Tim Curry, Rocky Horror’s Original Frank-N-Furter, Dies at 80

Tim Curry, the actor and singer whose role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show placed him at the center of musical theater and cult film for decades, has died at 80. TMZ reports he died late Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home.

Born April 19, 1946, in Grappenhall, Cheshire, Curry studied English and drama at the University of Birmingham and graduated in 1968. That same year he joined the original London cast of Hair, where he met Richard O’Brien. O’Brien cast Curry as Frank-N-Furter in the stage production of The Rocky Horror Show; Curry reprised the part in the 1975 film adaptation, a role that became one of the most recognizable figures in cult cinema.

Curry’s screen work extended well past that film. He appeared in Annie, Legend, Clue, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Charlie’s Angels, and Scary Movie 2, and he played Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries It. He also maintained a stage career, including productions of Titus Andronicus and A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden in 2001.

After a major stroke in July 2012, Curry used a wheelchair and moved primarily into voice acting, but he continued to revisit Frank-N-Furter, including during a 2020 fundraising event for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. His death closes a career that started in musical theater and stayed connected to it long after the screen roles came.