Actor Tony Curtis Still Likes It Hot

By Louise A. Barile

03/28/2002 at 01:00 PM EST

Four decades after he surprised his fans by wearing a dress in the film "Some Like It Hot," Tony Curtis, 76, appeared at the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday to promote his role in the national tour of the musical comedy, reports PEOPLE. In the 1959 original film, which also starred Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon, Curtis played a musician on the lam from the mob who disguises himself as a woman. However, he won't need to don a dress this time when he plays the role of eccentric millionaire Osgood Fielding III. "That was forty-three years ago I made that movie and here I am standing and playing a better part," he told PEOPLE. "And I don't have to dress up as a girl. Not that I minded." Curtis vividly recalls that the most uncomfortable part of his "Hot" costume was the bra. "Panties are easy, I find," he said. "Garter belts are not disruptive, I don't think. The shoulder pads in dresses can be a little obnoxious ... but by and large, I would say the brassiere (is the worst)." The 50-city national tour of "Some Like It Hot" will kick off on June 4 in Houston.