Tim Curry, a multitalented star of the stage and screen, died Tuesday at his home at the age of 80. The three-time Tony Award-nominated icon was best known for his eccentric characters, his musical background, and his comedic chops, leading to a varied and successful career in cult classics and box office hits.
Curry “passed away peacefully at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles,” according to a statement from his longtime manager Marcia Hurwitz. The cause of death has not been made public, but Curry had suffered from several health issues since having a severe stroke in 2012.
Though he was best-known for donning fishnets and a corset as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in 1975’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Curry had left his mark with a wide-ranging career spanning albums, voice work, and more.
Here are a few of the roles that allow his unmistakable artistry to live on.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Curry rose to cult status after taking on the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania,” in the stage version of The Rocky Horror Show in London in 1973. His fan base crossed the Atlantic when he came to the United States to reprise the role in Los Angeles in 1974, before transferring to Broadway, paving the way to the now-famous screen adaptation from 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Reviews from New York were mixed—the TIME review said of the initial Broadway run that it was “not easy to see why this campy trash was a long-running hit in London and a smash success in Los Angeles.” But by 1985, TIME’s film reviewer recognized the movie as a “cross-generational phenomenon.”
Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert said that Curry was “the best thing in the movie, maybe because he seems to be having the most fun.”
Now, Rocky Horror is an interactive midnight movie phenomenon, with fans showing up to screenings nationwide in costume, shouting lines back at the screen, and singing along. The stage version was revived on Broadway in 2026.
Curry’s breakout role in musical theater helped launch his music career in the 1970s and 1980s. He released three albums: Read My Lips, Fearless, and Simplicity.
Annie
In 1982, Curry starred in another stage adaptation—this time playing sleazy con artist Rooster Hannigan in the hit movie Annie.
Acting alongside legends like Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters, Curry cemented himself as a scheming villain, the type of role he would continue to play in movies like Home Alone 2, Muppet Treasure Island, and The Three Musketeers.
In a 2020 interview with Forbes, Curry reminisced on the experience: “Rooster was a hustler, and people love that kind of character,” he said. “He was a lot of fun.”
Clue
In the 1985 board game adaptation Clue, Curry played the energetic butler Wadsworth, where he showcased his physical comedy. One of the most memorable moments comes at the film’s end, when Wadsworth runs about the mansion, trying to summarize the night’s events and explain the identity of the killer.
Since his death, tributes from his Clue co-stars have poured in.
“What an unbelievable joy to have shared a sound stage with him and to engage with such a master talent,” Lesley Ann Warren, who played Miss Scarlet in the murder mystery movie, wrote. “I adored him.”
It
In 1990, Curry took on a more straightforward villain in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s It. He starred as an ancient cosmic evil that took the form of a child-killing clown called Pennywise in the town of Derry, Maine.
His portrayal of Pennywise horrified a generation of children—without relying heavily on special effects or prosthetics. In a 1990 interview, Curry said he was trying to get in touch with the “human element” of the horror genre.
“We had a much more prosthetic version of this makeup, which was very scary-looking and beautifully executed but did too much work by itself,” he said. “And I personally think that what is most horrifying is the moment of decision behind somebody’s eyes when they decide to kill somebody—rather than a pint of blood and a pound-and-a-half of latex.”
Other beloved roles
Beyond his most beloved roles, Curry had his fingerprints all over pop culture—in movies and television and on the stage.
His three Tony Award nominations came for his 1981 portrayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the play Amadeus, his portrayal of King Arthur in the musical Monty Python’s Spamalot which debuted on Broadway in 2005, and the lead role of troubled movie star Alan Swann in the musical My Favorite Year in 1992
On the screen, Curry was also beloved as the nosy concierge in 1992’s Home Alone 2, where he is outsmarted by the film’s young protagonist, as well as for his immersive work alongside a cast of Muppets as Long John Silver in 1996’s Muppet Treasure Island. Both his penchant for camp and his undeniable vocal talent were highlighted in 1986’s The Worst Witch, where he played the menacing Halloween harbinger, Grand Wizard Egbert Hellibore.
Curry’s distinct theatrical voice also made him a top choice for voiceover work, where his prolific career spanned hundreds of animated series, audiobooks, and video games. After voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan & the Pirates, he won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991.
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