Tim Curry, the versatile performer of surface and stage, who made his sanction arsenic the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter successful The Rocky Horror Show, has died aged 80. Reports say Curry died astatine his location successful Los Angeles.
Ironically, Curry’s best-known roles each required a sizeable beingness transformation, to the grade that he was unrecognisable successful each of them. Frank-N-Furter, Rocky Horror’s deranged scientist, saw him daubed successful garish constitution and wearing stockings and suspenders, for the shape show (which debuted successful 1973) and the movie adjustment (released successful 1975). In the Ridley Scott-directed imagination Legend (1985), he was equipped pinch elephantine horns and scarlet tegument arsenic the Lord of Darkness. And successful 1990, Curry was transformed pinch full-face comedian pancake to play Pennywise successful the TV miniseries It, based connected the Stephen King novel.
Alongside these show-stopping incarnations, Curry enjoyed a successful parallel profession successful film, TV and theatre. Born successful 1946, he earned a grade successful play and English from the University of Birmingham successful 1968 and embarked connected a shape career. His first important domiciled was successful the original formed for the first West End accumulation of the arguable philharmonic Hair, successful 1968 – wherever he met Richard O’Brien, who would spell connected to formed him successful his ain musical, The Rocky Horror Show. Curry went connected to play Tristan Tzara successful Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (taking complete the domiciled from John Hurt and Robert Powell), and Mozart successful the Broadway transportation of Amadeus successful 1980. Later highlights included King Arthur successful the Broadway tally of the Monty Python philharmonic Spamalot.
Curry worked regularly successful film, successful roles including that of Robert Graves successful Jerzy Skolimowski’s sinister The Shout, and later arsenic Jeremy successful the Ian McEwan-scripted governmental play The Ploughman’s Lunch. Later, Curry recovered himself moving mostly successful comedies – including Home Alone 2: Lost successful New York, Muppet Treasure Island, Scary Movie 2, and McHale’s Navy – earlier providing voiceovers for galore animated films, specified arsenic Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures and Ribbit.
Curry was besides a regular beingness connected TV for much than 4 decades, playing William Shakespeare successful John Mortimer’s six-part curriculum vitae of the playwright successful 1978, Bill Sikes successful the 1982 US TV adjustment of Oliver Twist, and the wizard Trymon successful the adjustment of Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic successful 2008. He voiced a watercourse of animated bid (Duckman, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Mask and Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and was formed successful galore impermanent roles successful established series, including Psych, Poirot and Criminal Minds.
“I’ve had the opportunities,” he said to the Guardian successful 2025, “and I’m still showing up. You know? I deliberation that’s what you person to do. You person to support showing up.”
In 2012, Curry had a changeable while receiving a massage and received encephalon surgery. He was near pinch mobility issues and his short-term representation was besides affected. “It was an overseas thing, because my begetter had a changeable and died very soon afterwards,” he said. “I knew I had to unit myself to relax and conscionable return the opportunity to float a little.”
In 2025, he released his memoir Vagabond.
“I’m very alert that I’m lucky,” Curry said past year. “I’m astonished really astatine really eager I’ve been. I didn’t deliberation of myself arsenic eager astatine all.”
Luke Evans, who played the domiciled of Dr. Frank-N-Furter successful the caller Broadway accumulation of The Rocky Horror Show, paid tribute connected Instagram. The character called him “a force, a agleam fierce flame” and “an inspiration”. He added: “There will only beryllium 1 Tim Curry.”
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