Alan Curtis (American actor)
Encyclopedia
Alan Curtis was an American
film actor appearing in over 50 films.
Born Harry Ueberroth in Chicago
, Illinois
, he began his career as a model before becoming an actor, appearing in local newspaper ads. His looks did not go unnoticed in Hollywood. He began appearing in films in the late 1930s (including a Technicolor
appearance in the Alice Faye
-Don Ameche
film Hollywood Cavalcade and a memorable role in High Sierra (1941). He is probably best known as one of the romantic leads in Abbott and Costello
's first hit movie Buck Privates
.
His chance for leading-man stardom came when he replaced the unwilling John Garfield
in the 1943 production Flesh and Fantasy
. Curtis played a ruthless killer opposite Gloria Jean
. Unfortunately for both actors, the studio removed their performances from the final film. The footage was later expanded into a B-picture melodrama Destiny. The film failed to establish Curtis as a major-name star, but it did typecast him in hardbitten roles, like the man framed for murder in Phantom Lady
(1944) and the detective Philo Vance
.
He starred in over two dozen movies and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
Alan Curtis was married three times; his wives included actresses Priscilla Lawson
and Ilona Massey
. He died from complications during an operation in New York City
, New York
, he was 43. He is buried
in the Ueberroth family plot in Evanston, Illinois.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film actor appearing in over 50 films.
Born Harry Ueberroth in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, he began his career as a model before becoming an actor, appearing in local newspaper ads. His looks did not go unnoticed in Hollywood. He began appearing in films in the late 1930s (including a Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
appearance in the Alice Faye
Alice Faye
Alice Faye was an American actress and singer, called by The New York Times "one of the few movie stars to walk away from stardom at the peak of her career." She is remembered first for her stardom at 20th Century Fox and, later, as the radio comedy partner of her husband, bandleader and comedian...
-Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
film Hollywood Cavalcade and a memorable role in High Sierra (1941). He is probably best known as one of the romantic leads in Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
's first hit movie Buck Privates
Buck Privates
Buck Privates is the 1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bonafide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war...
.
His chance for leading-man stardom came when he replaced the unwilling John Garfield
John Garfield
John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...
in the 1943 production Flesh and Fantasy
Flesh and Fantasy
Flesh and Fantasy is a 1943 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer and Barbara Stanwyck. The making of this film was inspired by the success of Duvivier's previous anthology film, the 1942 Tales of Manhattan.Flesh and Fantasy tells three...
. Curtis played a ruthless killer opposite Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.-Career:...
. Unfortunately for both actors, the studio removed their performances from the final film. The footage was later expanded into a B-picture melodrama Destiny. The film failed to establish Curtis as a major-name star, but it did typecast him in hardbitten roles, like the man framed for murder in Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady (1944 film)
Phantom Lady is a 1944 film noir directed by Robert Siodmak, his first Hollywood noir. It was also a first for producer Joan Harrison, Universal Pictures' first female executive and Alfred Hitchcock's former screenwriter...
(1944) and the detective Philo Vance
Philo Vance
Philo Vance featured in 12 crime novels written by S. S. Van Dine , published in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, movies, and on the radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent...
.
He starred in over two dozen movies and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
Alan Curtis was married three times; his wives included actresses Priscilla Lawson
Priscilla Lawson
Priscilla Lawson , born Priscilla Shortridge, was an American actress known for her role as Princess Aura in the original Flash Gordon serial ....
and Ilona Massey
Ilona Massey
Ilona Massey was a film, stage and radio performer.-Early life and career:...
. He died from complications during an operation in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, he was 43. He is buried
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
in the Ueberroth family plot in Evanston, Illinois.