Tim Curry

Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 Los Angeles, and 1975 Broadway musical stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show.

Curry's other stage work includes various roles in the original West End production of Hair, Tristan Tzara in the 1975 West End and Broadway productions of Travesties, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1980 Broadway production of Amadeus, The Pirate King in the 1982 West End production of The Pirates of Penzance, Alan Swann in the Broadway version of My Favorite Year (1992), and King Arthur in Broadway and West End productions of Spamalot from 2005 to 2007. His theatre accolades include three Tony Award nominations and two Laurence Olivier Award nominations.

Curry has received acclaim for his onscreen roles, which include Rooster Hannigan in Annie (1982), Darkness in Legend (1985), Wadsworth in Clue (1985), Pennywise in the miniseries It (1990), the Concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996).

Curry is also a prolific voice actor, with roles in animation including his Emmy Award-winning performance as Captain Hook on Peter Pan & the Pirates (1990–1991), Sir Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys (1998–2004), and Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2012–2014). As a singer, Curry has released three rock-focused studio albums: Read My Lips (1978), Fearless (1979), and Simplicity (1981).

Early life

Timothy James Curry was born on 19 April 1946 in Grappenhall, Cheshire,Template:Efn the son of school secretary Patricia and Royal Navy chaplain James Curry. The Currys had met in Malta and married in Egypt. He had an elder sister, Judith. Within a year of Curry's birth, the family moved to Hong Kong. During Curry's early childhood, the family moved to a different British seaside town every 18 months or so, eventually settling in Plymouth when Curry was 11.

James Curry suffered a stroke when Curry was 11 years of age. Weeks later, in 1958, James Curry died of pneumonia. The Curry family then moved to South London, where he attended boarding school. Curry later attended Kingswood School in Bath, Somerset. Curry developed into a talented boy soprano. Deciding to concentrate on acting, he graduated from the University of Birmingham with a combined BA degree in English and drama in 1968.

Career

Acting

Rocky Horror

Curry's first full-time role was as part of the original London cast of the musical Hair in 1968, where he met Richard O'Brien, who went on to write Curry's role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show (1973). Curry recalled his first encounter with the project:

I'd heard about the play because I lived on Paddington Street, off Baker Street, and there was an old gym a few doors away. I saw Richard O'Brien in the street, and he said he'd just been to the gym to see if he could find a muscleman who could sing. I said, "Why do you need him to sing?" [laughs] And he told me that his musical was going to be done, and I should talk to Jim Sharman. He gave me the script, and I thought, "Boy, if this works, it's going to be a smash."

Originally, Curry rehearsed the character with a German accent and peroxide blond hair, and later, with an American accent. In March 2005, in an interview with Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air, he explained that he decided to play Dr. Frank-N-Furter with an English accent after listening to an English woman say, "Do you have a house in town or a house in the country?," and decided, "Yes, [Dr. Frank-N-Furter] should sound like the Queen."

Curry originally thought the character was merely a laboratory doctor dressed in a white lab coat. However, at the suggestion of director Sharman, the character evolved into the diabolical mad scientist and transvestite with an upper-class Belgravia accent. An immediate hit, a reviewer at the premiere in London in June 1973 wrote that Curry gives a "garishly Bowiesque performance as the ambisextrous doctor." This change carried over to the 1975 film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which made Curry a household name and gave him a cult following. Curry continued to play the character in London, Los Angeles, and New York City until 1975.

In an interview with NPR, Curry called Rocky Horror a "rite of passage", and added that the film is "a guaranteed weekend party to which you can go with or without a date and probably find one if you don't have one, and it's also a chance for people to try on a few roles for size, you know? Figure out, help them maybe figure out their own sexuality".

In 2016, Curry played the Criminologist in the television film remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2025, Curry was an invited guest speaker at the Academy Museum to celebrate the film's 50th anniversary.

Theatre

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Curry in New York City in 2005

Shortly after the end of Rocky HorrorTemplate:'s run on Broadway, Curry returned to the stage with Tom Stoppard's Travesties, which ran in London and New York from 1975 to 1976. Travesties was a Broadway hit. It won two Tony Awards (Best Performance by an Actor for John Wood and Best Comedy), as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (Best Play), and Curry's performance as the famous dadaist Tristan Tzara received good reviews.

