Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis were two of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age,
and they starred together in the classic 1959 motion picture
Some Like It Hot. Though their chemistry in the film certainly clicked with audiences,
the real-life relationship between the pair has long since been a subject of debate
amongst film historians. Tony Curtis himself claimed later in his life that he and Marilyn
had been involved in an affair during the filming of the classic movie, which was extramarital given
that they were both married to other people at the time. However, other remarks that the actor
made call into question just how much the two stars really liked each other and whether or not
the affair between the two actually occurred the way Tony claimed. Still, the pair certainly had a
history together both on and off the screen, and many fans choose to take Tony’s stories at face
value. Join Facts Verse as we explore what really happened between Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis.
During Hollywood’s Golden Age, there were certain celebrities that shined
brighter than any others and remain icons to this day. One of the preeminent icons of the time was
Marilyn Monroe, who died tragically young after rocketing to superstardom thanks to her sex appeal
and natural charm. A slightly lesser icon from the time period was Tony Curtis, who was Marilyn’s
male costar in Some Like It Hot. As one of Marilyn’s most popular features, her performance
alongside Tony in the film remains one of the ways that fans know the actress best. Because of this,
her image has become intrinsically tied with that of Tony Curtis, making it easy for the
public to be convinced that the two might have actually been in love with one another.
Almost immediately after Tony Curtis filmed Some Like It Hot alongside Marilyn Monroe, critics
began drilling the male star about what it was like to kiss one of the most
lusted-after female celebrities of the time. In response, Tony memorably was
quoted as saying that kissing Marilyn Monroe was akin to kissing Hitler,
a recently deceased political figure that was even more vehemently and actively despised during the
time period than he is nowadays due to the close historical proximity of World War II.
Of course, the public was shocked to hear Tony Curtis claim that kissing Marilyn Monroe was
akin to kissing the infamous Nazi fuhrer, though Tony later claimed that the quote had
been taken slightly out of context. According to Tony, he had said the remark sarcastically
because he felt that the question was absurd. If Tony's rectifications of his infamous
remark regarding Marilyn and Hitler are to be believed, Tony found the notion that the
interviewer would even need to ask whether kissing Marilyn was enjoyable or not to be ridiculous.
Tony apparently enjoyed kissing Marilyn very much, so much so that they even had an affair!
Marilyn Monroe was already one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at
the time that Some Like It Hot was being filmed, and Tony Curtis was comparatively
not as big of a deal. Over the course of her tragically short lifetime,
Marilyn was romantically involved with such heavy hitters as Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio,
with the actress seemingly having been able to get pretty much any man that she desired.
If Tony is to be believed, his name can be added to the list of men that Marilyn
Monroe was romantically involved with during her short lifetime. Not
only that, but Tony actually claimed before his death that he had gotten Marilyn pregnant during
the extramarital affair that they had shared during the filming of Some Like It Hot. Marilyn
was married to playwright Arthur Miller at the time that the movie was being filmed, and the
two were actively trying to have a child together. Marilyn was verifiably pregnant
during the filming of the movie, though she later publicly suffered a miscarriage. Tony went on to
claim that the child Marilyn was pregnant with was his, though Marilyn wasn’t alive to verify this.
If Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis were truly involved in an extramarital affair during the
filming of Some Like It Hot, then perhaps Tony’s remarks regarding his female costar and Adolph
Hitler had been an attempt by the actor to cover their tracks. Since Tony didn’t come forward with
the tale of the supposed affair until long after Marilyn’s 1962 death, we will likely never know
the truth about exactly what went down between the pair! If you’re enjoying this video so far,
be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if
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Although Tony Curtis’ remarks comparing kissing Marilyn Monroe on the set of Some Like It Hot to
kissing Hitler were certainly shocking, Tony adamantly maintained later in his life that the
remarks had been entirely sarcastic. According to the late actor, he had simply become tired
of hearing the same mundane question over and over again and wanted to provoke an interesting
response to entertain himself. Other theories include the actor trying to cover his tracks
regarding a possible extramarital affair that he and Marilyn may have been engaged in or
the possibility that Tony Curtis had simply felt true and honest loathing for his costar.
