Tim Curry (1946-2026) has died. The British actor passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. trade publication Variety. He was 80 years old. A cause of death was not immediately known. Since a severe stroke in 2012, Curry had been fighting health issues.
The Role That Outshone Everything
The figure that made Curry famous above all others was Dr. Frank N. Furter, the flamboyant scientist in a corset from Richard O’Brien’s musical “The Rocky Horror Show.” Curry originated the role in London under director Jim Sharman, then performed it in Los Angeles and New York, and finally in 1975 in the film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show. No one could have foreseen that a show about an extraterrestrial, bisexual scientist in a dress — “the Transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania” — would become a worldwide phenomenon.
The film, at least initially, flopped at its opening. It only gained a life of its own after midnight showings in New York beginning in spring 1976. By 1990, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was playing in about 175 U.S. cinemas, with audiences in costume, reciting lines along with the dialogue.
Curry sensed early on that this breakout might not release its grip on him. “I was worried that it could be a image that’s hard to shake off if it works,” he said in a 1975 TV interview in London. “But I’ve often thought that something is worth doing only if you take a risk.”
From London’s Theater to Hollywood
His career began in 1968 on the stage, with a stint in the London production of the musical “Hair.” There he met O’Brien, who showed him the manuscript for his later breakout piece. During the audition Curry chose Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and landed the lead role.
Stage work remained important to him. For his portrayal of Mozart in the New York production of “Amadeus,” he received a Tony Award nomination in 1981, and a year later his portrayal of the Pirate King in “The Pirates of Penzance” earned him a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award. He later played King Arthur in “Monty Python’s Spamalot.”
To a mass audience, Curry is remembered as the horror clown Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” as well as the hotel clerk Mr. Hector in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” He also appeared in “Annie,” “The Hunt for Red October,” and “Scary Movie 2.” For the villain Darkness in Ridley Scott’s “Legend,” he reportedly spent five hours in makeup.
He was recognized for his voice: as the voice of Captain Hook in the animated series “Peter Pan and the Pirates,” Curry won a Daytime Emmy Award.
According to his official site, Tim Curry never married and had no children. Beyond that, little is known about his private life. In Vagabond he explained why: “Heart affairs or bed partners — with all due respect — don’t amount to anything.”
After the Stroke, in a Wheelchair
The 2012 stroke left Curry wheelchair-bound, turning speaking roles into his most prominent work. In 2016 he returned as the narrator in the remake The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, in which trans actress Laverne Cox took over his iconic role. In 2020 he performed a reading of Frank N. Furter again at a campaign event for Joe Biden. Last year Curry released his memoir Vagabond.
