Tony shocked his employers when he proposed to Leigh in 1951. She said yes without wasting time, and they were wed on a small but glamorous occasion. Before their wedding, Leigh’s friends advised her against marrying the actor, but their love seemed more real than their concern.
Life with Tony seemed to be perfect, but such happiness was made short-lived by privacy issues. On the surface, the couple looked like the best, but they struggled to stay on the same page.
Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh at a formal event, circa 1955 | Source: Getty Images
Tony grew increasingly insecure about his wife’s success and was also jealous of her relationship with other men. The actor felt that she sometimes used her greater star power against him. He said, “I could see signs in myself that I was becoming subservient,”
Tony soon entered into a dark space and became embroiled with drug and other substance abuse. He was also rumored to have had affairs with actresses Gloria DeHaven and Natalie Wood.
Portrait of Janet Leigh for Photoplay circa 1954 | Photo: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
The couple began to grow increasingly distant. Speaking of the state of their marriage, Tony recalled, “We settled into a functional but unromantic marriage, the kind of life that was less unusual in Hollywood than you might think.”
