Alan Curtis (American actor)

Alan Curtis
Curtis in Two Tickets to London (1943)
Born
Harry Ueberroth or Harold Neberroth

(1909-07-24)July 24, 1909
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedFebruary 2, 1953(1953-02-02) (aged 43)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Resting placeMemorial Park Cemetery and Crematorium, Skokie, Illinois
Other namesHarold Neberroth
OccupationActor
Years active1936–1951
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1937; div. 1940)​
Sandra Lucas aka Alexandra Crowell
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1949)​
Betty Dodero
​
​
(m. 1950; div. 1951)​

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[1][2] in Chicago, he began his career as a model[3] 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).[4] His film activities included a Technicolor appearance in the Alice Faye-Don Ameche film Hollywood Cavalcade (1939) and a memorable role in High Sierra (1941). He was one of the romantic leads in Abbott and Costello's first hit film Buck Privates (1941) and played composer Franz Schubert in The Great Awakening (1941).[5]

His chance for leading-man stardom came when he replaced the unwilling John Garfield in the production Flesh and Fantasy (1943). Curtis played a ruthless killer opposite Gloria Jean. However, the studio cut their performances from the final film version. The footage was later expanded into a B-picture melodrama Destiny (1944). He also portrayed the man framed for murder in Phantom Lady (1944) and the detective Philo Vance. Curtis starred in over two dozen movies.

Personal life

Curtis was married to:

  • Actress Priscilla Lawson,[1]
  • Model Sandra Lucas: born Alexandra Beryl Crowell in 1917, she was married 1939 to 1945 to musician Lyn Lucas (brother of Clyde Lucas). 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.[6]
  • Elizabeth Sundmark Dodero (died 1959), a onetime showgirl, former wife of Argentine millionaire Alberto Dodero, and a close friend of Eva Peron. 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.[7][8]

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.[9] He was revived and seemed to be improving but died five days later, aged 43.[10] He is buried in the Ueberroth family plot in Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois.[11]

Recognition

Curtis has a star at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Picture section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.[12]

Filmography

Alan Curtis and Patricia Morison in Hitler's Madman (1943).
Curtis and Ella Raines in Phantom Lady (1944)
Year Title Role Notes
1936 The Witness Chair Reporter in Courtroom Uncredited
1936 Undersea Kingdom Guardsman Uncredited
1936 The Last Outlaw Convertible Driver Uncredited
1936 Swing Time Minor Role Uncredited
1936 Walking on Air Fred Randolph
1936 Don't Turn 'Em Loose Wedding Attendant with Telegram Uncredited
1936 Without Orders Co-Pilot Uncredited
1936 One Live Ghost Alan Short, Uncredited
1936 Smartest Girl in Town Male Model Who Escorts Cookie Uncredited
1936 Winterset Sailor Uncredited
1937 Don't Tell the Wife Second Stockbroker at Shaw & Allen Uncredited
1937 Sea Devils Radio Operator, Yacht Mona Uncredited
1937 China Passage Ship's Officer Uncredited
1937 The Woman I Love Uncredited
1937 Between Two Women Interne Uncredited
1937 Bad Guy Prison Switchboard Operator Uncredited
1937 The Firefly French Soldier Uncredited
1937 Mannequin Eddie Miller
1938 Yellow Jack Brinkerhof
1938 The Shopworn Angel Thin Lips
1938 The Duke of West Point Cadet Strong
1939 Burn'Em Up O'Connor Jose 'Rocks' Rivera
1939 Sergeant Madden Dennis Madden
1939 Good Girls Go to Paris Tom Brand
1939 Hollywood Cavalcade Nicky Hayden
1940 Four Sons Karl
1941 High Sierra 'Babe'
1941 Come Live with Me Bit Part Uncredited
1941 Buck Privates Bob Martin
1941 Blood and Sand Minor Role (scenes deleted)
1941 The Great Awakening Franz Schubert
1941 We Go Fast Bob Brandon
1942 Remember Pearl Harbor Bruce Gordon
1943 Hitler's Madman Karel Vavra
1943 Two Tickets to London First Mate Dan Driscoll
1943 Crazy House Himself
1943 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders John Harbison
1944 Phantom Lady Scott Henderson
1944 Follow the Boys Himself Uncredited
1944 The Invisible Man's Revenge Mark Foster
1944 Destiny Cliff Banks
1945 Frisco Sal Rio Jordan aka John Warren
1945 See My Lawyer Charlie Rodman
1945 The Naughty Nineties Mr. Crawford
1945 Shady Lady Marty Martin
1945 The Daltons Ride Again Emmett Dalton
1946 Inside Job Eddie Norton aka Eddie Mitchell
1946 Flight to Nowhere Hobe Carrington
1946 Renegade Girl Capt. Fred Raymond
1947 Philo Vance's Gamble Philo Vance
1947 Philo Vance's Secret Mission
1948 The Enchanted Valley Johnny Nelson
1949 Apache Chief Young Eagle
1949 The Masked Pirate Commodore Van Diel
1951 Amore e sangue Paolo Giacomo (final film role)

References

  1. ^ a b Room, Adrian (2012). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed. McFarland. p. 127. ISBN 9780786457632. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  2. ^ Joseph F. Clarke (1977). Pseudonyms. BCA. p. 45.
  3. ^ Daniel, Blum (1969). Screen World Vol. 5 1954. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 208. ISBN 9780819602602. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  4. ^ "Film Actor Alan Curtis Dead, Week After Kidney Operation". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio, Cincinnati. Associated Press. February 2, 1953. p. 31. Retrieved January 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ "Alan Curtis". BFI. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "Actor John Payne Weds Ex-Wife of Alan Curtis". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. September 28, 1953. p. 2. Retrieved January 8, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Marriages". Billboard. December 9, 1950. p. 40. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  8. ^ Balliett, Whitney (January 9, 1977). "ACCORDING TO WHERE I GO". The New Yorker.
  9. ^ "Actor, Dead Four Minutes, Is Improving", Lewiston Morning Tribune, January 29, 1953
  10. ^ "Alan Curtis, Actor, Dead", Lewiston Morning Tribune, February 2, 1953
  11. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 171. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  12. ^ "Alan Curtis". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.

Media related to Alan Curtis at Wikimedia Commons