Tony Curtis: the last slice of beefcake

Published on September 30, 2010 by The Editor · No Comments

The Wowster remembers the late Tony Curtis. Not from his great movies. But from the beefcake days.

Tony Curtis was the first and last man-girl star of movies. The beefcake Tony Curtis had everything. From the beautiful hair, the limpid eyes, the taut breasts and the confident bottom.

Then he spoiled it all by becoming a good actor.

The beauty of Tony Curtis once rivalled Rita, Gina, even Marilyn in the beefcake stakes. That was before he turned in a couple of electrifying performance and brought an end to all that.

Yeah he was brilliant in Sweet Smell of Success (a seedy hustler) and Some Like It Hot (a tranny jazz trumpeter) but for this critic it was his beefcake days.

He had something for everything. For me as a very small child, the handsome hero (for a more knowing audience of the time, he was the man-girl friend of the real hero, someone like Kirk Douglas) wielding a sword .

For women it was the beauty of Tony Curtis. For men? It was the beauty of Tony Curtis.

Then came his ascent as actor. Gone were the rippling biceps and pretty boy image of beefcake Tony Curtis. Well not completely. A bit of it peeped out from his skirts in Some Like It Hot when he played the part of a lovely girl very straight.

Also he enjoyed a gay moment with Laurence Olivier which was the most erotic part by a mile in Sparticus. Come to think of it, that was the second time he was Kirk’s man-girl friend.

My other memory of Tony was his advice for longevity… never marry a woman of your own age.

So what are your great memories of Tony Curtis? Beefcake or serious ham? That and other opinions welcome.