At the time of the actor’s death in 2010, the majority of Tony Curtis’ five surviving children seemingly shocked to learn that they had recently written out of their late father’s will. The most famous of those five surviving children is actress Jamie Lee Curtis. She also happened to be the only one of the kids who could’ve seemingly cared less about the snub as a result of her own Hollywood fortune. Tony’s other kids certainly could’ve used the money, and it seemed like the late actor had plenty to spare! However, Tony decided to leave the entirety of his vast fortune to his sixth and final wife, who was over four decades younger than him. Join Facts Verse as we explore why Tony Curtis disinherited his daughter – but his wife got a fortune.
No Fortune for the Curtis Kids
Hollywood is a world wherein even the dimmest stars seem to have a couple of million dollars tucked away somewhere or another. And these stars can typically expected to leave behind a modest amount of their savings to their various illegitimate children upon their passing. Every once in a while, a brave Hollywood star will come along that dares to break this tradition. One such star was Tony Curtis, who wrote all five of his surviving children out of his will. It happened just before his death so that he could leave behind the entirety of his life’s savings to his much younger sixth and final wife.
Tony Curtis Married Six Times
He married six times over the course of his life and had six children. Tony had two children each with his first three wives. And he also alleged to have possibly had a seventh and secret child as a result of an affair. Up until about five months before the actor’s passing, his will dictated that his fortune would divided up evenly between his five surviving children. Years previously, one of Tony’s six children had died as a result of a heroin overdose.
The Kids Claim Ignorance
According to the kids themselves, they had no idea that their father had written them out of their will. However, the late Tony’s widow and his estate lawyers suggest that the kids had made well aware long before their father’s death that the change to the will had been made. At the time of Tony’s passing, he married to sixth and final wife Jill Vanderberg. According to Jill, Tony’s surviving kids feigned being left in the dark about the change to the will so that they could garner increased pity from the public and the courts. Tony Curtis passed in 2010 as a result of cardiac arrest.
Jill and Tony Had a Good Relationship
Although Jill Vanderberg over 40 years Tony Curtis’ junior, the two had married for well over a decade by the time of Tony’s passing. In fact, Tony’s marriage to Jill stands as the second-longest of his six marriages. And it stands to reason that it would’ve grown to eclipse his marriage to Leslie Curtis in duration if it hadn’t been for Tony’s 2010 passing. It seems that Tony and Jill got along very well. Meanwhile, it’s more than obvious that Tony didn’t have much of a relationship with his several kids.
By the time that Tony Curtis married Jill Vanderberg, he was an unprecedented Hollywood luminary with a plethora of iconic work behind him. Many have expressed the fear that Jill may have been a gold digger playing the long con. However, Tony Curtis explicitly addressed in his changes to his will that he was not under undue influence from his wife. It’s hard to know for sure whether or not Tony’s five surviving children faked their shocked reaction as left out of their father’s will in the wake of his death. If it had been Jill’s plan all along to subvert the kids and get all of Tony’s fortune for herself. Well, she certainly accomplished her goal!
An Auction Adds Insult to Injury for the Children
In addition to receiving the late Tony Curtis’ entire fortune in the will, Jill also received all of his belongings. Following Tony’s death, Jill put on a massive auction and sold off plenty of striking items of memorabilia. It include Tony’s iconic jacket from the film Some Like It Hot and letters that the star had written to some of his contemporaries. Other notable items that auctioned off by Jill following Tony’s death include a few classic cars and expensive painting.
Nearly 500 items said to have sold at the auction. And it stands to reason given the hefty price tags that the majority of the items sold for that she walked away with quite a fortune from the event. This auction only added insult to injury after Tony’s five surviving children written out of his will. Daughter Allegra Curtis took to the public to decry the auction. She claimed that Jill was selling things that her father would’ve wanted to keep in the family. In response, the auctioneer himself came out of the woodwork. And claimed that Tony had personally instructed him before his death exactly what items he wanted to sold. And that he and Jill were simply following the orders to a tee.
