TONY CURTIS DIES AGED 85

TONY CURTIS, WHO STARRED ALONGSIDE MARILYN MONROE IN 'SOME LIKE IT HOT', HAS DIED AT TEH AGE OF 85. HOWEVER, HE WAS ALMOST AS WELL KNOWN FOR HIS COULOURFUL PRIVATE LIFE, DURING WHICH HE MARRIED SIX TIMES AND BATTLED AN ADDICTION TO COCAINE AND ALCOHOL. HE ONCE DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS 'THE BEST-LOOKING KID IN TOWN' ADDING 'IT'S NOT WHAT YOU HAVE BUT WHAT YOU DO WITH IT THAT COUNTS'. CURTIS TOOK ON BOTH DRAMATIC AND COMEDIC ROLES AND WAS OSCAR-NOMINATED FOR HIS PART IN THE DEFIANT ONES ALONGSIDE SYDNEY POITIER. HE ALSO APPEARED IN 'SPARTACUS' WITH KIRK DOUGLAS AND HIS HOLLYWOOD PEERS INCLUDED CARY GRANT AND FRANK SINATRA. SIR ROGER MOORE, WHO STARRED ALONGSIDE CURTIS IN 'THE PERSUADERS', LED TRIBUTES TO HIM SAYING: 'HE WAS A FINE ACTOR. I SHALL MISS HIM. WE HAD A FEW LAUGHS TOGETHER FOR ABOUT 15 MONTHS, WORKING TOGETHER EVERY DAY. HE WAS GREAT FUN TO WORK WITH, A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR AND WONDERFUL AD LIBS.' THE HOLLYWOOD STAR HAD BEEN IN FAILING HEALTH FOR SOME YEARS AND IN JULY HE WAS HOSPITALIZED AFTER BEING TAKEN ILL IN LAS VEGAS WITH AN ASTHMA ATTACK. HE UNDERWENT HEART BYPASS SURGERY IN 1994 AND NEARLY DIED FOLLOWING A BOUT OF PNEUMONIA IN 2006. IN HIS LATER YEARS CURTIS BEGAN A SECOND CAREER AS A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST AND ONCE CLAIMED: 'PAINTING IS MORE MEANINGFUL TO ME THAN ANY PERFORMANCES I'VE EVER GIVEN.' HIS DAUGHTER JAMIE LEE CURTIS, BY THE ACTRESS JANET LEIGH, SAID: 'MY FATHER LEAVES BEHIND A LEGACY OF GREAT PERFORMANCES IN MOVIES AND IN HIS PAINTINGS AND ASSEMBLAGES. HE LEAVES BEHIND CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO LOVED HIM AND RESPECTED HIM AND A WIFE AND IN LAWS WHO WERE DEVOTED TO HIM. HE ALSO LEAVES BEHIND FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD. HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED.'