His iconic character Frank-N-Furter might have said “It’s not easy having a good time!” in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but across a career spanning well over half a century, Tim Curry certainly delivered plenty of good times. Born in Warrington in 1946, his onstage career began in 1968 in the iconic Hair, before he auditioned and nabbed the role of Dr Frank-N-Furter in the 1973 stage production of Rocky Horror. From there, to the big screen version and fame that sparked a career that included roles in Annie, Clue, the deliciously evil Lord of Darkness in Legend, Congo, the original Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King’s IT, and of course the voice of Chancellor Palpatine in The Clone Wars.
Onstage roles continued to come, with a first Tony nomination for playing Mozart in the original Broadway production of Amadeus in 1981 (a role that Mark Hamill also plated in ’82 and ’83), followed by nominations for My Favorite Year in 1993, and Monty Python musical Spamalot in 2005.
English actor Tim Curry, best known for playing the outlandish Frank-N-Furter in film musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, has died at the age of 80.
Curry first played the role on stage before the film version, which was released in 1975 and has remained a cult favourite.
The actor also played fearsome clown Pennywise in the 1990 TV version of Stephen King’s It, and was Long John Silver in 1996’s Muppet Treasure Island.
His other films included Annie, The Hunt for Red October, Home Alone 2, Scary Movie 2 and he was nominated for three Tony Awards on Broadway.
An actor with everything in his acting arsenal, we were fortunate to have him (albeit far too briefly) in the Star Wars galaxy, so to his family, friends, colleagues and countless fans around the world we offer our sincerest condolences.