I USED TO WATCH FANTASY/COStume films starring then young stars, Anthony Curtis and Piper Laurie. Their studio obviously intended for Piper and Anthony to vivify teenagers? fantasies.

When the studio system became obsolete, most contract stars plotted their own careers. Those with clout who felt they had the flair for drama decided to tackle more demanding roles. Others left Hollywood and headed east to essay challenging parts on Broadway.

Curtis was a teenage heartthrob who had a high-profile marriage to Janet Leigh. The couple?s much-publicized union produced Jamie Lee Curtis, the shapely actress with the androgynous look.

In the early ?60s, Anthony reinvented himself as Tony Curtis, who by then dabbled more in dramas. His teenybopper fans were surprised when he started to portray hard-edged characters. He was up against Burt Lancaster in ?The Sweet Smell of Success,? where he effectively portrayed an ambitious businessman. In ?The Defiant Ones,? he was as a racist convict who was most ironically chained to Sidney Poitier.

Comic flair

Then, Curtis displayed his comic flair by performing against the formidable Jack Lemon in ?Some Like It Hot.? After appearing in such blockbusters as ?The Vikings? with Kirk Douglas and wife Janet, he established himself as a dramatic actor.

?The Graduate?s? Anne Bancroft was a perennial starlet who supported bigger stars like Jean Peters and the exotic Debra Paget. After more than a decade, she got tired of a career that never amounted to much and decided to leave Hollywood. She found her calling on Broadway, where she became a formidable actress.

The Brooklyn-born actress found success in the Big Apple with ?Two for the Seesaw? opposite Henry Fond. Her performance brought her a Tony. She was then cast in the challenging role of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller?s nurse, in ?The Miracle Worker,? for which she won an Oscar.

Like Bancroft, the underrated Angela Lansbury also went to Broadway to star in ?Mame,? then returned to Hollywood a bigger?and more bankable?star.