From Frank-N-Furter to Pennywise, Tim Curry was a master shapeshifter who could terrify and delight

Actor and singer Tim Curry has died aged 80, following years of health struggles brought on by a stroke. He will forever be remembered in popular culture as the “sweet transvestite” Dr Frank-N-Furter in the stage and screen hits, The Rocky Horror Show and the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). However, with a career spanning more than five decades, there was much more to the singer, actor, voice actor and writer than this one erotic and exuberant role. Tim Curry photographed on the red carpet in New York in 2011. AP Photo/Peter Kramer An early intro to the craft Born in the quiet English village of Grappenhall in 1946, Curry’s childhood and family were as conventional as the place. His father was a chaplain in the Royal Navy and his mother was a school secretary. Like many children from a military family, Curry’s childhood involved frequent moves, including to the then-British colony Hong Kong. While he would later be famed for his powerful and exuberant vocal skills, he first sang in the altogether more subdued world of church music as a boy soprano. As a young man, Curry studied drama and English literature at Birmingham University. This combination would be important in his career. His early stage work included conventional classical roles in plays by Shakespeare, including in a 1971 production of the violent tragedy Titus Andronicus. Disappearing under the brush Later, in 1978, Curry would play Shakespeare himself in the British drama series Will Shakespeare. As the famous playwright, Curry was covered in makeup, including a hairpiece, to give him the high bald forehead seen in Shakespeare’s portraits. Curry had instantly recognisable features, including a wide grin resembling the Cheshire cat, or the Grinch. But playing Shakespeare marked the start of a major trend in his career of physically disappearing under makeup and prosthetics to play startling and terrifying characters. Tim Curry in costume during the filming of the television miniseries Will Shakespeare in 1976. Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Curry was the Lord of Darkness in the epic 1985 film Legend, starring alongside Tom Cruise. Each day, he endured five and a half hours in the makeup chair to become the horned and hideous red-faced monster. In 1990, he was coated in thick white makeup to play the evil child-killing clown Pennywise in the miniseries It, based on Stephen King’s novel. This performance terrified a generation of viewers and the show was a smash-hit for America’s ABC, drawing in 30 million viewers. Curry’s performance as the twisted clown is still celebrated for the vicious evil he conveyed. Becoming Frank-N-Furter But before these major successes on the big and small screen, Curry had experienced both triumph and failure as Dr Frank-N-Furter. The Rocky Horror Show musical was written by British-New Zealand talent Richard O'Brien in the early 1970s as a camp tribute to horror movies. It follows all-American couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss as they arrive by accident at a convention of extraterrestrial Transylvanians in a spooky old house. The pair are quickly caught in a web of strange events including cannibalism and cross dressing. Curry and O'Brien had met the decade prior as members of the West End cast of the controversial rock musical Hair. Curry had lied his way into the part by claiming more professional acting experience than he really had, as well as membership of the actors’ union, Equity. Meeting O'Brien proved fateful, as Curry headlined the cast of the Rocky Horror Show when it opened in 1973 at London’s tiny Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. A small beginning gave way to major success in London’s West End. However, the production flopped on Broadway, closing after only 45 performances. Still, the stage success in London was enough to convince producers to make a film in 1975, starring Curry alongside Americans Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and Meat Loaf. The film also flopped when initially released in conventional day-time and evening screenings. However, it took on new life when theatres showed it as a midnight feature. In a tradition that continues around the world today, fans attended screenings dressed as characters and interacted with the events onscreen. A performer to the very end Relocating to the United States in the late 1980s gave Curry major opportunities. He guest starred in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and Scary Movie 2 (2001), among other comedies. He also retained his ability to terrify audiences, including as serial killer and sex offender Billy Flynn in Criminal Minds (2005–). A major stroke in 2012 left Curry in a wheelchair, but didn’t stop him performing. He delivered dozens of voice performances in works such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Transformers: Rescue Bots (2011–16). A major stroke in 2012 left the actor in a wheelchair. Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic He made a final return to Rocky Horror from his wheelchair in 2020, playing the narrator in a unique COVID-restricted livestream in which all the parts were played by performers from their screens. The part of Frank-N-Furter has given Curry acting immortality. Both the Rocky Horror musical and film command a huge fanbase, with viewers dressing up in costume, dancing and shouting at the screen. This exuberant fun is perhaps the best tribute to the impressive energy and charisma Curry brought to the world, across an immense range of performances.