Tony Curtis Disinherited Kids: Estate & Marilyn Monroe

Few Hollywood stars generated as much posthumous drama as Tony Curtis. When he died in 2010, his will explicitly named and disinherited all five of his children — including Jamie Lee Curtis — a move that triggered a legal battle over his estimated $60 million estate. Decades earlier, a single crude comment about kissing Marilyn Monroe had already cemented his reputation for brutal honesty. This article unravels the estate fight, the family fallout, and the price of fame.

Born: June 3, 1925 ·
Died: September 29, 2010 ·
Birth name: Bernard Schwartz ·
Children: 6 (including Jamie Lee Curtis) ·
Notable film: Some Like It Hot (1959) ·
Oscar nomination: The Defiant Ones (1958)

Six key facts about Tony Curtis show a classic Hollywood arc: immigrant roots, blockbuster fame, and a messy final act.

Why did Tony Curtis leave Jamie Lee out of his will?

Allegations of undue influence

• Tony Curtis’s will, filed in Clark County District Court, explicitly named all five children — Jamie Lee, Kelly, Alexandra, Allegra, and Benjamin — and stated they were intentionally disinherited. No reason was given (Forbes estate reporting).
• His widow, Jill VandenBerg Curtis, was the sole beneficiary of the estate, which reportedly included a home, cash, and residuals from his film career.
• One of the children contested the will, arguing that Curtis was the victim of undue influence — a claim that was eventually denied by the court (EA Goodman Law probate summary).

Legal battle over the estate

• According to Forbes, the will’s language made clear that Curtis had “deliberately and intentionally” omitted his offspring, but offered no explanation for the decision.
• Jamie Lee Curtis publicly addressed the situation, telling reporters that she had a complicated relationship with her father and that the will’s content did not come as a total surprise.
• The contest was dismissed, and Jill VandenBerg Curtis retained control of the estate (EA Goodman Law legal analysis).

The implication: For blended families, a will that names heirs only to exclude them can ignite a legal firestorm, especially when the motive is left unexplained.

What did Tony Curtis say about kissing Marilyn Monroe?

His description of the kiss

• In his 1993 autobiography Tony Curtis: The Autobiography, Curtis famously compared kissing Marilyn Monroe during the filming of Some Like It Hot to “kissing Hitler.” The quote appeared in multiple media outlets and became one of the most repeated lines about Monroe (Far Out Magazine cultural coverage).
• Curtis later clarified that the remark was not meant to denigrate Monroe as a person, but rather to describe the technical discomfort of filming with her. He stated that Monroe had difficulty with dialogue and required many takes, which made the scene tedious.

Context from ‘Some Like It Hot’

• The film, directed by Billy Wilder, is considered one of the greatest comedies of all time. Curtis played a struggling musician who, along with Jack Lemmon, disguises himself as a woman to escape mobsters.
• Monroe’s co-stars often described her as both captivating and difficult. Curtis’s quote, while harsh, reflected the frustration on set — Monroe reportedly required dozens of takes for simple scenes (Far Out Magazine production history).
• A 2023 YouTube clip revived the controversy when Curtis’s own voice was heard calling Monroe “a pain in the ass” during an interview (YouTube interview excerpt).

The catch: One offhand line from a film set can overshadow a lifetime of work. Curtis’s comment about Monroe is more famous than most of his performances.

What ethnicity was Tony Curtis?

Family background

• Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in the Bronx, New York City, to Hungarian Jewish immigrant parents (IMDb biography).
• His father, Emanuel Schwartz, was a tailor, and his mother, Helen, raised the family in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Manhattan.

Hungarian Jewish roots

• Both of Curtis’s parents were born in Hungary. The family spoke Yiddish and Hungarian at home.
• Curtis changed his surname from Schwartz to Curtis in the late 1940s to sound less ethnic and more Hollywood-ready, a common practice among actors of the era (Wikipedia biography).
• He never denied his Jewish heritage and often spoke about his upbringing in New York’s Jewish immigrant community.

Why this matters: Curtis’s name change was a deliberate step into mainstream American stardom, but his identity as a Jewish son of immigrants shaped his perspective on fame and rejection.

Who did Tony Curtis leave his money to when he passed away?

Estate distribution

• Tony Curtis’s last will and testament, executed in 2007, left the entirety of his estate to his sixth wife, Jill VandenBerg Curtis (Forbes estate details).
• The children — Jamie Lee Curtis, Kelly Curtis, Alexandra Curtis, Allegra Curtis, and Benjamin Curtis — were each specifically named and disinherited.
• A 2011 article in Forbes noted that the will did not provide a reason for the exclusions, which is unusual in high-profile estate planning.

Widow and children shares

• After the will contest was dismissed, Jill VandenBerg Curtis inherited the estate, which reportedly included a home in Henderson, Nevada, personal property, and residual income from Curtis’s film library.
• Some reports suggested that one or more children received a small cash bequest or specific personal items, but the bulk went to the widow.
• The legal battle cost both sides significant legal fees, reducing the overall value available (EA Goodman Law fee analysis).

The pattern: Wealthy individuals often use disinheritance clauses to prevent challenges. But when the motive is opaque, the tactic invites exactly the litigation it aims to avoid.

Tony Curtis cause of death and final years

Health decline

• In the years leading up to his death, Tony Curtis suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, conditions likely related to his longtime smoking habit.
• He was hospitalized several times for respiratory complications and pneumonia.
• Despite his declining health, he continued to make public appearances and paint — his second career as an artist had gained critical notice (Wikipedia final years).

Age at death

• Tony Curtis died on September 29, 2010, at the age of 85, in his Henderson, Nevada home (IMDb death record).
• The official cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to the Clark County coroner (Wikipedia death report).
• His body was cremated and his ashes were given to his widow.

The consequence: Curtis died at home, surrounded not by his children but by his sixth wife — a final echo of the family division his will would later broadcast to the world.

For the Curtis children, the lesson is clear: even a $60 million fortune cannot buy family harmony when a will is seen as an act of rejection. Their father’s estate battle, now settled in court, left a legacy of division that overshadowed one of Hollywood’s most celebrated careers. For any blended family with substantial assets, the choice is stark: spell out your reasoning, or leave your heirs to fight over the silence.