Tim Curry, the English actor best known for his role as the fishnet wearing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, has died at the age of 80.
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TMZ reported that Curry died in his Los Angeles home late on August 25.
A cause of death has not been given, but Curry had been plagued with health problems since suffering a major stroke in 2012.
Curry was born on April 19, 1946, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He started his acting career in 1968 when he joined the West End production of the musical Hair. It was during that time that he met Richard O’Brien, who would go on to create The Rocky Horror Show.
First conceived as a stage play, it premiered in 1973, starring Curry. He and some of the other original actors reprised their roles in the 1975 film adaptation. While not originally a hit, it is now a cult classic.
“It’s a chance for people to try on a few roles for size, maybe help them figure out their own sexuality,” Curry said of the film in a 2005 interview with NPR. “I’ve certainly had some very interesting and moving mail from people who’ve said, ‘Thanks for helping me figure out who I was,’ and that’s very nice.”
Curry’s turn as the “sweet transvestite from Transylvania” is how many American audiences first met him, and he maintained a wide and varied series of roles over the next 50 years.
He starred in such films as 1985’s Clue, based on the hit board game, and 1982’s Annie, alongside Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters. Millennials fondly remember Curry for playing the villainous hotel concierge who tries to catch Kevin in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, or as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.
But his second most iconic role is Pennywise, the creepy shapeshifting clown at the center of Stephen King’s It. Curry played the role in the 1990 ABC television adaptation of the horror novel.
“My job was to give Tim the stage and not get in his way too much,” director Tommy Lee Wallace told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “He was like Robin Williams in the way he brought a spontaneous improvisation to the part.
According to Wallace, Curry won the part by using “the idea of turning what a clown is upside-down, so he’s not particularly lovable.”
In a 1997 appearance on The View, Curry spoke about the kind of roles he typically plays.
“Eric Idle and I always have this greeting when we see each other: We shake hands and say, ‘Butlers and villains,’” Curry told Meredith Vieira. “I think it happens to a lot of European actors, particularly if you’ve never established yourself as a romantic leading man. The fact is, though, the bad guys are always much better written than the good guys, and they’re kind of irresistible to play.”
Tim Curry was also known for his work on stage. He was nominated for three Tony Awards over the course of his career. His first nomination came in 1981 for playing the role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus. Sadly, he lost to co-star Ian McKellen.
Curry’s next nom came in 1993 after playing alcoholic actor Alan Swann in the musical My Favorite Year. His final nomination came in 2005 for playing King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot. The hit musical is based on the film Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
Also a voiceover artist, Curry won a Daytime Emmy for playing Captain Hook in 1990 for FOX’s Peter Pan and the Pirates. He may also be recognized as the voice of Nigel Thornberry on Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberries.
Curry never married, and had no children.