It makes a curious kind of sense that Tony Curtis arrived in Hollywood during the waning glory days of legendary studio moguls like Louis B. Mayer, because just like Mayer and other self-made titans from the East, Curtis too was fueled by a desperate desire to outrun his past. Curtis did in fact achieve the worldwide success he so desired, but in his intermittently absorbing autobiography American Prince, it's not the glitter of Tony Curtis's Hollywood that fascinates but rather the tales of his hard-knock childhood as Bernie Schwartz of the Bronx.

TONY CURTIS is one of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Today, he lives with his wife, Jill, outside of Las Vegas, where he continues to create paintings that have made him newly famous as a visual artist the world over. They are the founders of the Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary, a nonprofit foundation that rehabilitates abused and neglected horses for adoption.

PETER GOLENBOCK has written six New York Times bestsellers over a thirty-year career. In 2006 he cowrote the bestselling Idiot with then–Boston Red Sox, now–New York Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon. His book Seven, about Mickey Mantle, was published in 2007.