Jamie Lee Curtis' Siblings: All About Her Brothers and Sisters

Jamie Lee Curtis' siblings include Kelly, Alexandra, Allegra, Ben and Nicholas

Jamie Lee Curtis has been a Hollywood mainstay for over 40 years — and she’s not the only actor in her talented family.

The Everything Everywhere All At Once star is the younger daughter of late movie stars Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. She has an older sister, Kelly, and four younger half-siblings from their famous father’s later marriages: sisters Alexandra and Allegra and brothers Ben and Nicholas, the latter of whom died from an overdose in 1994.

Like Jamie, most of her siblings have followed in their father’s footsteps and tried their hand at acting. Given that the Halloween star grew up as the product of double Hollywood royalty, she’s worked hard to feel like she earned her place in the industry.

"I'm proud of my parents," she told PEOPLE in a 1978 interview. "But I'm me."

Related: Jamie Lee Curtis's Life in Photos

Jamie's brothers and sisters are also as creative as she is: Kelly, Alexandra and Allegra have landed a few acting roles, while Ben enjoys bringing his artistic visions to life. Before his death, Nicholas was an aspiring musician as well.

Here's everything to know about Jamie Lee Curtis’ siblings — Kelly, Alexandra, Allegra, Ben and Nicholas — and their relationship with their actress sister.

Jamie and her siblings share the same dad

All five Curtis siblings are bonded because of their father, actor Tony Curtis, who was born Bernard Schwartz.

In 1951, Tony married Janet Leigh, whose iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho earned her critical praise and the original "Scream Queen" title (later passed on to their daughter, Jamie).

The pair were together for 12 years and welcomed two daughters, Kelly in 1956 and Jamie in 1958. The marriage was Tony’s first and Janet’s third, ending in divorce in 1962.

Related: All About Jamie Lee Curtis' Parents, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis

Their father was married six times

Following Tony’s split from Janet, they each remarried — she once more to stockbroker Robert Brandt, whom she remained with for 42 years until she died in 2004; he, six more times.

Tony had a string of high-profile relationships, courting Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood and others before marrying his Taras Bulba costar, German actress Christine Kaufmann, in 1963.

Together, the pair welcomed daughters Alexandra in 1964 and Allegra in 1966 before going their separate ways in 1968. That same year, the actor tied the knot with model Leslie Allen; the pair welcomed sons Nicholas in 1970 and Ben in 1973 before divorcing in 1982.

Tony married three times more, ultimately remaining with his sixth wife, Jill Vandenberg, until his death at age 85 from cardiac arrest in 2010.

Jamie commented on the staggering number of divorces her parents went through, noting the toll it took on her to understand what love was.

"As the product of 13 divorces in my immediate family I have often struggled with the idea of love, what happens to it?" the Knives Out actress reflected alongside a throwback photo of her parents in January 2022.

She continued, "There are only a couple reminders to me that I was born from love and not resentment, competition, jealousy and rancor which are the cornerstones of any unpleasant divorce ... I also forget that they were famous and loved worldwide."

Related: Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest's Relationship: All About Their Nearly 40-Year Marriage

Jamie and her siblings weren't close to Tony growing up

Throughout her life, Jamie has spoken openly about her estranged relationship with her late father and how they eventually reconciled.

"People may think I don't love Tony," she told PEOPLE in 1978. "But I just don't know him that well."

Five years later, she added, "I've gotten over needing him to be a father figure. He's my friend, and when he's in town we play."

When Tony died in 2010, Jamie shared a kind message about her dad and their family.

"My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages," she said in a statement. "He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world."

Ben expressed similar notions of having ups and downs with their father.

“When my parents were married, I saw my father quite a lot. My parents divorced when I was around eight, and then his parenting was part-time,” he told The Courier-Gazette, a local paper where he lives in Maine.