In 1980, Curry formed part of the original cast in the Broadway show Amadeus, playing the title character, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Curry was nominated for his first Tony Award (Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play) for this role but lost out to his co-star Ian McKellen, who played Antonio Salieri. In 1982, Curry took the part of the Pirate King in the Drury Lane production of Joe Papp's version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance opposite George Cole and Pamela Stephenson, earning enthusiastic reviews.

File:Spamalotlondon.jpg

Spamalot playing at the Palace Theatre in London where Curry reprised his role as King Arthur

In the mid-1980s, Curry performed in The Rivals and in several plays with the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, including The Threepenny Opera, Dalliance and Love For Love. From 1987 to 1988, he did the national tour of Me and My Girl in the lead role of Bill Snibson, a role originated on Broadway by Robert Lindsay. In 1989, Curry returned once again to the New York stage in The Art of Success, and in 1992 played Alan Swann in the Broadway version of My Favorite Year, earning him his second Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. In 2001, Curry appeared as Scrooge in a musical version of the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol that played at Madison Square Garden.

In 2004, Curry began his role of King Arthur in Spamalot in Chicago. Directed by Mike Nichols, written by Monty Python member Eric Idle and based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the show successfully moved to Broadway in February 2005. It sold more than $1 million worth of tickets in its first 24 hours. His performance brought him a third Tony nomination, again for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Curry reprised this role at the Palace Theatre in the West End, where Spamalot opened on 16 October 2006. His final performance came on 6 January 2007. Curry was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his work in Spamalot, and he also won the Theatregoers' Choice Award (receiving 39% of the votes cast by over 12,000 theatregoers) as Best Actor in a Musical.

From May to August 2011, Curry was scheduled to portray the Player in a Trevor Nunn stage production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Chichester Festival Theatre and then in London. Curry withdrew from the production on 27 May, citing ill health but later admitting that he was fired for being unable to memorize his lines. From 26 to 29 April 2012, he appeared in Eric Idle's play What About Dick? at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Curry had originally appeared at a script reading for the play back in 2007 when it was still a work in progress.

Curry's career in theatre was honoured on 7 June 2015 at the Actors Fund's 19th annual Tony Awards Viewing Party, where he was awarded an Artistic Achievement Award.

Film

After The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Curry began to appear in many films, acting in supporting roles, such as Robert Graves in the horror film The Shout (1978), as Johnny LaGuardia in Times Square (1980), as Daniel Francis "Rooster" Hannigan in John Huston's 1982 film version of Annie, and as Jeremy Hancock in the political film The Ploughman's Lunch (1983). In 1985, Curry starred in the fantasy film Legend as The Lord of Darkness. Director Ridley Scott cast Curry in the film after watching him in Rocky Horror, thinking he was ideal to play the role of Darkness. It took five and a half hours to apply the makeup needed for Darkness onto Curry and at the end of the day, he would spend an hour in a bath in order to liquefy the soluble spirit gum. The same year, Curry appeared in the comedy mystery film Clue as Wadsworth the butler.

Starting in the 1990s, Curry began to appear more frequently in Hollywood film productions, including comedic roles such as Dr. Thornton Poole in Oscar (1991), Mr. Hector, the suspicious Plaza Hotel concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Jigsaw in Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), and as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996). Curry also appeared in action films, such as the thriller The Hunt for Red October (1990) as Dr. Yevgeniy Petrov, the 1993 adaptation of The Three Musketeers as Cardinal Richelieu, the superhero film The Shadow (1994) as Farley Claymore, and the action adventure Congo (1995) as Herkermer Homolka. He also starred in the 1998 direct-to-video film Addams Family Reunion playing Gomez Addams.

In the early 2000s, Curry's big screen appearances lessened, but he did portray Roger Corwin in the film adaptation of Charlie's Angels (2000), Professor Oldman in the parody film Scary Movie 2 (2001), and Thurman Rice in the biographical film Kinsey (2004). His last major role in a feature film was as Alexander Monro in the British black comedy Burke & Hare (2010).

In 2024, he had a cameo appearance in the horror film Stream, providing the voice of the mask character "Lockwood".

Television

Curry started his career with small roles in television series, such as Eugene in Napoleon and Love (1974), and guest roles in Armchair Theatre and the BBC's Play for Today including as Glen in Dennis Potter's Schmoedipus (1974). He played William Shakespeare in the John Mortimer-scripted six part mini-series Will Shakespeare (1978). Broadcast on ITV in the UK and distributed internationally by ITC, it traces the bard's life from 1590 until his death. Curry had further roles in British television throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the lead in Stephen Frears' 1975 adaptation of Three Men in a Boat, playing Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist (1982), playing aspiring actor-singer Larry Gormley in Blue Money (1985), and starring as the Grand Wizard in the children's Halloween film The Worst Witch (1986).

