Description:
Curtiz began acting in and then directing films in his native Hungary in 1912. After WWI, he continued his filmmaking career in Austria and Germany and into the early 1920s when he directed films in other countries in Europe. Moving to the US in 1926, he started making films in Hollywood for Warner Bros. and became thoroughly entrenched in the studio system. His films during the 1930s and '40s encompassed nearly every genre imaginable and some, including Casablanca (1942) and Mildred Pierce (1945), are considered to be film classics. His brilliance waned in the 1950s when he made a number of mediocre films for studios other than Warner. He directed his last film in 1961, a year before his death at 74.
Birthday
December 24, 1886
Born In
Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]
Alternative names
Michael Courtice
, Michael Kertesz
, Mihaly Kertesz
, Michael Kertész
, Mihály Kertész
, Kertész Mihály
Height
175 cm
Children
Kitty Curtiz-Eberson
Trivia
Could be intensely absorbed, to the point of distraction. Once was hurt
falling out of a moving car because he wanted to write down an idea. He
was driving at the time.
Quotes
[on the set of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), attempting to explain that he wanted a lot of riderless horses in the background of the climactic charge] Bring on the empty horses. NOTE: David Niven, who was in the cast of the film and heard about the remark, later used it as the title for his autobiography.
Nickname
Miska
