. I swear! Nothing erotic, but he would appear in my childhood dreams, (as did the slums of India) And so today, as I strolled through Borders Book Store I happened upon his new biography: Tony Curtis, American Prince, A Memoir. I had to buy it!!

And you know what? I am loving it!! He’s a straight-talking, no bullshitin’ old school hollywood fella. He loved women and loved the attention they gave him. Of course – he was a beautiful young man.

I know my mom would have loved reading all of these stories and anecdotes, like the one in which he meets a “pretty, articulate young woman who seemed very intelligent and sure of herself” at the MGM commissary in 1948. He asks her:

“Can we have coffee sometime?”

“Sure.” She writes down her name and number: It’s Judy Garland!!!!

And he has no qualms about kissing and telling!! Tony was a ho! It’s a nice romp. And there are so many photos. It really is a lot of fun. Okay, back to it!