"I had very good years with my father, that none of my sisters had. He wasn’t a good father, that was obvious, especially to his daughters. They wanted a real father,” he added, sharing that he last saw Tony about five years before his death.

Jamie's older sister Kelly is an actress

Kelly Lee Curtis is Tony's eldest child, and she followed in his and Janet's footsteps at the ripe age of 2 when she joined them on-screen in 1958’s The Vikings.

After graduating from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, she began acting in earnest, first studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and later landing a notable role in 1987’s Magic Sticks and 1991’s The Devil’s Daughter.

Kelly has also worked as Jamie’s assistant on several movies, including Freaky Friday and Christmas with the Kranks, according to CBS News.

Alexandra and Allegra also tried acting

Jamie and Kelly aren’t the only two of Tony’s daughters who took a shine to show business — Alexandra and Allegra also made careers in Hollywood.

Alexandra appeared in 1982’s The Excluded and 1983’s The Gold of Love, while Allegra landed roles in a handful of TV series and movies through the ‘80s and into the early 2000s, including several episodes of L.A. Heat.

Allegra's son, Raphael Curtis, competed on the third season of the game show Claim to Fame, where celebrities' relatives live in the same house and compete against each other as they try to guess the celebrities the other cast members are related to.

After he was eliminated from the show, Raphael told PEOPLE that Jamie's support was "crucial" to him when his mom was hospitalized at the same time they needed to move out of their rental home.

"I had just turned 20 at the time and I was just trying to figure out my own stuff working and the whole renovation thing," he said. "So it was pretty stressful, but [she] definitely made it a lot easier to cope and manage and helped throughout every little aspect of it and definitely took care of things.” 

Jamie's younger brother Nicholas died of an overdose

In 1994, Nicholas died of a heroin overdose at age 23. A musician living on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, he had been sober for a period leading up to his death, Jamie revealed on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

“He was clean and sober, and he went out and used one time and died from an overdose,” she explained. “He is one of millions and millions of people whose lives have been extinguished because of addiction."

Nicholas wasn't the only one who faced addiction — Tony struggled with abusing alcohol, cocaine and heroin, and Jamie has been candid about her decade-long addiction to opiates.

“I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic,” Curtis told PEOPLE in a 2018 cover story about her addiction, which began in 1989. “I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one.”

Her sister Kelly was the first person to find out about her struggle after Jamie stole pills from her.

The Bear star celebrated 24 years of sobriety in February of 2023, sharing, “I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family. Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment."

Her brother Ben is a bar manager

Jamie's half-brother Ben manages a bar in Maine, where he’s lived with his partner and their three sons for over a decade.

In 2023, he opened up to the local paper, The Courier-Gazette, about his decision to move away from Hollywood, where he had unique experiences with his father.

“When I was 12, I stayed at the Playboy Mansion for a week," Ben told the newspaper. "My dad and Hugh Hefner were very good friends. I visited the mansion from age 7 to age 20, for different things, for parties. We’d go screen movies on Sundays. That’s the type of hangout I had with my father.”

When Tony and Leslie parted ways in 1982, Ben and his late brother Nicholas moved out of their Bel Air mansion. Their mom relocated them to Cape Cod, where Ben says they struggled, and he saw his dad less and less frequently.

“Our lifestyle changed drastically after my parent’s divorce," he explained. "Most of the traveling and vacations I’ve experienced were all done by the age of eight."

Apart from tending to his bar, Ben is a design consultant with a specialty in customizing bars. He also enjoys writing and gardening.

Jamie and her siblings get together on rare occasions

Jamie, her sisters and brother have reunited several times over the years, typically in celebration of their father.

In 2004, Kelly, Alexandra and Allegra showed their support for him in Berlin at the Goldene Kamera Film Awards, where he was presented with the Honorary Award for his contributions to the industry.

The following year, the three sisters got together again — this time, with Jamie and their brother Ben — to ring in Tony’s 80th birthday party at the MGM Grand on June 25, 2005.

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