Tim Curry’s passing on Aug. 25 was overshadowed by the death on the same date of another beloved 80-year-old actor and singer who wore six-inch heels.
Heels were a staple of Dolly Parton’s wardrobe. Curry, on the other hand, donned the towering footwear for a role in a play. Which became a movie. Which is still playing somewhere 50 years after its release.
Curry donned those heels to portray one Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the sexually voracious mad scientist at the center of The Rocky Horror Show. The stage production was a hit in London’s West End and Los Angeles. The big-screen adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, also starring Curry, was a flop when first released in 1975 but became a sensation when theaters began screening it late night on weekends, a practice which continues to this day.
(The film is being celebrated with The Rocky Horror Picture Show Spooktacular Tour, which will take place in Straz’s Ferguson Hall on Thursday, Oct. 22. For tickets or more information visit our website or call 813.229.7827.)
Dr. Furter may be the first role to come to mind when Curry is mentioned, but that’s what happens when you introduce yourself to the world wearing stockings and a corset. His bold features, sonorous voice and a visceral theatricality were the traits that made Curry a striking presence, and his career traveled far beyond Transexual Transylvania.
He was a hit on Broadway (Tony® nominations for the title role in Amadeus (1980) and for 1992’s My Favorite Year) and the West End (Olivier nomination for 1982’s The Pirates of Penzance).
Curry traumatized at least one generation with his portrayal of Pennywise, the scary clowns’ G.O.A.T., in a 1990 television miniseries, It, based on the Stephen King novel.
On the big screen he played an oily con man opposite Carol Burnette in Annie (1982), the pulled-in-all-directions butler Wadsworth in Clue (1985) and Long John Silver (a call back to his Penzance role as The Pirate King, maybe?) in Muppet Treasure Island (1996), a role he called one of his favorites. He flirted with rock stardom over a trio of albums in 1978-1981. “I Do the Rock” was the almost hit. It’s from his 1979 album, Fearless, punchy new wave saturated with Curry’s gift of glam.
He also was a prolific voice actor in animated series and video games, which he carried on with after a 2012 stroke left him paralyzed and put an end to his screen and stage career.
His friends included David Bowie and Freddie Mercury. He was the best man at Annie Potts’ wedding. He loved gardening. He smoked two packs of Marlboro reds a day, quitting only after his stroke, noting that the day before he’d gotten through three packs.
One more trait he shared with Ms. Parton: Everybody liked him. He worked and played well with others. Tributes from Rocky Horror and Clue co-stars praised his talent and his kindness. The Muppets made him an Honorary Muppet, which is the equivalent of a knighthood, or should be.
Curry’s feud-free career could be related to the fact that he didn’t put his business in the street. It may not be related at all, of course, but the fact remains that he didn’t put his business in the street.
Curry’s private life was just that: private. “None of your ******* business,” according to his 2025 memoir, Vagabond.
Monty Python’s Eric Idle praised Curry as a “fine man, singer, actor, host and gardener.” (Curry played King Arthur in the Idle-penned musical Spamalot.) Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider wrote that Curry’s Rocky Horror performance “changed my life (and my makeup) forever.” Carol Burnett called Curry “a dear friend,” adding that no one “could play lovable villains better than he could.”
The Muppets made him an Honorary Muppet. Yes, that has already been noted. It bears repeating.
Richard O’Brien, who created Rocky Horror and has known Curry for-almost-ever, put it succinctly: “A good egg and a class act.”
Listen closely and you just might hear “I Do the Rock” being played on some celestial plane. Rock on, Tim.
