Alan Curtis (American actor)


Alan Curtis was an American film actor who appeared in over 50 films.

Early life and career

Born Harry Ueberroth or Harold Neberroth in Chicago, he began his career as a model before becoming an actor, appearing in local newspaper ads.
His looks did not go unnoticed in Hollywood. He began appearing in films in the late 1930s, making his screen debut in Winterset. His film activities included a Technicolor appearance in the Alice Faye-Don Ameche film Hollywood Cavalcade and a memorable role in High Sierra. He was one of the romantic leads in Abbott and Costello's first hit film Buck Privates and played composer Franz Schubert in The Great Awakening.
His chance for leading-man stardom came when he replaced the unwilling John Garfield in the production Flesh and Fantasy. Curtis played a ruthless killer opposite Gloria Jean. However, the studio cut their performances from the final film version. The footage was later expanded into a B-picture melodrama Destiny. The film failed to establish Curtis as a major-name star, but it did typecast him in hardbitten roles, like the man framed for murder in Phantom Lady and the detective Philo Vance. Curtis starred in over two dozen movies.

Personal life

Alan Curtis was married four times and had no children:
Curtis had a routine kidney operation on January 28, 1953, at Saint Clare's Hospital in New York City. Several hours after the surgery, as he sipped some tea, he "died" for four minutes when his heart failed. He was revived and seemed to be improving but died five days later, aged 43. He is buried in the Ueberroth family plot in Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois.

Recognition

Curtis has a star at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Picture section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1936The Witness ChairReporter in CourtroomUncredited
1936Undersea KingdomGuardsmanUncredited
1936The Last OutlawConvertible DriverUncredited
1936Swing TimeMinor RoleUncredited
1936Walking on AirFred Randolph
1936Don't Turn 'Em LooseWedding Attendant with TelegramUncredited
1936Without OrdersCo-PilotUncredited
1936One Live GhostAlanShort, Uncredited
1936Smartest Girl in TownMale Model Who Escorts CookieUncredited
1936WintersetSailorUncredited
1937Don't Tell the WifeSecond Stockbroker at Shaw & AllenUncredited
1937Sea DevilsRadio Operator, Yacht MonaUncredited
1937China PassageShip's OfficerUncredited
1937The Woman I LoveUncredited
1937Between Two WomenInterneUncredited
1937Bad GuyPrison Switchboard OperatorUncredited
1937The FireflyFrench SoldierUncredited
1937MannequinEddie Miller
1938Yellow JackBrinkerhof
1938The Shopworn AngelThin Lips
1938The Duke of West PointCadet Strong
1939Burn'Em Up O'ConnorJose 'Rocks' Rivera
1939Sergeant MaddenDennis Madden
1939Good Girls Go to ParisTom Brand
1939Hollywood CavalcadeNicky Hayden
1940Four SonsKarl
1941High Sierra'Babe'
1941Come Live with MeBit PartUncredited
1941Buck PrivatesBob Martin
1941Blood and SandMinor Role
1941The Great AwakeningFranz Schubert
1941We Go FastBob Brandon
1942Remember Pearl HarborBruce Gordon
1943Hitler's MadmanKarel Vavra
1943Two Tickets to LondonFirst Mate Dan Driscoll
1943Crazy HouseHimself
1943'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island RaidersJohn Harbison
1944Phantom LadyScott Henderson
1944Follow the BoysHimselfUncredited
1944The Invisible Man's RevengeMark Foster
1944DestinyCliff Banks
1945Frisco SalRio Jordan aka John Warren
1945See My LawyerCharlie Rodman
1945The Naughty NinetiesMr. Crawford
1945Shady LadyMarty Martin
1945The Daltons Ride AgainEmmett Dalton
1946Inside JobEddie Norton aka Eddie Mitchell
1946Flight to NowhereHobe Carrington
1946Renegade GirlCapt. Fred Raymond
1947Philo Vance's GamblePhilo Vance
1947Philo Vance's Secret MissionPhilo Vance
1948The Enchanted ValleyJohnny Nelson
1949Apache ChiefYoung Eagle
1949The Masked PirateCommodore Van Diel
1951Amore e sanguePaolo Giacomo