Tim Curry, the unmistakable actor, singer and cult icon whose performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ became permanently tangled in rock culture, has passed aged 80.
Curry died at his Los Angeles home on Tuesday, August 25th, with his representative and longtime friend Marcia Hurwitz confirming his passing, a cause of death has not been publicly announced (per Loudwire).
Born in Cheshire, England in 1946, Curry began his professional acting career in the late ’60s with the London production of ‘Hair’. It was there that he met Richard O’Brien, who would go on to write ‘The Rocky Horror Show’. Curry originated the role of Frank-N-Furter on stage before taking the character to the screen for the 1975 film adaptation.
What initially landed with a thud at the box office became something else entirely through midnight screenings. ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ grew into a countercultural institution, with Curry’s fearless, gloriously theatrical performance at its centre.
His career stretched well beyond Rocky Horror. Curry terrified a generation as Pennywise in the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘It’, tore through ‘Clue’ as Wadsworth and built a huge body of voice work, including Nigel Thornberry in ‘The Wild Thornberrys’. He also released three solo albums and earned three Tony Award nominations across his stage career.
Rock and Metal tributes
Following news of his death, figures from across rock and metal have begun paying tribute, including Slash, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz and Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy.
Portnoy remembered his teenage obsession with Rocky Horror and the ritual of attending screenings, writing:
‘In the early 80’s, one of my biggest obsessions was the Rocky Horror Picture Show… I would go every weekend! Whether it was at the Mini Cinema in Uniondale [Long Island] or the 8th St Playhouse in NYC or the actual Dream Theater in Monterey, Calif., I knew every line…(and would even occasionally go dressed as Riff Raff!)’
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea had an even more personal connection. The pair later worked together on ‘The Wild Thornberrys’, where Curry voiced Nigel Thornberry and Flea played Donnie.
‘I was a kid who dressed in mom’s makeup and lamay dress and went to see Rocky Horror at the Tiffany theater on Sunset. I loved Tim Curry. We worked together later for a few years on The Wild Thornberries and I was excited to hang out with him and cut up, the sincere and funny voices. He was kind, smart and funny as hell. God bless him; beautiful and cosmic journeys to you Tim,’ Flea wrote.
Curry suffered a major stroke in 2012 that affected his mobility, but continued voice work and public appearances in the years that followed.
For rock fans, Curry was never simply an actor who happened to star in a musical. Frank-N-Furter helped turn ‘Rocky Horror’ into a decades-long celebration of outsiders, theatrical excess and refusing to fit neatly into whatever box was waiting.
Few performances become subcultures of their own. Curry managed exactly that.
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