After nearly six decades of entertaining audiences across a variety of genres, Tim Curry has died at the age of 80.
Curry memorably got his start in the world of stage productions with Richard O'Brien's iconic Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring as the pansexual, cross-dressing mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a role that he swiftly reprised for the horror-comedy musical's film adaptation which, while initially a critical and commercial disappointment, is now one of the biggest, most successful, cult classics of all-time. This passionate following helped establish what would become an iconic genre career.
TMZ was the first to report on the news of Curry's death, with their sources saying that law enforcement was called to his Los Angeles home late Tuesday night for an unspecified reason, with the actor found having died. As of now, reports state there is no foul play suspected in Curry's passing.
In the wake of his Rocky Horror Picture Show success, Curry took to balancing his work on both the screen and stage, being part of everything from Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, in which his work as iconic composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart earned him a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play, to John Huston's adaptation of Annie. He found more awards recognition with 1982's The Pirates of Penzance, earning a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical, and won the Royal Variety Club Award for Stage Actor of the Year.
Shortly after adding more cult favorites to his filmography with Ridley Scott's Legend and Jonathan Lynn's Clue adaptation, Curry found arguably his other career-defining role with 1990's IT adaptation, in which he starred as Stephen King's Pennywise the Clown. While the miniseries itself saw mixed reviews from critics, Curry's performance became one of the most iconic in horror genre history, chilling young audiences to their core well before Bill Skarsgård brought his own take to the role.
In the decades that followed, Curry's stardom expanded even further in both live-action and animation, landing fan-favorite roles in everything from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York to Muppet Treasure Island as the villainous Long John Silver, HBO's Tales from the Crypt, which secured him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series and The Wild Thornberrys as the titular adventurer family's patriarch.
At the turn of the century, Curry's live-action work began to lessen, with the star turning his focus to his aforementioned voice work, as well as making a return to the stage with the mid-2000s production of Spamalot, the stage iteration of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. However, everything changed for the Emmy nominee when he suffered a stroke in mid-2012, requiring the use of a wheelchair and affecting both mobility on the left side of his body, and his memory.
Curry largely retired from acting following his health event, albeit still remained publicly active in a variety of ways. The star continued to stay with the Rocky Horror Picture Show fandom as he both made a cameo in Fox's Let's Do the Time Warp Again remake, and played Frank-N-Furter in a live table reading, where the funds were in support of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.
Prior to his death, Tim Curry also published his memoir Vagabond, named after how actors were viewed in the 17th and 18th centuries, and offering readers a rare look into his journey from being raised in a military family to his acting stardom and aforementioned near-fatal stroke. With such a wide range of iconic characters and frequently earnest interactions with his various fans over the years, the Emmy and Tony-nominated star is leaving behind quite a legacy.