Curry then moved to the United States, and appeared in American television production: he appeared in the "Dead Dog Records" storyline of the television series crime drama Wiseguy (1989) as Winston Newquay, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for portraying all three members of a deranged family in Tales from the Crypt (1993). He also had recurring roles on the short-lived science fiction television series Earth 2 (1994) and the sitcom Rude Awakening (1999–2000). Although Curry has appeared in numerous television series throughout his career, he has only had lead roles in two live-action series: Over the Top (1997), a sitcom that he also produced, and the revival series of Family Affair (2002–2003). Both were cancelled after one season. Around this time, Curry also made a single episode appearance on the live-action comedy-detective series Psych (2007) as Nigel St. Nigel, a Simon Cowell esque judge on a singing competition show being targeted. He returned to working on British television in the late 2000s, with the miniseries adaptation of Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (2008), a guest appearance on the long-running Agatha Christie's Poirot (2008) and the miniseries Return to Cranford (2009). His final episodic television role was in 2010 on Criminal Minds, portraying unsub Billy Flynn in two episodes.

One of Curry's best-known television roles is as Pennywise the Clown in the horror miniseries Stephen King's It (1990). Aside from one Fangoria interview in 1990, Curry never publicly acknowledged his involvement in It until an interview with Moviefone in 2015, where he called the role of Pennywise "a wonderful part".

Voice acting

Curry has appeared in many animated television series and films, starting with the performance of the Serpent in The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible (1988). Curry won a Daytime Emmy Award for his performance as Captain Hook in the Fox animated series Peter Pan and the Pirates (1990–1991). His longest-running animated role was as Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys (1998–2004), which ran for five seasons on Nickelodeon. Curry became the voice of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in Star Wars: The Clone Wars upon the death of Ian Abercrombie. On television, he voiced Auntie Whispers on the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy-winning miniseries Over the Garden Wall (2014).

Curry has also done voice acting in a number of animated films. For his work in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), he received an Annie Award nomination.

Curry's performance as Premier Anatoly Cherdenko in live-action cut scenes in the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008) have gone viral as memes.

Curry's audiobook work includes his Grammy-nominated narration of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan in Scarlet, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Abhorsen trilogy. Curry has done voice over for various advertisements for products and companies such as Smirnoff, Cravendale and Paramount Network.

Music

Aside from his performances on various soundtrack records, Curry has had some success as a solo musical artist. Curry received classical vocal training as a boy. He has mentioned that his musical influences included jazz vocalists such as Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, and he idolised The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as a teenager. In 1978, A&M Records released Curry's debut solo album Read My Lips. The album featured an eclectic range of songs (mostly covers) performed in diverse genres. Highlights of the album are a reggae version of the Beatles' song "I Will", a rendition of "Wake Nicodemus" featuring the Pipes and Drums of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, and a bar-room ballad, "Alan", composed by Canadian singer-songwriter Tony Kosinec. In 1979, he scored a minor hit single with "I Do the Rock". The following year, Curry released his second and most successful album Fearless. The LP was more rock-oriented than Read My Lips and mostly featured original songs rather than cover versions. The album included Curry's only US Billboard Hot 100 charting song: "I Do the Rock".

Curry's third album, Simplicity, was released in 1981, again by A&M Records. This record, which did not sell as well as the previous offerings, combined both original songs and cover versions. Still, it was the only Curry recording to hit the charts in Canada, reaching No. 45 on the album chart. The writing, production, and musician roster for Curry's solo albums included an impressive list of collaborators, including Bob Ezrin, Dick Wagner, and David Sanborn.

In 1989, A&M released The Best of Tim Curry on CD and cassette, featuring songs from his albums (including a live version of "Alan") and a previously unreleased song, a live cover version of Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate". Curry toured North America and some European countries with his band between 1978 and 1980. In 1990, Curry performed as the Prosecutor in Roger Waters' production of The Wall – Live in Berlin. Although Curry's first album was released in 1978, he had previously recorded a nine-track album for Lou Adler's Ode Records in 1976. However, the album remained unreleased in its entirety until February 2010, when it was made available as a legal download entitled ...From the Vaults (though four tracks from these sessions had been released on a 1990 Rocky Horror box set). The album, produced by Lou Adler, included Curry's rendition of the Supremes' hit "Baby Love".

