Kelly Curtis obit

Kelly Curtis, Actress and Sister of Jamie Lee Curtis, Dies at 69

The daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh starred in the foreign films ‘Magic Sticks’ and ‘The Devil’s Daughter’ and was a documentarian. 

She was not on the list.

Kelly Curtis, an actress, documentarian and daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, died Saturday morning, her younger sister, Jamie Lee Curtis, announced. She was 69.

Curtis died “in her home. In nature. At peace,” her sister wrote on social media. “She was my first friend and lifelong confidant. She was jaw droppingly beautiful, and a talented actress. She played a mean game of hearts, collected turtles, loved her family, nature, music, thrifting, travel, Facebook, and Pokémon Go. She was proud of her Danish roots and Hungarian Jewish ancestry and was a devoted American patriot.”

She died in Bellevue, Idaho, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. No cause of death has been revealed.

Kelly Curtis appeared in a small role with her sister in Trading Places (1983) and starred in the 1987 German comedy movie Magic Sticks and the 1991 Italian horror film The Devil’s Daughter, co-written and produced by Dario Argento.

She also had a recurring role as Lieutenant Carolyn Plummer on the first season of the 1996-99 UPN series The Sentinel and showed up on episodes of such shows as The Equalizer, Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Judging Amy.

Born in Santa Monica on June 17, 1956, Kelly Lee Curtis made her first appearance on the screen in the adventure film The Vikings (1958), which starred her parents.

She graduated from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, with a degree in business in 1972 and worked as a stockbroker, then studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute (she was a member of The Actors Studio). In 1982, she appeared onstage in Say Goodnight, Gracie.

She also directed the 2018 documentary Marby Jets Are Go, about an Australian high school track team, and served as an assistant to her sister on Freaky Friday (2003), Christmas With the Kranks (2004) and You Again (2010).

Her parents married in 1951, and after Jamie Lee was born in 1958, they divorced in 1962, when her mother wed financier Robert Brandt. They were together until Leigh’s death in 2004 at age 77. Brandt died in 2009 at 82.

Tony Curtis, who was married six times and died in 2010 at age 85, received an Oscar nomination for his turn in The Defiant Ones (1958) and starred in such classics as Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1958). Leigh also was nominated for an Oscar, for her performance in Psycho (1960), and she had memorable performances in Touch of Evil (1958) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962) as well.

Jamie Lee Curtis won an Oscar for her work in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

Kelly and her dad (birth name Bernard Schwartz) helped raise money to refurbish and restore the historic Dohàny Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary, through the Emanuel Foundation, named after Tony’s father, Emanuel Schwartz.

In addition to her sister, survivors include her second husband, John Marsh, a filmmaker, producer and professor emeritus at the College of Southern Nevada (the couple partnered on the documentary production company Liberty Films); her brother-in-law, actor-director Christopher Guest; and half-siblings Alexandra, Allegra, Ben and Nicholas.

Actress

Judging Amy (1999)

Judging Amy

7.1

TV Series

Leslie Wirth

1999

1 episode

 

LateLine (1998)

LateLine

6.7

TV Series

Shelly

1999

1 episode

 

June

Short

1998

 

Mixed Blessings

6.3

Annie Weaver

1998

 

Richard Burgi in The Sentinel (1996)

The Sentinel

6.5

TV Series

Carolyn Plummer

1996

7 episodes

 

River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene (1993)

Search and Rescue

6.5

TV Movie

Susan

1994

 

Ex-Cop (1993)

Ex-Cop

6.3

Officer

1993

 

Michael Dorn, Terry Farrell, Colm Meaney, Nana Visitor, Avery Brooks, Armin Shimerman, Rene Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, and Alexander Siddig in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

8.1

TV Series

Miss Sarda

1993

1 episode

 

Silk Stalkings (1991)

Silk Stalkings

6.6

TV Series

Sarah Lawton

1992

1 episode

 

Robert Wagner and Donna Mills in False Arrest (1991)

False Arrest

6.4

TV Movie

Mary Durand

1991

 

The Sect (1991)

The Sect

6.0

Miriam Kreisl

1991

 

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)

Hunter

6.9

TV Series

Amy Rivers

1991

1 episode

 

Thanksgiving Day (1990)

Thanksgiving Day

5.3

TV Movie

Barbara Schloss

1990

 

Kojak: Ariana (1989)

Kojak: Ariana

6.3

TV Movie

Whitley

1989

 

The Equalizer (1985)

The Equalizer

7.8

TV Series

VickiPaula Whitaker

1986–1988

2 episodes

 

Checkpoint (1987)

Checkpoint

8.3

Joyce

1987

 

George Kranz in Magic Sticks (1987)

Magic Sticks

4.4

Shirley

1987

 

Trading Places (1983)

Trading Places

7.5

Muffy

1983

 

Patrick Swayze, Tracy Scoggins, Fausto Bara, Randy Brooks, Paul Mones, Robert Thaler, and Brian Tochi in The Renegades (1983)

The Renegades

7.1

TV Series

Cynthia Holtson

1983

1 episode

 

Kirk Douglas, Ernest Borgnine, Tony Curtis, and Janet Leigh in The Vikings (1958)

The Vikings

7.0

Young Girl (uncredited)

1958

 

Director

Curling in Stanley (2019)

Curling in Stanley

Director

2019

 

Marby Jets Are Go (2018)

Marby Jets Are Go

Director

2018

 

Jamie Lee Curtis and Jonathan R. Ayers in The Night She Came Home!! (2013)

The Night She Came Home!!

6.7

Video

Director

2013

 

Additional Crew

Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Bell, Betty White, and Odette Annable in You Again (2010)

You Again

5.8

assistant: Jamie Lee Curtis

2010

 

Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tim Allen, and Erik Per Sullivan in Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Christmas with the Kranks

5.6

assistant: Ms. Curtis

2004

 

Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday (2003)

Freaky Friday

6.4

assistant: Jamie Lee Curtis

2003

 

Producer

Curling in Stanley (2019)

Curling in Stanley

executive producer

2019

 

Soundtrack

The Sect (1991)

The Sect

6.0

performer: "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" (uncredited)

1991

 

Thanks

Tales from the Mist: Inside 'the Fog' (2002)

Tales from the Mist: Inside 'the Fog'

6.4

Video

special thanks

2002

 

Self

Biography (1987)

Biography

7.7

TV Series

Self

2001–2003

2 episodes

 

Hollywood Greats (1977)

Hollywood Greats

7.6

TV Series

Self

2002

1 episode

 

The 24th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

TV Special

Self

1999

 

Celebrity Profile (1998)

Celebrity Profile

6.8

TV Series

Self

1998–2001

1 episode

 

The 10th Annual American Cinema Awards

TV Special

Self

1994

 

Paul Newman, Harvey Keitel, Sally Kirkland, Gene Wilder, Ellen Burstyn, Elia Kazan, Sydney Pollack, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Lee Grant, Arthur Penn, Maureen Stapleton, and Eli Wallach in Hello Actors Studio (1988)

Hello Actors Studio

7.2

TV Series

Self

1988

1 episode

 

Mike Douglas in The Mike Douglas Show (1961)

The Mike Douglas Show

7.0

TV Series

Self

1973

1 episode