While Jill Vanderberg seems to have gotten the majority of the profits from the auction that saw her selling off her late husband’s memorabilia. A fraction of the proceeds from the auction also said to have gone to a couple of the late Tony Curtis’ favorite charities. 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 you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Allegra Can’t Keep Her Story Straight
Tony Curtis’ five surviving children, Allegra Curtis the one who arguably the most enraged about being written out of her late father’s will just months before his death from a cardiac arrest in 2010. Besides having problems with the aforementioned auction that saw widow Jan Vanderberg sell off all of her father’s memorabilia and keep the profits mostly for herself. Allegra also adamantly believes that Jan somehow coerced her father into changing his will. While Tony went to his deathbed claiming that there had no undue influence exercised in the alteration of his will several months prior, Allegra seems to vehemently disagree.
Allegra seems to be under the impression that she had a fairly close relationship with her father. But this assertion sadly doesn’t seem to be backed up anywhere besides in her own claims. According to Jan Vanderberg, Tony’s relationship with his children was already fractured beyond repair by the time that she came into the picture. And she doesn’t feel that she has anything to do with the matter.
Tony’s Grandkids Get Some Chump Change
While all five of Tony’s surviving children were written out of the altered will. The will did include some miniscule sums of money for several of the actor’s grandchildren. It revealed that five of Tony’s grandchildren received a sum of $30,000 a piece. Which would’ve been just about enough money for each of them to have purchased one single item at their late grandfather’s posthumous memorabilia auction.
Kelly Curtis Sued Her Father’s Trust
If Allegra is the one that has put up the most public fuss as a result of being left out of her father’s wake. Kelly Curtis is the one who’s actually tried to do something about it. Soon after her father’s death, Kelly sued her late father’s Trust with accusations of undue influence. Kelly was one of Tony’s two daughters from his first marriage. And with the other daughter from his first marriage having been Jamie Lee Curtis.
Jamie Lee Curtis Couldn’t Care Less
While Kelly Curtis backed up in her futile legal fight by half-sister Allegra, wealthy Jamie Lee Curtis nowhere to be found to offer any support. Instead, it seems that Jamie Lee Curtis could’ve essentially cared less upon the announcement that she had left out of her father’s will and still doesn’t care much about the issue today. However, she also claims that she has no bad feelings towards her late father. As compared to her various surviving siblings, Jamie Lee Curtis has the financial freedom not to care about her father’s fortune. Jamie is the only one of Tony’s children that managed to find independent security. With her becoming as big of a Hollywood stars as her parents.
Importantly, Jamie Lee Curtis’ kids not included amongst the five of Tony’s grandchildren that received payouts as a result of the will. However, it’s hard to tell if this is because Tony was truly trying to snub the grandkids. Or if he simply assumed that they already had more than enough financial security as a result of their wealthy mother. Kelly and Jamie Lee were Tony’s kids from his first marriage, which was to Psycho actress Janet Leigh. Of course, Tony himself known for his performances in films like Some Like It Hot.
Tony’s Many Marriages
Tony Curtis married to Janet Leigh from 1951 to 1962. After which point he went on to marry a woman by the name of Christine Kauffman in 1963. Before they divorced in 1968, Tony and Christine had two kids, with those two kids including the aforementioned Allegra. Tony’s third marriage was the last of his six marriages that yielded children. With Tony and third wife Leslie Allen having two boys over the course of their nearly 14-year-long marriage. Sadly, one of these boys would end up passing away from a heroin overdose long before his father’s own death in 2010. After divorcing third wife Leslie, Tony remarried three more times but never had another kid. According to Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony was a poor parent who was never there for her.
Just months before his 2010 death, actor Tony Curtis altered his will to remove all five of his surviving children. And give the entirety of his fortune to his sixth and final wife, who was four decades younger than him. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Tony Curtis didn’t leave a single cent to any of his five surviving children upon his 2010 death. And that he also snubbed several of his grandchildren? 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!