Personal life

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Curry in 2025

Curry has never married and does not have children. He does not consider his relationship history to be a public matter.

A keen horticulturalist, Curry has developed and restored gardens across many of his past residences and some other residences in Los Angeles. On where his interest in gardening came from, he commented: "I think if you're English, a trowel appears in your hand when you're 30 like a prosthetic device". He told the UK edition of House & Garden magazine about designing Freddie Mercury's garden: "Freddie came back from a tour and said, 'The garden, dear, it's dead.' I said, 'What? Did you water it?' And Freddie said, 'Water it, dear?Template:' "

Curry's mother, Patricia Curry, died in 1999 at age 80. Curry's sister, Judith, was a concert pianist; she died of a brain tumour in 2001.

A former smoker, Curry has stated that he has used hashish and cocaine. He has also spent time in alcohol rehabilitation, but does not consider himself an alcoholic.

In 2012, Curry had a major stroke in the midst of receiving a massage. The stroke required brain surgery. Curry has used a wheelchair since the stroke. He continues to experience mobility issues, particularly in his left arm and leg. The stroke has also affected his short-term memory. In September 2025, Curry stated that he is still unable to walk.

In October 2020, Curry reprised his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a live table reading of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in support of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to raise funds for Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

Curry's memoir, Vagabond, was released on 14 October 2025 by Grand Central Publishing. When asked by a fan about the origin of the title, Curry responded, "It comes from in the 17th and 18th centuries actors were regarded as vagabonds, and sort of criminals – and because I've always moved around so much."

Regarding his religious beliefs, Curry was strongly influenced by Methodism and his father's faith. He wrote in Vagabond that he did not anticipate an afterlife but was "curious" to see if one existed.

As of 2025, Curry resides in Los Angeles.

Discography

Albums

• Read My Lips (1978)
• Fearless (1979)
• Simplicity (1981)
• The Best of Tim Curry (1985; compilation album)
• From the Vaults (recorded 1976, released 2010)

Soundtracks and cast recordings

• The Rocky Horror Show (Original London cast) (1973)
• The Rocky Horror Show (Original Roxy cast) (1974)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• Annie (1982)
• Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
• My Favorite Year (Original Broadway cast) (1993)
• The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
• Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
• Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)
• Spamalot (Original Broadway cast) (2005)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016)

Others

• Carly Simon – Spy (1979) – Backing vocals for "Vengeance" and "Pure Sin"
• Roger Waters – The Wall: Live in Berlin (1990) – Live recording of "The Trial"
• Little Tramp (1992) – Concept album for musical
• Disney's Music From the Park (1996) – "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"

Awards and nominations

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result
1975	The Rocky Horror Show	Drama Desk Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Template:Nom
1981	Amadeus		Best Actor in a Play	Template:Nom
		Tony Award		Template:Nom
1982	The Pirates of Penzance	Royal Variety Club Award	Stage Actor of the Year	Template:Won
		Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Template:Nom
1991	Peter Pan and the Pirates	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Template:Win
1993	My Favorite Year	Tony Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Template:Nom
	Passed Away	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Template:Nom
1994	Tales from the Crypt	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Template:Nom
1995		CableACE Award	Best Actor in a Dramatic Series	Template:Nom
	Mighty Max	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Template:Nom
1996	Congo	Razzie Award	Worst Supporting Actor	Template:Nom
1998	Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas	Annie Award	Voice Acting in a Feature Production	Template:Nom
2002	The Bad Beginning	Grammy Award	Best Spoken Word Album for Children	Template:Nom
2005	Spamalot	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Template:Nom
		Tony Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Template:Nom
2007		Laurence Olivier Award		Template:Nom
		WhatsOnStage Award		Template:Win
2010	Brütal Legend	NAVGTR Award	Supporting Performance in a Comedy	Template:Nom
	Dragon Age: Origins		Supporting Performance in a Drama	Template:Nom
2015	—	Actors Fund of America Artistic Achievement Award	—	Awarded

External links

• Template:First word/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
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• Tim Curry at the British Film InstituteTemplate:Better source needed
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at AllMusicTemplate:EditAtWikidata
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• Template:Rotten Tomatoes person
• Template:Emmys person
• Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata

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