Paul Newman was born on January 26, 1925, inCleveland Heights, Ohio, and raised in nearbyShaker Heights, the second son of Theresa Garth (néeFetzer, Fetzko, or Fetsko;Slovak:Terézia Fecková;[4][5]1894–1982) and Arthur Sigmund Newman, Sr. (1893–1950), who ran a sporting goods store.[6][7]His father wasJewish,[8][9][10]the son of Simon Newman and Hannah Cohn,Hungarian JewishandPolish Jewishemigrants, fromHungaryandCongress Poland, respectively.[6][11]Paul's mother was a practitioner ofChristian Science. She was born to aRoman Catholicfamily inPeticse,Zemplén county, in theKingdom of Hungary,Austro-Hungarian Empire(present-dayPtičie,Slovakia).[5][12][13][14]Newman's mother worked in his father's store, while raising Paul and his elder brother, Arthur
Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch (Belarusian:Ісур Даніелoвіч,Russian:Иссур Даниелович,Yiddish:איסור דאַניעלאָוויטש) inAmsterdam, New York, on December 9, 1916, the son of Bryna "Bertha" (néeSanglel) and Herschel "Harry" Danielovitch.[3]His parents were immigrants fromChavusy,Mogilev Governorate, in theRussian Empire(present-dayBelarus),[4][5][6][7][8][9]and the family spokeYiddishat home.
Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, at the Fifth Avenue Hospital corner of East 105th Street inEast Harlem,Manhattanthe first of three boys born to Helen (née Klein) and Emanuel Schwartz.[3][4]
His parents wereJewishemigrants fromHungary: his father was born inÓpályi, nearMátészalka, and his mother was a native ofMichalovce, Slovakia; she later said she arrived in the U.S. from Vaľkovo, Slovakia.[5]He spoke onlyHungarianuntil the age of six, delaying his schooling.[6]His father was a tailor and the family lived in the back of the shop. His mother was later diagnosed withschizophrenia. His youngest brother Robert wasinstitutionalizedwith the same mental illness.
When Curtis was eight, he and his brother Julius were placed in an orphanage for a month because their parents could not afford to feed them.
