Tim Curry has died. He was 80 years old. The legendary actor passed away late Tuesday night. The Rocky Horror Picture Show actor had been plagued with serious health issues for the last decade after suffering a major stroke in 2012.
Curry’s career began in Hollywood in the 1960s. It took off when he was cast in the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was a role he played on the stage first in London. This kicked off a successful career that saw him appearing on stage and screen in a variety of roles. In 1982, he reached a new level of public awareness when he played Rooster Hannigan, the brother of Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett) in the film version of Annie. In 1990, he appeared in the two-part ABC adaptation of It as Pennywise. In this era, he also appeared in Clue (1985) and The Hunt for Red October.
On the stage, he was nominated for three Tonys. The first was for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1981’s Amadeus. The second was for his acting as alcoholic actor Alan Swann in the musical My Favorite Year. The third was from 2005’s Monty Python’s Spamalot, in which he played King Arthur. He said about adapting a classic Monty Python film to stage, “It’s quite interesting because the audience always contains some core of Monty Python fans, who see stuff coming and react with great whoops of joy and then settle down to see it unfold. They are hugely welcoming, and they really want to see it happen. Happily, they’re not talking along with it, because that would need a spanking.”
Tim Curry also appeared in multiple projects connected with The Walt Disney Company. Most notably, he portrayed Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996). He also appeared in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) as the nosy concierge at the hotel where Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) stays. In 1993, he appeared in The Three Musketeers as the evil Cardinal Richelieu. He also lent his voice to several animated projects for the House of Mouse. This included voicing the malevolent pipe organ Forte in 1997’s direct-to-video Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. He also voiced Chancellor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, during the 5th and 6th seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His voice could also be heard in Dinosaurs, Garfield: Tale of Two Kitties, and FernGully: The Last Rainforest. On top of all that, Curry’s voice was one heard at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom as Simulated Intelligence Robotics, or S.I.R., in the pre-show for ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.
His death is being mourned by friends, family, and fans around the world. On his life and legacy, in an interview in 2002 with the Houston Chronicle, he said, “It’s beyond my wildest dreams.” Concluding, “I never thought I’d have a ride like this. I’ve been incredibly lucky. I’ve worked very hard. I’ve had a wonderful life. And I know it”
