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Actor and singer best known for his roles in The Rocky Horror Show and the 1990 Stephen King TV miniseries It
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Stage — Michael Coveney
In June 1973, I went to the Royal Court to see one of Edward Bond ’s best plays, The Sea. On my way out, I met a colleague who said he had a spare ticket for something called The Rocky Horror Show in the Court’s studio space, the Theatre Upstairs, starting at around 10.30pm.
We had no idea what this was going to be about. There was a gantry rigged above us and, astonishingly, suddenly, crawling along it was a frizzy haired chap in fishnet stockings, suspender belt and lurid makeup. This was Tim Curry, as the deranged scientist and debauched sex magnet Dr Frank-N-Furter, introducing himself in song as “just a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania”.
Thus was launched Richard O’Brien’s hilarious, addictive glam rock musical that went on to become a cult classic, after moving, with Curry, along the King’s Road to a former cinema, then crossing to Broadway in 1975, and later being performed in productions all around the world.
It was adapted for the screen in 1975 as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, directed by Jim Sharman, with Curry reprising his role, and O’Brien appearing as Riff Raff, the scientist’s butler, along with Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick as the young couple who seek shelter in Dr Frank-N-Furter’s castle after their car breaks down.
The film arguably lacked the stage show’s element of subversive innovation and unbridled glee, but it became a huge cult hit with audiences, with both movie and theatre-goers dressing up in glam costumes, and joining in with the dance moves of Time Warp, the show-stopping song led by O’Brien.
Curry, who has died aged 80, became a big star on both sides of the Atlantic in film and on stage. He went on to prove himself a class act in stylish comedy and hit musicals, including a rocked-up version of The Pirates of Penzance in 1982 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and Stephen Fry’s smart version of Me and My Girl, doing the Lambeth Walk as Bill Snibson on a 1987 US national tour, and as King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot (2005-07), directed by Mike Nichols on Broadway and in London.
His celebrity was certainly matched by his talent, and his innate charm was equally matched by his louche lifestyle which, for a period, involved party-going with David Bowie – a huge fan of his – and cocaine-fuelled benders with Truman Capote.
Cruelly, he was struck down by a severe stroke in 2012 and was a wheelchair-user for the rest of his life. He summarised that life in a beautifully written and generously expressed, almost self-deprecating, memoir, Vagabond , in 2025.
Curry was born in Grappenhall, on the outskirts of Warrington, the second child of Jim Curry, a Methodist chaplain who had served in the Royal Navy, and his wife, Maura (nee Langmead), a school secretary. He was educated as a boarder at Kingswood school in Bath – after the family had relocated to Plymouth – and took a degree in English and drama at Birmingham University.
His first professional engagement was in the tribal rock musical Hair at the Shaftesbury theatre in 1968 – where he first met O’Brien. That cast included Elaine Page, Paul Nicholas and Marsha Hunt. Between Hair and Rocky Horror, he appeared in David Mercer’s After Haggerty (1969) with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych, and as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Regent’s Park in 1972.
After the Rocky Horror film took off, he spent three years in New York recording and touring as a rock singer. This culminated in his Broadway role, from late 1980, as Mozart in Peter Shaffer ’s Amadeus, losing out on the Tony best actor nomination to Ian McKellen as Salieri. His theatrical appetite re-boosted, he returned to London.
Back in the capital he brought vim and vigour to his notable stage role as the Pirate King in the production by Michael White – the commercial producer behind the Rocky Horror Show – of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. He was nominated for an Olivier award for his performance.
In 1983, Curry appeared at the National Theatre as Bob Acres in Peter Wood ’s sumptuous, elegant production of Sheridan’s The Rivals, which placed the Royal Crescent of Bath on the Olivier stage and co-starred Michael Hordern as Sir Anthony and Geraldine McEwan as Mrs Malaprop (“All men are Bavarians” – instead of barbarians). This show also marked the professional debut of Fiona Shaw. Less successful was the NT’s revival of Brecht/Weill’s The Threepenny Opera in 1986, in which he played Mack the Knife.
Other films included Annie (1982), in which he played the con-artist Rooster, Richard Eyre’s The Ploughman’s Lunch (1983), written by Ian McEwan, the black comedy mystery Clue (1985), and The Three Musketeers (1993), in the role of Cardinal Richelieu.
He was the clown Pennywise in the 1990 TV mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s novel It, and also appeared in the films Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and Muppet Treasure Island (1996), as Long John Silver. He was a lifelong friend of the art critic Richard Cork with whom he had been to school.
• Timothy James Curry, actor and singer, born 19 April 1946; died 25 August 2026
We had no idea what this was going to be about. There was a gantry rigged above us and, astonishingly, suddenly, crawling along it was a frizzy haired chap in fishnet stockings, suspender belt and lurid makeup. This was Tim Curry, as the deranged scientist and debauched sex magnet Dr Frank-N-Furter, introducing himself in song as “just a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania”.
This report is published with credit to The Guardian. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on The Guardian →
Source: The Guardian · Michael Coveney. Published 27 Aug 2026, 05:00 pm.
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