Tony Curtis At Harrods: Frail, Bald And Wheelchair Bound

Tony Curtis is in London for an exhibition of his painting at legendary department store Harrod's. At Thursday's opening, he showed up bald, dressed in a cowboy hat and in a wheelchair. The Daily Mail reports:

The frail 82-year-old visited Harrods to launch an exhibition of his paintings but was unable to make the journey on his own two feet.

Frail: Tony Curis greets fans at Harrods this afternooon without his trademark toupee
But perhaps the greatest surprise was that he posed happily without his customary quiffed hairpiece - revealing his entirely bald head.

He habitually appears in public wearing a wig to disguise his balding but yesterday, the actor's only accessory was a grey Stetson and for the first time seemed happy to show off his smooth scalp.

He was able to stand briefly to greet Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed but seemed relieved to sit down again....

Mr Curtis was unconscious for four days and hospitalised for seven weeks with pneumonia in 2006 which caused him to lose all motor skills.

He attributed his renewed health to sixth wife, Jill Vandenberg, who is 42 years his junior.

He met her in a restaurant 13 years ago and they married five years later.

Here are two AP photos of the event;

Comments

[FnnfMadchen]

Mr. Curtis is one who contributed to Hollywood's reputation for glamor. I thank him for the many pleasurable hours I spent viewing his performances. He was, without a doubt "something" as he was the love of the truly spectacular Janet Leigh, at least, for a time. That he sired the also-spectacular Jamie Lee Curtis, who has become a woman of far more cultural importance than had she limited herself to her showbusiness career, must contribute to his pride. A person who continues to contribute art to this planet is one whom I will continue to revere. Although it's water under the bridge, I was disappointed that he and Ernest Borgnine, voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, refused to view Brokeback Mountain as worthy of their time or even their consideration, and thus may well have contributed to its being passed over for the Best Picture Oscar. Isn't it heart-warming to know that many people who have become his fans over these many years originally gave him more of a chance at success?

[Boris]

I remember Kirk Douglas first film as a producer, 'The Vikings" and Tony Curtis as the Viking prince who said, "Yonder lies da castle of me fodder."

He became a real actor, a good actor and a well liked public person. He is a real hero to all Brooklynites (although I think he's from Jersey) or those who talk like that. And, lucky dog, he was married to Janet Leigh....the loveliest of all the screen ladies of the 60's.

[MizJ]

He was a good actor. Remember him as Sidney the slimeball agent in "Sweet Smell of Success" opposite Burt Lancaser?

[Agentlady007]

++That was opposite Jerry Lewis. Uh Hem

[marlowe]

Uh Hem, no it wasn't. It was, indeed, Burt Lancaster. Fantastic film, directed by Alexander MacKendrick and written by Clifford Odet. (Jerry Lewis??? What were you thinking?)

[juliawin]

Why do looks have to be so important? Tony Curtis is one of the last of his generation of actors alive and he is leading a great life. These journalists are mean!!
If any of you live in Paris, France, you can meet the man yourself next week.

Meet legendary actor Tony Curtis in Paris on Sunday, April 27, 2008 for an afternoon of cinema and a question and answer session. The program includes a screening of Billy Wilder's film classic "Some Like it Hot" starring Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemon as well as the premier of a new documentary on Tony Curtis and his wife Jill.
When: Sunday, April 27th, 2008, 14h
Where: Hotel Marriott Rive Gauche, 17 Boulevard Saint Jacques, Paris 75014, metro Glacier
Reserve places in advance (20 Euros) Tel: [phone] (call between 10h-19h)
At the door: 25 Euros
Entry price includes screening of two films and Q&A with Tony Curtis followed by refreshments. All proceeds benefit the Jill and Tony Curtis horse refuge.

[mediamarv]

Atually that describes a significant number of shoppers at Harrods.

doty would be pleased at the publicity.

[Wiredwilly]

Arrogant & thoughtless headline. Huffpost has become the complete Hollywood package complete with trivial stories, mean spirited headlines, and the addition of the revisionist Neocon " History " Channel. Tony Curtis was a fine actor who is now getting old and deserves respect , especially for continuing to make Art, in spite of his difficulties. I now come to HuffPost for an occasional laugh but can no longer take it seriously. I think Ms. Huffington is paying more attention to being famous than paying attention to the lack of substance taking over her own Web page like a weed.

[LeftVetPatriot]

Please, please don't go away supercilious! No, please.

[Wiredwilly]

That's how the guys who supported the Viet Nam War thought when I opposed the Viet Nam War. Nixon is dead. They are dead. I was right.

[rikki52b]

Tony you are one of my all time favs Mazel Tov!

[Agathena]

Tony Curtis had courage! He played in The Defiant Ones AND The Boston Strangler. The Boston Strangler is a difficult movie to watch but Curtis' performance is excellent. I watch these movies to try to get inside the criminal mind asking how can psychopaths do these things, what goes on in their heads, how do they manage to move among us. Mr. Curtis pulled it off. I can only imagine what a grueling part that was.

Hope he enjoys his last days painting up a storm and hope all his paintings sell.

Bravo Mr. Curtis!

[lenzorizzo]

Courage? It took courage to play the bath-boy for Laurence Olivier, with the flagrant homosexual subtext. Those weren't the days when that kind of thing was seen much. In fact it probably only got past the censors because they were too stupid to notice. Just like when Batman (the original TV series was on). There was a lot that got past them in that one. Not that this would have been cut, but:

Robin: "Gee, Batman, you spoke French."
Batman: "Yes, Robin. It pays to keep abreast of foreign tongues."

Priceless!

[ignorantwillyharper]

Hang in there Tony!

[mabinog]

Holy sh!t, who knew people get old, lose their hair, put on weight, and i heard they even..........die.

Thank God, the entertainment section told us, phew.

[20thcenturykid]

I remember seeing him in The Defiant Ones (Tony Curtis, Sidney Pointier) in a still segregated Mississippi movie house where the blacks were confined to the upper balcony and us whites to the lower level. The two different audiences hissed or applauded alternately, never in sync and I realized I was applauding with the blacks and started to question the motives of the whites. There was fear of violence on the floor and in the streets because a film with Tony dared to be way ahead of its time. It won two Oscars, at a time when the civil rights movement wasn't even beginning. Can anyone in H'wood dare to make anything resembling that's "daring" today? Forgetaboutit.

[fightorleave2]

I agree. Your headline is out of line. It's almost like the Huffington Post has bought the Hollywood line, that no one can age, and one certainly can't age with grace.

[luckyoldson]

Huffington is barely a half step above the Enquirer.

99% of the headlines are disgusting and generally have little to do with the actual article.

[LeftVetPatriot]

Please don't leave and never come back!?

[tombollocks]

Pure class!

Wish I could own one of his paintings too!

[landmine]

I need all the good examples of graceful aging, I can get ;-)

[truthyguy]

We all grow old, if we are lucky. The trick is to do it with the grace and class of Tony Curtis.

He was one great looking guy in his prime. Funny thing is you can still see that young guy in his eyes and his personality. He is just trapped in an 82 year old body.

[Agentlady007]

Believe me, he IS Houdini, and he has never been trapped in anything that the body can hold as captive. I know his secrets, and he taught me how to be a woman when I was still a teenager. He told me i was already a woman when my parents never said the word to me. He once told me I reminded him of Natalie Wood, the woman who he starred in the most films with, and he was convinced I was the reincarnation of Marilyn. Like I never heard that before right?.