Tim Curry, Star of ‘Rocky Horror,’ Dies at 80

Man, this week sucks, huh?

TMZ reports that Tim Curry, the veteran actor and iconic star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, has died. According to their sources “the actor — who had been plagued with serious health issues for more than a decade — passed away late Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home” and “there is no foul play suspected in the case.” Curry was 80 years old.

Born in England in 1946, Curry began his career as a stage actor. He met Richard O’Brien, the creator of The Rocky Horror Show, while he was starring in the original London production of Hair. Curry was then cast as Rocky Horror’s central mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a role he originated in the show’s original London and Broadway productions. Curry then went on to reprise the role in the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Although the Rocky Horror movie was a flop upon its initial release, it was quickly adopted as a midnight movie, gaining a massive cult fanbase — thanks in large part to Curry’s bombastic performance. The film continues to play in theaters at midnight all over the world to this day.

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Although The Rocky Horror Picture Show will surely be the film that comes to define Curry’s legacy, he had an outstanding screen career that spanned decades. His memorable appearances included John Huston’s Annie, Ridley Scott’s The Hunt for Red October, and Chris Columbus’ Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, where he played the concierge of the Plaza Hotel who comes into conflict with Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin.

Beyond Home Alone 2, ’90s kids might remember him best as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.

Personally, my favorite Tim Curry performance is probably the Romanian treasure hunter Herkermer Homolka in the adaptation of Michael Crichton’s thriller Congo. The Homolka character is not even in Crichton’s book, but once you’ve heard Curry say “The Lost City of Zinj!!!!” five or six times in his thick Romanian accent, you will not be able to imagine a version of this charmingly silly story without him.

Curry worked steadily until he suffered a stroke in 2012, which led to brain surgery and affected his mobility and memory throughout the rest of his life. Still, Curry remained busy making public appearances, hosting film screenings, and publishing a memoir, Vagabond, which was released last fall.

What a week. First Dolly Parton, now Tim Curry. It’s enough to make you want to do the Time Warp back to an earlier period when these artists were still with us.