Jamie Lee Curtis Grandparents: Jamie Lee Curtis, an actress, and Jewish mother, is loved for various reasons. But just in case you need another, we recently learned that the “Halloween” and “Knives Out” star is reviving her grandparents’ hometown synagogue in Mateszalka, Hungary, in memory of her late father, Tony Curtis.
Curtis revealed her plans in an Instagram post on Sunday while working in Budapest for her new movie, Borderlands. She declared that she would collaborate with the mayor of Mateszalka (16,532) to transform the synagogue that her grandparents had attended into a “community center for festivals, art, and music.”
She stated on Instagram that although the temple is now vacant due to the extermination of all Jews in the area, it nevertheless exists as a memorial to those who have lived there and still do.
To attend the “pre-opening” of the Tony Curtis Memorial Museum and Cafe, a museum honoring her late father, a legendary Hollywood actor who passed away in 2010 at the age of 85, Curtis traveled to Mateszalka over the weekend.
She noted that the museum was next to the synagogue and said, “They have built a magnificent exhibition of photographs from his life, and they have costumes from his movies, his paintings, and his awards.”
Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz in New York; his parents, Helen and Emanuel Schwartz had emigrated to the country from Mateszalka. Tony Curtis was briefly married to actress Janet Leigh (also known as Jamie Lee’s mother).
Tony Curtis’ life will be depicted in images and costumes from his movies, artworks, and accolades. On June 26, during Hungary’s special “Night of Museums,” when museums host events from twilight till dawn, the Tony Curtis Museum will formally open. So thrilling!
The Mateszalka synagogue, owned by the Curtis family, was established in 1857 and had a distinguished past among the local Jewish population. In 1941, the town’s Jewish population of 1,555 represented more than 15% of the total population.
The Times of Israel claims that during the Nazi invasion of Israel in 1944, Jews were picked up and transported to Auschwitz, where the bulk of them perished. After the war, 150 survivors returned to Mateszalka, but many remaining Jews left for Canada or Israel following the 1956 unsuccessful Hungarian Revolution.
Due to this enormous loss, the synagogue is primarily empty of its belongings and in need of repairs. Nevertheless, the temple “preserves internal architectural and ornamental aspects, notably an exquisitely painted ceiling,” according to Jewish Heritage Europe. We are looking forward to watching how the room evolves, and the characteristics that have been preserved look stunning.
Christopher Guest, an actor, director, and screenwriter, and Curtis, 62, have been married since 1984 and have two children. We are not surprised to see the honorable actress doing the commandment of renovating the synagogue because she has a history of giving back to her neighborhood.
For the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, where she has volunteered and served on the board of directors for the past 25 years, Curtis sponsored the launch of a new inpatient facility in 2011.
She has performed in countless movies and TV shows and written and published more than ten children’s books, many of which have themes of confidence, such as “I’m Gonna Like Me” and “This is Me.” Aww!
We are eager to hear more about the museum and the synagogue renovation because this new project is so moving and motivating. Good luck, Jamie; you’re a perfect guy!
Who Is Jamie Lee Curtis?
Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, two actors, welcomed Curtis into the world in Santa Monica, California. Her father was a Jewish immigrant from Mátészalka, the son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her mother’s background was primarily German and Scots-Irish, with two maternal great-grandparents being Danish.
Curtis has four half-siblings (all from her father’s remarriages): Alexandra, actor Allegra Curtis, Benjamin, and Nicholas Curtis. She also has an older sister, Kelly Curtis, who is also an actress (who died in 1994 of a drug overdose). In 1962, Curtis’ parents got divorced.
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She claimed her father was “not around” and “not interested in being a father” after the divorce. Her mother and her stepfather, stockbroker Robert Brandt, raised her.
When Did Jamie Lee Curtis Start Her Acting Career?
In the 1978’s horror movie Halloween, when she played Laurie Strode, Curtis made her acting debut. The film received praise for being a classic horror movie and was the highest-grossing independent picture of its period. Because Curtis’ mother, Leigh, was a well-known horror legend, the producer, Debra Hill, mainly hired Curtis for the role.
After casting in multiple horror movies, Curtis earned the moniker “scream queen.” She would appear in six more installments of the Halloween film series, reprising her role as Laurie Strode in Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2018), and Halloween Kills (2021), as well as providing an uncredited voice in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982).
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