Tim Curry, the English actor best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” has died at the age of 80. Curry’s manager confirmed his death, according to the BBC.
Curry first played Frank-N-Furter on stage before taking the role to the screen in the 1975 film adaptation. The performance became the defining role of his career and helped turn “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” into one of cinema’s most enduring cult films.
Tim Curry
(Photo: gettyimages)
He later became equally familiar to another generation of viewers as Pennywise the clown in the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King’s “It.”
Curry built a wide-ranging career across film, television and theater. His movie credits included “Clue,” “Annie,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and “Muppet Treasure Island,” in which he played Long John Silver.
He was also a prominent stage performer and received three Tony Award nominations during his Broadway career.
In 2012, Curry suffered a major stroke that affected his mobility and left him using a wheelchair. He later returned to public appearances and continued working, particularly in voice acting, while largely stepping away from physically demanding stage and screen roles.
Despite the health setback, Curry remained closely associated with the characters that made him famous, particularly Frank-N-Furter and Pennywise, two radically different performances that helped define his unusually varied career.
From cult musical icon to horror villain, Curry became one of the most recognizable character actors of his generation, with a body of work spanning more than five decades.