If Tony Curtis had been trying to disguise the fact that he and Marilyn Monroe were truly in
love with one another, then his Hitler remark worked! For decades after he made the remark
while doing press for Some Like It Hot, rumors continued to persist that the two stars despised
each other. Marilyn passed away in 1962, only a few years after the supposed affair had
occurred between them. Marilyn was never given the opportunity to speak up and clear her name,
so the claims of Tony Curtis are the closest thing we have to go off of to
make sense of what actually happened. Sadly, it’s hard to tell exactly what
the truth is given Tony’s stories. While he claimed up until his death that he and
Marilyn had actually been in love with each other to the point where they had been lovers
during the filming of Some Like It Hot, many continue to question the truth of these claims.
One thing remains certain, and that is that Marilyn Monroe was
pregnant during the filming of Some Like It Hot and then later suffered a miscarriage.
She and Arthur Miller had certainly been trying to have a baby to no avail,
and they never ended up making good on their attempts. Meanwhile, Tony Curtis was married
to actress Janet Leigh at the time, and the marriage certainly proved that Tony wasn't
impotent. The famous Hollywood couple went on to procreate, yielding subsequent Hollywood star
Jamie Lee Curtis. Actress Janet Leigh became one of the first cinematic scream queens ever with
her performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 feature film Psycho, and daughter Jamie Lee Curtis carried
on the mantle when she appeared in such films as Halloween in 1978 and Terror Train in 1980.
Though Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller never had any children of their own, Arthur Miller
did have plenty of children from outside of the short-lived marriage.
Marilyn never had any children whatsoever during her tragically short life,
dying in 1962 at the age of only 36. She and Arthur had divorced a year prior,
and Marilyn's mental health subsequently took a sharp decline in the time leading up to her death.
According to Tony Curtis, he and Marilyn Monroe had made a pact with each other to tell Arthur
Miller about the fact that they had been having an affair. During the confrontation is when Marilyn
apparently revealed to both Tony and her husband that she had become pregnant with Tony’s child.
Following this supposed confrontation between Tony, Marilyn, and Arthur, Tony went on to
claim that he was told by Some Like It Hot’s creative staff that he needed to stay away
from both Marilyn Monroe and her husband for the rest of the film’s shooting. He did so,
and he ended up learning about Marilyn’s miscarriage of his supposed child through
third-party means. It appears that Tony and Marilyn didn’t have much involvement after this,
and Tony didn’t speak about their relationship until many decades later.
Only a few years before his death, Tony Curtis released an autobiography by the name of American
Prince: A Memoir. This book documented Tony’s claims that he had been involved in an affair
with Marilyn, and he further elaborated on the claims in a making-of book detailing
behind-the-scenes trivia about Some Like It Hot. He would also often touch upon the subject in
public interviews, referencing his infamous remark regarding Marilyn and Adolph Hitler.
Tony ended up passing away in 2010, at the age of 85.
Before he and Marilyn Monroe had become involved in an extramarital affair
on the set of Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis also alleged that he and Marilyn had been
romantically involved a decade prior, in 1949. While the public continues to question whether
Marilyn and Tony could even stand to be around each other, Tony claimed up until
his death that the times he spent with Marilyn had been some of the most unbelievable of his
life and apparently enjoyed making love to her much more than he would have to Adolph Hitler.
Although the public still continues to question the truth of what exactly occurred between Marilyn
Monroe and Tony Curtis over half of a century ago during the filming of Some Like It Hot,
we will likely never know the full truth! Now it’s time to hear from you: do you think that Marilyn
Monroe and Tony Curtis truly had an extramarital affair during the filming of Some Like It Hot,
or do you think that Tony made the whole thing up after Marilyn’s death? As always,
like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if
you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their
way!