Tim Curry, the British actor known for his roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue, Legend and the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King’s It, has died. He was 80.
Curry died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. His death was confirmed Wednesday.
Born Timothy James Curry on April 19, 1946, in Cheshire, England, Curry worked across film, television and theater during a career that spanned more than five decades. He also had an extensive career as a voice actor.
Curry became widely known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He originated the role in the 1973 London stage production of Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show before reprising it for the 1975 film adaptation.
Directed by Jim Sharman, The Rocky Horror Picture Show also starred Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien and Meat Loaf. The film was initially unsuccessful at the box office but later developed a following through midnight screenings and audience-participation events. Curry remained closely associated with the film throughout his career.
His subsequent film work included playing Rooster Hannigan opposite Carol Burnett in John Huston’s 1982 adaptation of Annie. In 1985, he appeared in two roles that would also become closely associated with his career: the Lord of Darkness in Ridley Scott’s Legend and Wadsworth in the murder mystery comedy Clue.
In Clue, Curry played the butler who guides the film’s ensemble cast through the events surrounding a murder at a secluded mansion. The film, based on the Hasbro board game, received a mixed response during its original theatrical run but gained a larger audience through home video and television broadcasts.
Curry took on another prominent role in 1990 when he played Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the ABC television miniseries Stephen King’s It. The two-part adaptation also starred Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Annette O’Toole, Harry Anderson and Tim Reid. Curry played Pennywise throughout the miniseries as the creature confronts the story’s characters as both children and adults.
His other film credits included The Hunt for Red October, Oscar, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Three Musketeers, The Shadow, Congo, Muppet Treasure Island, Addams Family Reunion, Charlie’s Angels, Scary Movie 2 and Kinsey.
Curry also accumulated a large number of voice acting credits in animation and video games. He voiced Captain Hook in the Fox animated series Peter Pan and the Pirates, a performance that earned him a Daytime Emmy Award.
He later voiced Nigel Thornberry in Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberrys and its feature films. His additional animation credits included FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Gargoyles, Duckman and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Curry took over the role of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in The Clone Wars following the death of actor Ian Abercrombie.
Before his film career, Curry worked extensively on stage. After studying drama and English at the University of Birmingham, he appeared in the London production of Hair. His work in The Rocky Horror Show followed several years later.
Curry later appeared on Broadway as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus and received Tony Award nominations for Amadeus, My Favorite Year and Monty Python’s Spamalot. He also received two Laurence Olivier Award nominations during his theater career.
In 2012, Curry suffered a major stroke that affected his mobility and led him to use a wheelchair. He subsequently reduced his live-action work but continued performing voice roles and making occasional public appearances.
Curry returned to the Rocky Horror franchise in Fox’s 2016 television production The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again. Rather than returning as Frank-N-Furter, he appeared as the Criminologist Narrator, with Laverne Cox taking over his original role.
In 2024, Curry appeared in the horror film Stream, his first feature-film acting role in more than a decade.