Tim Curry

English actor Tim Curry, best known for playing the outlandish Frank-N-Furter in film musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, has died at the age of 80.

Curry first played the role on stage before the film version, which was released in 1975 and has remained a cult favourite.The actor also played fearsome clown Pennywise in the 1990 TV version of Stephen King's It, and was Long John Silver in 1996's Muppet Treasure Island.His other films included Annie, The Hunt for Red October, Home Alone 2, Scary Movie 2 and he was nominated for three Tony Awards on Broadway.

Born in Warrington in 1946, Curry's first acting job after university was in the original London production of groundbreaking rock musical Hair in 1968.

In 1973, a fellow cast member, Richard O'Brien, asked Curry to audition for his new musical, and cast him in the role of the flamboyant lingerie-clad "sweet transvestite" Dr Frank-N-Furter.

Curry first put his stamp on the character of the riotous scientist on stage in the upstairs theatre at London's Royal Court in 1973.

The show's popularity snowballed and resulted in a big-screen adaptation, which also starred Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and O'Brien.

It was not an immediate hit at cinemas but became a fan favourite and holds the record for the longest-running theatrical release in film history.Welsh actor Luke Evans, who played the role in a Broadway revival, called Curry "a force, a bright fierce flame, an exquisite charm".Although he had no noticeable symptoms at the time, Curry’s stroke left him with paralysis on the left side of his body. After regaining consciousness in the hospital, “I could comprehend words but they did not register or settle without effort,” he wrote.Curry’s stroke was caused by two blood clots in his brain, he shared in “Vagabond,” which blocked blood flow and caused damage to parts of the right side of his brain. That affected the left side of his body, he explained.He went through several weeks of not being able to speak, and he had to undergo rehabilitation exercises to regain his ability to smile, use his hand and speak clearly.

Afterward, Curry had long-term mobility challenges and he used a wheelchair. “I still can’t walk, which is why I’m in this silly chair, and that’s very limiting,” he said in 2025. “So I won’t be singing and I won’t be dancing very soon. I still have real problems with my left leg.”

In “Vagabond,” Curry noted that he had a shorter temper after the stroke, “which gets vocalized in a way that it never would have before.” His left side was also sensitive, he wrote, and being handled by caregivers could be painful.

Additionally, “My short-term memory is also blown,” Curry wrote, which he noted caused a lot of frustration. But he said he had a newfound appreciation for his long-term memory, which remained “pretty spot on.” Revisiting old memories was “surprisingly, strangely healing,” he wrote.

But Curry maintained his sense of humor. “The day before I had the stroke, I smoked three packs of Marlboro Reds,” he told The Guardian. “I won’t be doing that again!”

And Curry named his paralyzed left hand Teddy, he wrote in his memoir. “Something about considering it as a wholly separate entity has helped me think of it with care and compassion rather than frustration,” he said.

In his memoir, Curry also noted that his father had a stroke at age 45 and later died of pneumonia after weeks in the hospital. Curry was only 12 at the time.

“Lying there in the hospital, I realized I was now twenty-two years older than he had been when he died,” he wrote. “The grim symmetry of our diagnosis was startling.”

In a letter he recently wrote to Curry, Evans thanked him for his fearlessness and for "creating something so enduring, and for inspiring generations of actors to be a little braver than they thought they could be".

"Being compared to you has been one of the greatest compliments I've ever received, even though it's a comparison no one could ever hope to live up to," he wrote in the letter.

The official Rocky Horror Picture Show on Broadway account similarly thanked the late actor for "giving the world a little more freedom, a little more fearlessness, and through the tears in our eyes, the courage to BE IT" - a nod to Curry's deliver of the famous line from the musical, "Don't dream it, be it".

Curry's varied career also saw him appear on screen in 1982 musical film Annie as Miss Hannigan's con-artist brother, 1985 murder mystery Clue, fantasy Legend alongside Tom Cruise also in 1985, and 1995 gorilla thriller Congo.On stage, he received his first Tony nomination for playing Mozart in the original Broadway production of Amadeus in 1981.Further Tony nominations came his way for My Favorite Year in 1993, then in 2005 for playing King Arthur in Monty Python musical Spamalot.

As Soviet Premier Anatoly Cherdenko, Curry's bombastic delivery of one line, and his apparent efforts to stifle a giggle as he said it, became a legendary meme online: "I'm going to escape, to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... space!"

One clip of the moment has more than 10 million views on YouTube, and has been endlessly shared across social media.

'Countless dynamic personas'

A statement from Curry's representatives following his death said: "Across five decades, he moved fluidly between comedy, horror, drama, and music, delighting himself and his legion of fans with his countless dynamic personas."They added: "Few actors can claim to have left as many distinct fingerprints on pop culture - and though he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2012, he continued adding to his achievements as an artist and, most recently, a writer.

"Though widely known for his inimitable, flamboyant characters and colorful stage performances, his greatest legacies to those who knew him were his curious, expansive mind and generous, gentle heart, both of which remained open and filled with anticipation until his final breath."

American comedy icon Carol Burnett, who shared a clip of Curry's turn as her smarmy brother in Annie alongside Bernadette Peters, wrote on social media that "nobody could play lovable villains better than he could".

US actor Rob Schneider, who played the bell boy to Curry's uppity hotel clerk in Home Alone 2, said that he was "gutted" by Curry's death.

