Alan Curtis (born Harry Ueberroth or Harold Neberroth, July 24, 1909 – February 2, 1953) was an American film actor who appeared in over 50 films.

Early life and career

Born Harry Ueberroth or Harold Neberroth in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 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, making his screen debut in '' Winterset'' (1936). His film activities included a

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

appearance in the

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Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...

film ''

Hollywood Cavalcade ''Hollywood Cavalcade'' is a 1939 American film featuring Alice Faye as a young performer making her way in the early days of Hollywood, from slapstick silent pictures through the transition from silent to sound. Production In the wake of Alic ...

'' (1939) and a memorable role in '' High Sierra'' (1941). He was one of the romantic leads in

Abbott and Costello Abbott may refer to: People * Abbott (surname) *Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist * Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act Places Argentina * Abbott, Buenos Aires United States * Abbott, Arkansas ...

's first hit film ''

Buck Privates ''Buck Privates'' is a 1941 musical film, musical military comedy film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bona fide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, peacetime draft o ...

'' (1941) and played composer

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

in ''

The Great Awakening ''The Great Awakening'' is the fourth studio album from the Christian rock band Leeland, released on September 20, 2011. ''The Great Awakening'' received a nomination to the 54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on Februar ...

'' (1941). His chance for leading-man stardom came when he replaced the unwilling

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

in the production '' Flesh and Fantasy'' (1943). Curtis played a ruthless killer opposite

Gloria Jean Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover; April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub app ...

. However, the studio cut their performances from the final film version. The footage was later expanded into a B-picture melodrama ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' (1944). He also portrayed the man framed for murder in ''

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'' (1944) and the detective

Philo Vance Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish� ...

. Curtis starred in over two dozen movies.

Personal life

Alan Curtis was married four times and had no children: *Actress Priscilla Lawson, widow of Gerald Lawson. Curtis and Lawson married in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 14, 1937, and divorced March 11, 1940. *Actress Ilona Massey, married 1941, divorced 1942 *Model Sandra Lucas: born Alexandra Beryl Crowell in 1917, she was married 1939 to 1945 to musician Lyn Lucas (brother of

Clyde Lucas Clyde H. Lucas (c. 1901 – January 15, 1982) was an American big-band leader who was popular in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. He was the leader of ''Clyde Lucas and His California Dons''. Early years Lucas grew up in Los Angeles ...

). Curtis and Lucas married in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 8 February 1946: the couple were still married in May 1949 divorcing prior to Curtis' fourth marriage in November 1950. Lucas, identified as socialite Alexandra Crowell Curtis, wed actor John Payne on 27 September 1953, becoming his widow 6 December 1989. *Elizabeth Sundmark Dodero (died 1959), a onetime showgirl, former wife of Argentine millionaire Alberto Dodero, and a close friend of

Eva Peron Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...

. They married in New York City on November 21, 1950, and divorced the following year. She died in 1959, after marrying, in 1952, saloon singer Hugh Shannon.

Death

Curtis had a routine kidney operation on January 28, 1953, at Saint Clare's Hospital in Manhattan. Several hours after the surgery, as he sipped some tea, he "died" for four minutes when his heart failed. He was revived and seemed to be improving but died five days later, aged 43. He is buried in the Ueberroth family plot in Memorial Park Cemetery in

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's d ...

Recognition

Curtis has a star at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Picture section of the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.

Filmography

Alan Curtis-Patricia Morison in Hitler's Madman

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Alan 1909 births 1953 deaths American male film actors Male actors from Chicago Burials in Illinois 20th-century American male actors