Tim Curry, the actor who made Dr. Frank-N-Furter one of cinema’s most unforgettable villains, has died. He passed away Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, his manager confirmed. He was 80.
The man behind Dr. Frank-N-Furter
Born into a military family in Cheshire, England, in 1946, Curry got his first professional role at 22 in the original London production of Hair. There he met Richard O’Brien, who cast him as the outrageous Frank-N-Furter in the stage show that became The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The 1975 film adaptation became a global cult phenomenon, notorious for its rowdy midnight screenings and audience participation.
A career in cult classics
Curry’s range spanned musicals, horror and comedy. He terrified viewers as the clown Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s It, played the scheming Wadsworth in 1985’s Clue, voiced the villain Darkness in Legend, and hammed it up as Long John Silver alongside Miss Piggy in Muppet Treasure Island. Along the way he racked up more than 100 film, TV and video game credits.
| Year | Role | Production |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Dr. Frank-N-Furter | The Rocky Horror Picture Show |
| 1982 | Rooster | Annie |
| 1985 | Wadsworth | Clue |
| 1985 | Darkness (voice) | Legend |
| 1990 | Pennywise | It (TV miniseries) |
| 1996 | Long John Silver | Muppet Treasure Island |
| 2005 | King Arthur | Spamalot (Broadway) |
An icon for the LGBTQ community
In a pre-internet age, Curry’s flamboyant Frank-N-Furter was a then-rare beacon to the LGBTQ community. To the disappointment of fans who adored his unapologetic queer joy, he never publicly discussed his own love life. “I have loved and been loved,” he wrote in his bestselling 2025 memoir Vagabond. “The rest is none of your business.”
Later years and a 2025 memoir
Curry suffered a stroke in 2012 that altered his speech and left him unable to walk, but he continued working as a prolific voice actor. He was also a Tony-nominated stage performer, playing King Arthur in the original Broadway production of Spamalot. His death comes the same month Hollywood mourned other icons, including Hayden Panettiere and Dolly Parton.
As Curry told CBS News last year, his Rocky Horror character “gave a lot of teenagers permission to be different, and I’m very happy that he did have that power.”
