Jill Vandenberg Curtis: Tony Curtis, Shiloh Rescue, and Life Today
Jill Vandenberg Curtis, now known as Jill Curtis-Weber, is Tony Curtis’s widow and a co-founder of Shiloh Horse Rescue. She married the Hollywood star in Las Vegas in 1998 and shared his final 12 years. Together, they built a Nevada horse rescue that later moved to South Dakota. Today, Jill still helps care for older and special-needs animals with her husband, Todd Weber.
In this article, you’ll learn how Jill’s marriage to Tony grew into a shared rescue mission, how Shiloh became part of their daily life, what changed after Tony died in 2010, and how the ranch works today. You’ll also see how a small family store in Deadwood helps pay for animal care.
A Marriage That Began in Las Vegas
Jill Vandenberg Curtis married Tony Curtis in Las Vegas in November 1998. Tony was already a major film star. His long career included Some Like It Hot, The Defiant Ones, and Spartacus.
Their age gap drew a lot of press, but Tony often spoke with warmth about Jill. In later interviews, he described himself as happy and made it clear that their life together mattered to him.
The couple made their home in Nevada. In 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that they were building a house in the Henderson area near Las Vegas. Tony was still acting, painting, and making public appearances.
Jill’s love of horses soon gave their life a new focus.
How Shiloh Horse Rescue Began
The work most closely tied to Jill Vandenberg Curtis is Shiloh Horse Rescue.
The official Shiloh site says Jill and Tony founded the rescue in Nevada in 2003. Their goal was to help horses that were old, unwanted, hurt, neglected, or in danger of being sent to slaughter.
Tony later told an interviewer how the idea began. Jill had learned about unwanted American horses being sold for slaughter. She wanted to do something. Tony supported her plan, and they bought 40 acres outside Las Vegas.
The land became a home for rescued horses.
What started as a personal wish soon became a large daily job. The animals needed food, water, shelter, medical care, and people who could work with them. Some could later find new homes. Others needed a safe place for life.
The Ranch Became Part of Their Marriage
Shiloh was not a small side project. It became a big part of the couple’s routine.
By 2008, Tony said the ranch had about 150 to 200 horses. That was a very different setting from the film studios that had shaped most of his life.
Jill Vandenberg Curtis spent much of her time with the rescue. Tony also became proud of the work. He told writer Nick Thomas that seeing the good work at Shiloh lifted his spirits.
The couple’s roles fit together well. Jill drove the rescue work. Tony used his fame, art, and public voice to help bring attention to it.
Their work was also shown in the 2008 documentary The Jill & Tony Curtis Story. The film followed their efforts to save horses and gave viewers a look at the ranch.
Tony’s Art Helped the Horses
Painting became one of Tony’s main interests in his later years.
He had drawn and painted for a long time, but art took on a larger role as he got older. His work appeared at shows and public events.
Some of that art also helped Shiloh.
In April 2010, the Burbank Leader reported that Tony’s paintings were being sold to benefit the horse rescue he had started with Jill.
That link gave his art a second purpose. A painting could bring joy to a buyer and also help pay for the care of a horse.
For Jill Vandenberg Curtis, it meant that Tony’s creative work could support the cause that had become central to their home life.
Life With Tony in Nevada
By the late 2000s, Tony’s health was not as strong as it had once been.
He had faced heart and lung problems. He still painted, appeared in public, and spoke about the rescue, but his pace had changed.
A 2009 Los Angeles Times report said Tony was living in Las Vegas and that he and Jill ran Shiloh Horse Rescue in Sandy Valley, Nevada. He spent much of his time painting.
The couple had also talked about moving closer to the ranch. After Tony died, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that they had planned to sell their Henderson home and live at Shiloh.
That move never happened for them as a couple. Still, the plan shows how important the ranch had become.
Tony Curtis Died in 2010
Tony Curtis died on September 29, 2010. He was 85.
Jill was his wife at the time of his death. She later spoke at his public funeral in Las Vegas, where family, friends, and fans gathered to remember him.
Their marriage had lasted almost 12 years.
