August 26, 2026
Tim Curry, the British actor forever remembered as Dr. Frank-N-Furter — though he was much more — has died at 80.
Curry died in Toluca Lake, California, where he had resided, on Wednesday. No cause was offered, but he suffered a major stroke in 2012 during a massage that had left him in a wheelchair. (His father died of pneumonia after a stroke when Curry was 12.)
Curry originated the now-iconic role of Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show in London in 1973, going from the smallest of venues all the way to its 1975 movie version — The Rocky Horror Picture Show — which became a slow-burn midnight-movie hit.
As the movie found its audience, it inspired fans to sing along and to arrive dressed as its characters. Its popularity is so immense it has become the longest-running film in continuous release, a record 51 years … and counting. Who has not seen this movie by now?!
One of its fans was Princess Diana, who requested a meeting with Curry, during which she shyly confessed to being very familiar with his performance, reportedly calling the film “an education.”
As his — you’ll excuse the expression — balls-out performance in the movie would suggest, he was a great singer, leading him to cut three rock albums.
Curry was born April 19, 1946, in Cheshire, England. His first professional gig was in Hair in the U.K. just after college. That fortuitous job introduced him to Richard O’Brien, who would go on the write The Rocky Horror Show.
On TV from the late ‘60s, he made his biggest impact on the stage (he had three Tony nominations over the years) and in a number of well-remembered films, among them Annie (1982), Legend (1985), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), The Three Musketeers (1993), Congo (1995), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Charlie’s Angels (2000) and —indelibly — as Wadsworth in Clue (1985).
As with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue was a film that was a much bigger hit after the fact. It seems to be a millennial classic.
Nominated for an Emmy for Tales from the Crypt (1994), his most impactful TV performance was as Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries of Stephen King’s IT.
He took home a Daytime Emmy for Peter Pan and the Pirates in 1990 for playing — who else? — Hook.
His stroke slowed him down physically, but for work he leaned into voice acting. He’d already done voice work, including in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) and Phineas and Ferb (2008 & 2012), and went on to do more on Young Justice (2012-2013), Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja (2012-2014) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2012-2014).
Curry’s final appearance on film was in Stream (2024).
There is no information regarding survivors. Though many presumed him to be gay, he never went on the record about his sexual orientation or his love life.⚡️