Tim Curry, the actor who famously played the gender-bending mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show among dozens of other memorable roles, died late Tuesday night, reports TMZ. He was 80.
Timothy James Curry was born on April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, England, the son of a school secretary and Royal Navy chaplain. He got his start as an actor in plays and musicals, performing in productions of Hair and After Haggerty. In 1973, Curry starred in Rocky Horror’s original London stage production at Royal Court Theatre, and was later featured in the 1975 big-screen adaptation. Although it was released in the United States to little fanfare, it experienced a second life as a midnight movie. The film’s exploration of gender and sexuality resonated with its eccentric fandom, with queer communities in particular relating to Curry’s character, a vampish, fishnet-wearing “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania.”
The rest of Curry’s career mostly focused on villainous roles in movies such as 1982’s Annie, where he played the antagonist Rooster Hannigan, who teamed up with orphanage manager Miss Hannigan to pose as Annie’s long-lost parent for a cash reward. In 1990, Curry played the sadistic, raspy-voiced Pennywise in ABC television miniseries It, adapted from Stephen King’s 1986 namesake novel. And in 1992’s Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, he portrayed a nosy Plaza Hotel concierge. Curry also had several voice acting roles, including early ’90s parts as Captain Hook in Peter Pan & the Pirates and Hexxus in Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. Beyond his acting, Curry had a musical career that included three albums, 1978’s Read My Lips, 1980’s Fearless, and 1981’s Simplicity. In 2012, he suffered a major stroke that left half of his body paralyzed.
In a 2025 interview with the Guardian, Curry spoke about why chose to portray the gender-nonconforming Dr. Frank-N-Furter. “I did think it was risky and indeed it was. But I like risky. I would choose risky over anything. That’s the best way to be,” he said. “I wasn’t sure that I had the courage to do it, and I did and that was good. I resolved to apply it to my life.”
