Actor and former sailor Tony Curtis dead at 85 - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Actor and former sailor Tony Curtis dead at 85

Famed actor and former sailor Tony Curtis died Wednesday in Henderson, Nev. He was 85.

Before he became Tony Curtis, he was Bernard Schwartz, born June 3, 1925, in New York City to Hungarian immigrants.

After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Curtis wanted to fight in the war. After seeing Cary Grant play a submarine commander in “Destination Tokyo” and Tyrone Power in “Crash Dive,” he decided to join the Navy and be a submariner.

“I knew then that I wanted to be a submariner,” Curtis said in a 2004 interview during the commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of the Battle of Midway at the Navy Memorial at Washington. “In fact, I knew even earlier that I wanted to serve in subs.”

He recalled how as an even younger child, he’d make his own “submarines” out of wooden broom handles, fashioning makeshift screws from scraps of tin cans and powering the boats in a nearby pond with rubber bands.

His first stop was Great Lakes, for recruit training, followed by signalman “A” school — then being conducted in Champaign, Ill. — before heading on to sub school in Groton, Conn. After school, he was ordered to the Pacific theater for duty.

The young signalman headed west and got some additional training at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Calif., before reporting to the submarine tender Proteus in Guam.

On the Proteus, he became a member of Submarine Relief Crew 202.

Relief crews would clean and repair submarines as they returned from patrol.

“They would tie up alongside us and the crew would go on liberty,” Curtis said. “That’s when our job should start ... we would go aboard and clean it up and scrape the barnacles off the hull,” he said. “Getting those submarines ready to go back out on patrol was great work, great practice for us, but make no mistake, it was very hard work, too.”

The war’s end would cut short his dream of actually qualifying in submarines, though he did get a small taste as a replacement sailor on the submarine Dragonet in mid-1945 as that boat made a short runs in the Western Pacific.

“I wanted to qualify submarines badly,” remembers Curtis, “but it ended up the only thing I didn’t get to do while I was in.”

But he did get to witness history.

The Proteus became one of the armada of ships that steamed into Tokyo Bay in August 1945 for the formal Japanese surrender.

Anchored not far away, Proteus had a number of submarines nested alongside her. Their crews joined Proteus’ own, packing the decks to get a look at what was happening onboard the battleship Missouri.

“I was a signalman, and naturally I went to the signal bridge to watch,” he said. “We took turns looking through binoculars at the surrender onboard the Missouri — we were all so happy, the war was over.”

Within a few months, he was discharged from the Navy and back in New York, but he credits the Navy and the GI Bill for jump-starting his acting career.

“I can’t thank the Navy enough, as it was like a mother to me, feeding me and even fixing my teeth,” he said. “They kept me out of trouble and let me see the world, and when I came home I had the GI Bill and I was able to go to school and study acting — I really can’t thank them enough.”

Curtis’ Hollywood career would take him back to submarines in 1959, when he starred with Cary Grant in the submarine comedy “Operation Petticoat,” a World War II story about a submarine that was painted pink and had Army nurses as part of the crew.

“Years before, I had watched Cary wrapped around the periscope in ‘Destination Tokyo’ and wanted to be him,” Curtis said. Then not only did he become my friend, when we did ‘Operation Petticoat,’ there I was in a movie with Cary — and there he was again, wrapped around a periscope again — it was a wonderful and amazing thing for me.”

Later in life, Curtis worked to give back to the Navy he said he owed so much to by becoming a staunch supporter of the Navy Memorial in Washington.

He was present at the memorial’s dedication in 1987 and served as an official host for the organization’s first Lone Sailor Dinner, where the organization honors former sea service veterans for their service both in and out of the military.

In 1994, he was given that award by the memorial and often returned for events, such as the 2004 Midway celebrations, which included a showing of “Operation Petticoat.” Curtis introduced the film and answered many questions from the audience about his Navy service as well as about the movie.

His willingness to give back to the Navy also helped him achieve his World War II goal.

At a 1998 Submarine Birthday Ball, Rear Adm. Jerry Ellis, who then commanded Submarine Forces Pacific, presented Curtis with his silver “dolphins” warfare pin, along with the title “submariner.”

Bernard Schwartz had realized yet another dream, but never forgot how he got there.

“I was proud to serve in the South Pacific and proud to be a World War II veteran,” he said. “Though that era has long since passed, I look back with fond memories of the fellowship, dedication and hard work that enabled us to win the war.”