"The sensational character actor, Tim Curry has left the stage," Schneider wrote. "A truly gifted performer of stage and screen, his one eyebrow could say more than most actors entire bodies. I am grateful to have the rare gift of watching him work, he made you better just standing near him."

Curry had a major stroke in 2012 and had to use a wheelchair. He concentrated on voice acting and continued to appear at film conventions.

His Clue co-star and Better Call Saul actor Michael McKean said on social that his last conversation with Curry was about "life and love and laughter"."The grim physical state he found himself in has now ended, a blessing. Our blessing was that we had Tim Curry in our lives. RIP, my friend," he wrote.Curry published his memoir, titled Vagabond, last year.

Grand Central Publishing said: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tim Curry, a singular talent whose extraordinary career left an indelible mark on generations of audiences.

"We are honored to have published his work and grateful for the stories, imagination, and joy he shared with readers.

"Our hearts are with his loved ones and countless fans around the world."His longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz confirmed he "passed away peacefully at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles on August 25".The Los Angeles Police Department told BBC News officers had responded to a death investigation for an 80-year-old man at 23:23 local time on Tuesday.

Legendary actor Tim Curry has died at age 80, his longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz confirmed.

Curry “passed away peacefully at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles on August 25, 2026,” according to a statement from Hurwitz. Curry’s cause of death has not been publicly revealed.

Known for his iconic roles in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Clue,” “Muppet Treasure Island” and “IT,” Curry was a charismatic actor with a long list of memorable credits.“Few actors can claim to have left as many distinct fingerprints on pop culture — and though he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2012, he continued adding to his achievements as an artist and, most recently, a writer,” the statement says. Curry’s memoir, “Vagabond,” was published last year.

Here’s what Curry said about his health and how his stroke affected his life.Curry was open about his history of drinking and drug use.

Early in his career, after his “Rocky Horror” fame took off, Curry turned his focus to becoming a musician. And he used cocaine frequently. For a time, he used it “most evenings, I would say, because I wasn’t Mr. Snorterama in the day. Because, you know, I had stuff to get done. It was part of living in New York in the ‘80s,” he said in an interview with The Guardian last year.

In his 2025 memoir “Vagabond,” Curry wrote that he often felt an instinct to “run away” after finishing a stage performance. While performing in Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” Curry wrote, “as quickly as I could, I would sneak off and drink half a bottle of wine. To be honest, I was rather impressed at my restraint at not boozing more than that. Not that such restraint would last terribly long.”Curry recalled a time when “Spamalot” director Mike Nichols visited Curry’s hotel room and saw the alcohol there. Nichols started talking “very pointedly about famous alcoholics he had known,” Curry wrote. “It was very evident that he was concerned that I was becoming one myself.”In 2012, at the age of 67, Curry suffered a stroke. He was getting a massage at the time and it was actually the masseuse who insisted on calling him an ambulance.

“I was having a massage at the time, and I didn’t even actually notice anything, but the guy who was doing the massage said, ‘I’m worried about you, I want to call an ambulance,’” he said while looking back on the experience in 2025.

The actor’s manager confirmed to Variety that he died peacefully. No cause of death is known as yet.

Ironically, Curry’s best-known roles all required a considerable physical transformation, to the extent that he was unrecognisable in all of them. Frank-N-Furter, Rocky Horror’s deranged scientist, saw him daubed in garish makeup and wearing stockings and suspenders, for the stage show (which debuted in 1973) and the film adaptation (released in 1975). In the Ridley Scott-directed fantasy Legend (1985), he was equipped with giant horns and scarlet skin as the Lord of Darkness. And in 1990, Curry was transformed with full-face clown pancake to play Pennywise in the TV miniseries It, based on the Stephen King novel.

Alongside these show-stopping incarnations, Curry enjoyed a successful parallel career in film, TV and theatre. Born in 1946, he earned a degree in drama and English from the University of Birmingham in 1968 and embarked on a stage career. His first significant role was in the original cast for the first West End production of the controversial musical Hair, in 1968 – where he met Richard O’Brien, who would go on to cast him in his own musical, The Rocky Horror Show. Curry went on to play Tristan Tzara in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (taking over the role from John Hurt and Robert Powell), and Mozart in the Broadway transfer of Amadeus in 1980. Later highlights included King Arthur in the Broadway run of the Monty Python musical Spamalot.

Curry worked regularly in film, in roles including that of Robert Graves in Jerzy Skolimowski’s sinister The Shout, and later as Jeremy in the Ian McEwan-scripted political drama The Ploughman’s Lunch. Later, Curry found himself working largely in comedies – including Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Muppet Treasure Island, Scary Movie 2, and McHale’s Navy – before providing voiceovers for numerous animated films, such as Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures and Ribbit.

Curry was also a regular presence on TV for more than four decades, playing William Shakespeare in John Mortimer’s six-part biography of the playwright in 1978, Bill Sikes in the 1982 US TV adaptation of Oliver Twist, and the wizard Trymon in the adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic in 2008. He voiced a stream of animated series (Duckman, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Mask and Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and was cast in many guest roles in established series, including Psych, Poirot and Criminal Minds.

“I’ve had the opportunities,” he said to the Guardian in 2025, “and I’m still showing up. You know? I think that’s what you have to do. You have to keep showing up.”

Posted on 2026/08/31 02:04 PM