Tim Curry Originally Felt ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Would Limit His Acting Prospects

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Actor Tim Curry attends The Rocky Horror Picture Show 35th day to use The Painted Turtle astatine The Wiltern connected October 28, 2010 successful Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Painted Turtle)

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Prolific character Tim Curry died connected Tuesday astatine property 80, leaving down a bequest of memorable roles including Dr. Frank-N-Furter successful the cult movie classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Pennywise the Dancing Clown successful the TV miniseries type of Stephen King’s IT.

Curry died astatine his location successful Toluca Lake, Calif., his head told Variety. Curry’s origin of decease was not revealed, but the character has been dealing pinch wellness challenges since suffering a debilitating changeable successful 2012.

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During a 50th day screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show astatine the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Academy Museum successful September 2025, Curry recalled specifications astir the life-changing arena for the crowd.

“I was having a massage astatine the clip and I didn’t moreover really announcement anything, but the feline who was doing the massage said, ‘I’m worried astir you, I want to telephone an ambulance.’ And he did, and I said, ‘That’s truthful silly,’” Curry told the assemblage (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I still can’t walk, which is why I’m successful this silly chair, and that’s very limiting. So I won’t beryllium singing and I won’t beryllium dancing very soon. I still person existent problems pinch my near leg.”

During the Academy Museum’s 2025 screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Curry admitted that he thought his iconic move arsenic Dr. Frank-N-Furter was going to inhibit the prospects of appearing successful different projects aft the 1975 film. That aforesaid year, erstwhile Curry was contacted by Stephen Frears to prima successful his TV movie Three Men successful a Boat, the character learned alternatively really adjuvant the movie was to the director.

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“I said, ‘What makes you deliberation that I tin play a Victorian slope clerk?’ and he said, ‘If you tin play Frank-N-Furter, you tin play anything,’” Curry recalled (via THR).

And clip proved Frears’ study right. Between his on-camera and sound acting work, Curry amassed much than 240 projects complete his 50-plus years successful film, tv and video games.

Tim Curry Described His Pennywise From ‘IT’ As 'A Smile Gone Bad."

Fifteen years aft the merchandise of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Curry recovered himself successful the world of celebrated scary writer Stephen King, wherever he played the menacing clown, Pennywise, successful a two-part miniseries based connected the writer’s bestselling caller IT.

Former Fangoria newsman Steve Newton interviewed Curry connected the group while the prolific action was filming the 1990 miniseries, which the writer repurposed for his Ear of Newt blog successful 2014.

Describing who would spell connected to go 1 of King’s scariest creations, Curry told Newton, “I disconnected rather a fewer group present and location 1 measurement aliases another. But Pennywise turns retired not to beryllium that physical, really — it’s mostly intelligence cruelty. What’s nosy astir him is that a comedian is traditionally a very cozy, comforting benignant of cheery image, and Pennywise is nary of these things. I deliberation of him each the clip arsenic a grin gone bad — that’s my image for him.”

Curry, of course, appeared successful a assortment of different notable films complete his career, including Clue, Annie, Muppet Treasure Island and Home Alone 2: Lost successful New York.