Thomas Quinn Curtiss (June 22, 1915 – July 17, 2000) was an American writer, and film and theater critic. He is also known for his relationship with author

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann (with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship) and Go ...

Early life

Curtiss was born on June 22, 1915, in New York City, the son of Roy A. Curtiss and Ethel Quinn. He attended the Bovee School for Boys, a private day school on New York's Upper East Side, where he was friends with

Louis Auchincloss Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...

. He graduated from the

Browning School The Browning School is a college preparatory school for boys located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Founded in 1888 by John A. Browning, the school is a member of the New York Interschool. History The school was founded in 1888 by John A ...

in New York in 1933. He studied film and theater in Vienna and Moscow, where he was a student of the film director

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

. Curtiss had three brothers, the eldest Roy Abijah Curtiss, Jr, better known as

Anthony Curtiss Anthony Curtiss, pen name of Roy Abijah Curtiss Jr (born in Brooklyn, New York 10 May 1910, died 12 July 1981 in Karachi, Pakistan), also known in his later life as Muhammad Abdullah al-Hussein, was an American naturalist who wrote a short, and so ...

, was a self taught

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

, while his other two brothers, Sidney Curtiss and Franklin Curtiss, were politicians in Massachusetts.

Relationship with Klaus Mann

In Budapest during the summer of 1937, he met writer

, nine years his senior, a meeting Mann recorded in his diary as "In the evening, picked up the little Curtiss (cute, a little blase and arrogant kid)". Mann later wrote of Curtiss: "The luck and mystery of a first meeting. His hysteria, sadness, intelligence, gentleness, sensuality, his smile, his eyes, moans, lips, expression, voice". In his diaries, Mann refers to him as "Curtiss-darling" and "Curtiss-dear" or by a nickname he invented: "Tomski". Mann's suicidal novel ''Vergittertes Fenster'' (''Barred Window''), loosely based on the life and death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and first published in the Netherlands in 1937, is dedicated to Curtiss. Their romantic relationship lasted through the end of the year, but was never untroubled as Mann fought addiction and Curtiss socialized without him. Despite the brevity of their romantic relationship, for years they saw each other or spoke at great intervals, and Curtiss remained "the great love" of Mann's life. Curtiss was interviewed by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

about Mann's sexual behavior as part of their surveillance of German émigrées during World War II. In the 2001 Emmy-winning

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

TV-miniseries ''

Die Manns – Ein Jahrhundertroman ''Die Manns – Ein Jahrhundertroman'' (; ''The Manns – Novel of a Century'') is a 2001 German Docudrama-miniseries directed by Heinrich Breloer. The miniseries is divided in three parts and tells the story of the Mann family, a family of famou ...

'', Quinn Curtis is portrayed by Torsten Liebrecht. The aged Curtiss himself is also shown in interviews.

Enlistment

Curtiss enlisted in the New York 7th Regiment before World War II. He was stationed with the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the ...

in Europe in 1944 and later with the US 8th Air Force, where he secured the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

's hidden film library for the Allies. He was awarded the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

in 1968.

Life in Paris

Curtiss settled in Paris after the war. He dined so regularly at La Tour d'Argent, one of the finest restaurants in Paris, that it added a dish named for him to its menu, "''oeufs à la Tom Curtiss''", a variation on '' oeufs à la Chimay''. Curtiss became a film and theater critic for many newspapers and magazines, including the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', before he joined the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

'' for which he continued to write until long after his retirement. He also wrote several books, including a biography of

Erich von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...

, whom he had admired in his youth. ''The New York Times'' faulted it as "handicapped by lengthy and often fictitious reported conversations", too ready to believe von Stroheim's version of events, and burdened with trivia. It said that Curtiss "has been devoted, and probably no other account will bring us so close to the proud, wounded, stubborn temper of on Stroheim As a major biography, setting the director against a period, the book has serious shortcomings." He also appeared in the documentary on Stroheim's life, ''The Man You Loved To Hate''. He wrote the script for the 1973 screen adaptation of

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

's ''

The Iceman Cometh ''The Iceman Cometh'' is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1946, the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 9, 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling, where it ran for 136 perf ...

''.

Death

He died on July 17, 2000, in

Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...

, France, at the age of 85. Because of an editing error, this obituary, which originated with the ''International Herald Tribune'' which was jointly own by ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post'', was not printed in ''The New York Times'' until November 2000.

Select works

;Author * ''Von Stroheim'', New York: Vintage Books, 1973, * ''The Smart Set: George Jean Nathan and H.L. Mencken'', New York: Applause, 1998, ;Editor *

George Jean Nathan George Jean Nathan (February 14, 1882 – April 8, 1958) was an American drama critic and magazine editor. He worked closely as an editor with H. L. Mencken bringing the literary magazine ''The Smart Set'' to prominence and while co-founding ...

, ''The Magic Mirror. Selected Writings on the Theatre'', New York: Knopf, 1960

References

External links

*
Obituary in the ''International Herald Tribune''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtiss, Thomas Quinn 1915 births 2000 deaths American male journalists American film critics American theater critics American film historians American expatriates in France American gay writers The New York Times journalists 20th-century American historians American LGBTQ journalists LGBTQ people from New York (state) Knights of the Legion of Honour 20th-century American male writers Browning School alumni Historians from New York (state) 20th-century American LGBTQ people LGBTQ media critics