Michael Curtiz

Birthday: 24 December 1886, Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]

Birth Name: Manó Kertész Kaminer

Height: 175 cm

Curtiz began acting in and then directing films in his native Hungary in 1912. After WWI, he continued his filmmaking career in Austria and Germany and into the early 1920s when he directed films in o ...Show More

[on learning that Joan Crawford had been offered the title role in Mildred Pierce (1945)] She comes Show more [on learning that Joan Crawford had been offered the title role in Mildred Pierce (1945)] She comes over here with her high-hat airs and her goddamn shoulder pads. Why should I waste time directing a has-been? Hide

[on the set of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), attempting to explain that he wanted a lot of Show more [on the set of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), attempting to explain that he wanted a lot of riderless horses in the background of the climactic charge] Bring on the empty horses. NOTE: David Niven, who was in the cast of the film and heard about the remark, later used it as the title for his autobiography. Hide

[berating David Niven during an on-set argument] You think you know fuck everything and I know fuck Show more [berating David Niven during an on-set argument] You think you know fuck everything and I know fuck nothing. Well, let me tell you, I know fuck all!! Hide

[on Cary Grant] Some actors squeeze a line to death. Cary tickles it into life. [on Cary Grant] Some actors squeeze a line to death. Cary tickles it into life.

[on Randolph Scott] Randy Scott is a complete anachronism. He's a gentleman. And so far he's the onl Show more [on Randolph Scott] Randy Scott is a complete anachronism. He's a gentleman. And so far he's the only one I've met in this business full of self-promoting sons-of-bitches. Hide

[chewing out an assistant for not doing an assigned task] The next time I want an idiot to do this, Show more [chewing out an assistant for not doing an assigned task] The next time I want an idiot to do this, I'll do it myself! NOTE: This is often wrongly attributed to Samuel Goldwyn). Hide

Michael Curtiz's FILMOGRAPHY

All as Actor (1) as Director (15)

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