On August 25th, 2026, at eighty years old, actor and musician Tim Curry passed away, the very same day as Saint Dolly Parton. To call Tim merely successful would be an understatement and an insult to the man who gave some of the most lasting and legendary performances in the history of film, theater, and television. Whether you knew him best as Dr. Frank-N-Furter (A Scientist), Pennywise, Long John Silver, Darkness, Hexxus, King Arthur, or Wadsworth the humble butler, you knew Tim Curry the moment he appeared. His charisma was a magnet, drawing you in to whatever he was doing. He was a chameleon who could shapeshift into any character and embody it while still maintaining a sliver of himself in a way that was genuine and impossible to look away from.
Tim grew up in England in the 1950s with a traveling preacher father who passed when Tim was young. Watching his father preach to rapt crowds every week inspired him to become an actor, a fact he mentioned in his 2025 memoir, Vagabond. While he wasn’t much for organized religion (or organized anything, really) Tim loved and respected his father, who was by Tim’s account a gentle and loving soul. After initial success in the early runs of the musical Hair, Tim broke out by originating the role of Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. The movie based on the musical, aka The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was initially a huge flop. But due to midnight showings and a dedicated fanbase, it has gone on to become a cult classic and arguably the role Tim Curry is most known for. Ironic, since that was his first-ever movie. He was just that good, that majestic, that sexy, that unnerving but in a hot way. And that voice, which one could argue was his best and most iconic feature in every single thing he ever did. (And that laugh!!!)
I won’t recount his entire filmography, because it is massive, due in large part to the voice acting work he began doing in the 1990s. His voice was so singular, yet he could change it to fit almost any character. You’d know it was him, but it also … wasn’t him. Most people do not have that ability. Tim could also do that with any character he ever played. How could the same person play Pennywise and also Frank-N-Furter? Tim Curry did it, no sweat. He embodied everyone he was told to play while still letting a bit of himself shine through, a true talent that most actors can only try to replicate (usually unsuccessfully). He was loud, cartoonish at times, exuberant, and joyful. If you needed a man to sing and tap dance, or terrorize children, or ooze total sex, you could call on Tim Curry to do all of that at once, if you so wished.
And the man could SING. My god, could he ever. I’m still not sure how his music career never fully took off except that he was, admittedly, doing it at the same time as he was originating Broadway roles and doing a ton of cocaine just to keep going. If he had committed himself to just being a rock star, he could have done it without issue, but that didn’t happen. Thankfully, we still got him as an actor, singer, and performer in many other ways.
Tim was an enormously private person. Rumors circulated for years regarding his sexuality, his home life, everything he didn’t show (or say) on screen. While he does not admit anything directly in Vagabond, it’s pretty obvious from reading it that he tried everything, anything, and anyone he wanted to. He didn’t obsess about labels, and that seems very on-brand. In his memoir, he encourages readers to try things and not get so hung up on what should or shouldn’t be done. No wonder he’s been a queer icon since the 1970s, even if he himself never openly talked about his personal life or preferences. Honestly, I’m not sure he had any preferences. I think Frank-N-Furter has resonated deeply within the queer community for so many years specifically because the first person to play Frank was, himself, likely sexually fluid (and downright sexy) in every way. But that’s just one role in a lifetime of playing and originating truly iconic characters.
In 2012, Tim suffered a stroke that resulted in the left side of his body being completely paralyzed and put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He disappeared from public life for a while, but over the last few years, he came back and began doing events, voiceover and cartoon voice work, and even appeared in the (sadly awful) 2016 version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as the criminologist. He published his excellent memoir. He did conventions and met fans, including me,1 and was absolutely lovely. His death is not a surprise, but that doesn’t take away the pain.
We were so lucky to have him and watch him perform in all the ways he did. Like Dolly, he was a singular individual who was always himself, even if other people didn’t like it. And sometimes, he also had wigs, heels, and rhinestones on!
- In case you don’t know this about me, I’m 1000000% a Frankie Fan. I saw RHPS for the first time at about seven or eight years old. My childhood best friend and I did the Time Warp for a summer camp talent show that year. I rented Clue at Blockbuster every week for years; it’s probably the movie I’ve seen the most in all my life. I was the teenager who showed RHPS to all her friends on Halloween every year. I wrote my MA thesis on RHPS. My name has become synonymous with the people who know me with Tim Curry/RHPS. I cannot tell you how deeply ingrained this man is in my life, and hearing him say my name caused me to burst into instant tears. My only regret is that I never got to hug him. ↩︎
