Tim Curry, From Frank-N-Furter to Pennywise

Tim Curry, the British actor of stage, film and television, died on Tuesday, August 25, at his home in Los Angeles, aged 80. Born in Cheshire in 1946, he built a career defined by a piercing presence, an unmistakable voice, and a performance style that was flamboyant and precise at once. His fame rests above all on Dr. Frank-N-Furter in 1975's The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a role he had originated on the London stage and which became a lasting emblem of freedom from convention. Roger Ebert called him the best thing in the film, adding that he seemed to be having the most fun in it. Other roles followed that audiences still name, among them Rooster in Annie, Darkness in Ridley Scott's Legend, the fast-talking butler Wadsworth in Clue, and Pennywise in the 1990 IT. His voice made him one of the busiest actors in animation and video games, from The Wild Thornberries onward. The stage, though, came first. He was nominated for three Tony Awards, for Amadeus, My Favorite Year and Spamalot, in which he originated the role of King Arthur. A stroke in 2012 left his left side paralyzed and he used a wheelchair for the rest of his life, though he kept his humor and gave his left hand a name, Teddy. His memoir Vagabond was published in 2025. In RogerEbert.com's tribute, Clint Worthington writes that Curry did not fear death and expected to welcome it in the end.

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