Tony’s death ended their life together, but it did not end Shiloh. Jill kept the rescue going.
That choice became a major part of the next stage of her life.
Jill Later Married Todd Weber
Jill Vandenberg Curtis later married Todd Weber.
In a 2024 interview, she said they met at a country and western club in Las Vegas. They married about three years after Tony’s death.
She now uses the name Jill Curtis-Weber.
Todd became part of the Shiloh story as well. The rescue’s official site names Jill, Todd, and Jill’s mother, Sally VandenBerg, as part of the family team behind the work.
The animals remained at the center of Jill’s life, but the family would soon leave Nevada for a very different place.
Shiloh Moved to South Dakota
In 2019, Jill Curtis-Weber, Todd Weber, and Sally VandenBerg moved Shiloh and its animals to South Dakota.
At first, they leased ranch land in the Black Hills. After four years, Jill and Todd bought 40 acres of prairie land near Newell.
That land became Shiloh Rescue Ranch on the Prairie.
The new home gave the rescue more room and a fresh start. It also kept the same mission that Jill and Tony had begun in Nevada.
Today, the ranch cares for more than horses. Its animals include burros, goats, sheep, cows, and chickens.
More Than 700 Horses Have Been Helped
Shiloh says it has rescued and helped more than 700 horses since 2003.
That total shows how far the idea started by Jill Vandenberg Curtis and Tony Curtis has grown.
Many horses came to Shiloh after being saved from slaughter. Others needed care because they were old, sick, hurt, or no longer wanted.
The current ranch is home to more than 45 horses and other animals. Some will stay there for the rest of their lives.
Shiloh is a nonprofit group, so the cost of feed, land, shelter, and care never goes away. The family found another way to help support that work in nearby Deadwood.
The Lucky Horse Co Supports Shiloh
The Lucky Horse Co is a family shop on Historic Main Street in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The store sells handmade Western items, including art made from horseshoes. Shiloh says the shop’s sales help pay for the rescue and care of the animals.
Jill, Todd, her mother Sally, and her sister Sarah run the business.
The shop gives visitors a simple way to support the ranch. Money earned in town helps with life at the rescue near Newell.
Jill has also spoken about her love of Old West history. That made the Deadwood area a good fit for the family’s new life.
Her Work Today Still Centers on Animals
Jill Vandenberg Curtis is now living a very different life from the one she had beside a Hollywood star.
She lives in South Dakota as Jill Curtis-Weber. She is married to Todd, works with Shiloh, and helps run the family store in Deadwood.
The rescue remains the public work most closely tied to her name.
It also shows that Shiloh was never only a Tony Curtis project. Jill kept it alive after his death. She moved it across state lines. She helped build a new ranch. She still takes part in the care and funding of the animals.
Her story today is less about Hollywood and more about ranch work, family, and animal rescue.
Tony Curtis Still Has a Place in Shiloh’s Story
Tony Curtis will always be remembered first for his films.
Yet Shiloh shows another side of his final years. He helped buy the land, supported Jill’s plan, spoke proudly about the horses, and used his art to raise money.
The current Shiloh website still names Tony as a co-founder.
Jill Vandenberg Curtis has carried that work forward for more than 15 years since his death. The rescue has moved from Nevada to South Dakota, but Tony’s part in its start remains part of the story.
For Jill, the ranch is both a working rescue and a link to something they built together.
From Hollywood to a South Dakota Ranch
Jill Vandenberg Curtis became widely known because of her marriage to Tony Curtis, but her lasting public work grew far from a movie set.
They married in Las Vegas in 1998. Five years later, they founded Shiloh Horse Rescue in Nevada. The ranch became a major part of their final years together.
After Tony died, Jill kept the rescue going. She later married Todd Weber and moved Shiloh to South Dakota. Today, the group says it has helped more than 700 horses and now cares for many animals at its ranch near Newell.
Her life connects classic Hollywood with a hands-on rescue mission that is still active today.
For another family story tied to Hollywood, read our profile of Annie Guest on LakewoodScoop.co.uk.