British singer and actor Tim Curry was a huge star of the 1970s thanks to his role as Dr Frank-N-Furter in the London and LA stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show.
He became a household name when he reprised the role in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, before starring in a range of films and TV shows and wowing theatre audiences.
But his career was put on hold when he suffered a devastating stroke in July 2012.
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Timothy James Curry was born in Cheshire, England on April 19, 1946.
After his father died of pneumonia when he was 12, he moved with his mother and older sister to London. He attended boarding school in London and later Bath.
While young, he was recognised as a talented boy soprano but after leaving school he became interested in acting, and studied English and drama at university.
By 1968, he had won a part in the original London stage production of Hair, where he met Richard O’Brien, the creator and writer of The Rocky Horror Show.
By the time he ran into O’Brien again, he was looking for someone to play the role of Dr Frank-N-Furter.
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Curry won the role, but the character continued to evolve from a German with peroxide blond hair to an American and finally an Englishman with an upper-class accent.
The play was performed for the first time in 1973 and was a hit, with Curry winning praise for his role. He also appeared in the LA stage production before it was adapted into the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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The role made Curry a household name and 50 years after the play opened, Dr Frank-N-Furter remains his most iconic role.
Afterwards he returned to the theatre starring in the London and New York productions of Travesties. He then appeared in the 1981 Broadway show Amadeus as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The next year he appeared on stage in The Pirates of Penzance and the film Annie.
The 90s saw Curry land a number of memorable roles in The Hunt for Red October, The Three Musketeers, Muppet Treasure Island and Addams Family Reunion.
It also saw him star in two vastly different but equally iconic roles. In 1990, he played Pennywise, a scary clown in Stephen King’s It.
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Two years later came one of his best-known roles as the hotel concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
In 2000, he was in the movie adaptation of Charlie’s Angels and the following year appeared in Scary Movie 2.
He also appeared on TV and on stage throughout his career.
In 2001, Curry appeared as Scrooge in the musical version of A Christmas Carol in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
In 2004, he played King Arthur in the Monty Python play Spamalot, which moved to Broadway in 2005 and later London’s West End.
Throughout his career, he received numerous award nominations for his work.
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In July 2012, Curry, then 65, suffered a life-changing stroke while at his home in LA. Since then, he has been confined to a wheelchair.
In 2015, Curry said he was “doing well” and that a sense of humour had been “absolutely vital” during his recovery.
“It’s not tough to maintain. It is just part of my DNA.”
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In the years that followed, he has made only a handful of public appearances, including a movie premiere and panel discussion on The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Curry was eventually able to get back to work as a voice actor, something he did before his stroke.
He also appeared in the 2016 TV show The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, playing The Criminologist.
In 2020, he took part in a livestream reading of the original Rocky Horror script as part of a Democratic Party event to help fund the Biden/Harris presidential campaign. In 2021 he attended a Comic Con event.
He recently completed voice acting work on Dagon: Troll World Chronicles.
Curry, now 77, never married or had children, but was believed to be in a relationship with voice artist Marcia Hurwitz in the early 2000s.
Two years after his stroke, Curry, who is thought to have a net worth of about $20 million, sold the LA home he was living in at the time.
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