Michael Curtiz

Hungarian-American director (1886–1962)

OverviewAI-generated

Michael Curtiz was a film director, producer, and actor born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, in 1886. He held citizenship in both Hungary and the United States. Curtiz was nominated for and received the Academy Award for Best Director, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His works are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

He was married to Bess Meredyth, Lili Damita, and Lucy Doraine. Curtiz spoke German, Hungarian, and English. He died of cancer in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, in 1962. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Synthesized by Vinony from 41 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, Last.fm, TMDb, MusicBrainz, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Film & TV

Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]

Michael Curtiz (December 24, 1886 — April 10, 1962), born Manó Kaminer, was a Hungarian-American film director. He had early credits as Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész. He directed more than fifty films in Europe and more than one hundred in the United States. The best-known were The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and White Christmas. He…

Known for

Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of — Self (archive footage)2012
The Adventures of Errol Flynn — Self (archive footage)2005
You're the Star — Self1953
This Is Your Life — Self1952
The Screen Director — Self (staged 'archive' footage) (uncredited)1951
It's a Great Feeling — Michael Curtiz (uncredited)1949
The Ed Sullivan Show — Self1948
Show-Business at War — Self1943
Atlantis1913
Today and Tomorrow — Arisztid1912

via TMDB

Key facts

Born: Manó Kaminer , ( 1886-12-25 ) December 25, 1886 , Budapest , Austria-Hungary
Died: April 10, 1962 (1962-04-10) (aged 75), Los Angeles, California , U.S.
Other names: Mike Curtiz, Mihály Kertész
Citizenship: Hungary (1886–1933), United States (after 1933)
Occupation: Film director
Years active: 1912–1961
Spouses: Lucy Doraine ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1918 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1923 ) Bess Meredyth ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1929 )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Mihály
Family name: Kertész
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Budapest
Place of death: Los Angeles
Spouse: Lucy Doraine
Sibling: Dezső Kertész
Occupation: film producer
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: Hungarian
Award: star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Image: Curtiz 1928 portrait (cropped).jpg

Show 13 more facts

place of burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park
cause of death: cancer
date of birth: 1886-12-25
date of death: 1962-03-10
Commons category: Michael Curtiz
manner of death: natural causes
nominated for: Academy Award for Best Director
birth name: Kaminer Manó
name in native language: Kertész Mihály
related category: Category:Films directed by Michael Curtiz
start of work period: 1912-00-00
Commons Creator page: Michael Curtiz
end of work period: 1961-00-00

Sources (10)

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Encyclopedic overview

Michael Curtiz (/kɜːrˈtiːz/; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; Hungarian: Kertész Mihály; December 25, 1886 – April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian and American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silent era and numerous others during Hollywood's Golden Age, when the studio system was prevalent.

Curtiz was already a well-known director in Europe when Warner Bros. invited him to Hollywood in 1926, when he was 39 years of age. He had already directed 64 films in Europe, and soon helped Warner Bros. become the fastest-growing movie studio. He directed 102 films during his Hollywood career, mostly at Warners, where he directed ten actors to Oscar nominations. James Cagney and Joan Crawford won their only Academy Awards under Curtiz's direction. He put Doris Day and John Garfield on screen for the first time, and he made stars of Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Bette Davis. He himself was nominated five times, and won twice, once for Best Short Subject for Sons of Liberty and once as Best Director for Casablanca.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Michael Curtiz” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.