Tim Curry, ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ star, dies at 80

Tim Curry, 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' star, dies at 80.

Key points

• Curry was born April 19, 1946, in the English village of Grappenhall, Cheshire.
• Curry had been suffering from health problems over recent years and informed fans in 2025 that he still struggles with mobility after a 2012 stroke.
• 25, 2026, confirmed by his longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz, the statement read.
• Of his films, the actor remarked he most enjoyed either "Clue" or "Oscar, " appearing alongside Sylvester Stallone in the 1991 screwball comedy.

Tim Curry, 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' star, dies at 80. Patrick Ryan, Brendan Morrow USA TODAY. Beloved actor, Tim Curry, dies at 80.

Tim Curry, 80, famed for "Rocky Horror" and "It, " died Aug. 26 in Toluca Lake after years of health struggles.

Tim Curry, the actor celebrated for his roles as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and Pennywise the Clown in the 1990 version of "It, " has died. He was 80. Curry's representative, Sean Katz, confirmed the news to USA TODAY.

"Tim Curry, the iconic actor and entertainer globally beloved for his dynamic contributions to the stage and screen, passed away peacefully at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, on Aug. 25, 2026, confirmed by his longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz, " the statement read.

"Though widely known for his inimitable, flamboyant characters and colorful stage performances, his greatest legacies to those who knew him were his curious, expansive mind and generous, gentle heart, both of which remained open and filled with anticipation until his final breath."

Health problems: Tim Curry's stroke, aneurysm and mobility difficulties before his death.

"I still can't walk, which is why I'm in this silly chair, and that's very limiting, " he remarked during an event at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. "So I won't be singing and I won't be dancing particularly shortly. I still have real challenges with my left leg." Tim Curry 'Rocky Horror' role produced him a beloved icon.

Curry is immortalized in cinema history as the flamboyant, fishnet-wearing "sweet transvestite" Dr. Frank-N-Furter in "Rocky Horror, " the cult classic musical costarring Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. A B-movie riff on Frankenstein featuring beloved songs such as "The Time Warp" and "Science Fiction/Double Feature, " the film has been a midnight movie staple for more than five decades ‒ with a message that celebrates queerness, liberation and individuality.

"It's given a lot of people permission to be themselves, " Curry informed USA TODAY in an interview last fall. "To not dream it, be it, which is the motto of the movie, really. I would like to be remembered for that. But it's good advice."

Tim Curry movies, TV demonstrates span five-decade career with 'Clue, ' 'Muppet Treasure Island' and 'Annie'.

Curry was born April 19, 1946, in the English village of Grappenhall, Cheshire. His mother was a school secretary while his father was a Methodist chaplain in the Royal Navy. When Curry was 11, his father suffered a stroke and afterwards died of pneumonia. He went on to study drama at the University of Birmingham and was a member of the original London cast of "Hair" shortly after graduation.

Throughout his more than five-decade career, Curry endeared himself to family audiences playing patriarch Gomez Addams in 1998's "Addams Family Reunion, " pirate Long John Silver in "Muppet Treasure Island" and a suspicious Plaza Hotel concierge in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York."

Along with "Rocky Horror, " Curry often shined in the musical realm: portraying the conniving Rooster opposite Carol Burnett's Miss Hannigan in 1982's "Annie, " and earning a Tony Award nomination for best leading actor for Monty Python's deeply silly Broadway adaptation of "Spamalot, " in which he played King Arthur.

Curry indicated impressive range in movies as varied as "The Hunt for Red October, " "Kinsey" and Ridley Scott's "Legend." He was perhaps most beloved by comedy fans for playing butler Wadsworth, the effective straight man of 1985's madcap ensemble mystery "Clue" with Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd.

Of his films, the actor remarked he most enjoyed either "Clue" or "Oscar, " appearing alongside Sylvester Stallone in the 1991 screwball comedy. Curry was a standout in the latter as a Dr. Thornton Poole, a dialectician who falls for an ex-mobster's daughter (Marisa Tomei).

"It's the most like me, " Curry informed USA TODAY last year. "My own personality. I didn't have to invent him."

Curry creepily embodied pure evil in ABC's four-hour miniseries of Stephen King's "It, " fueling viewers' nightmares as the child-eating, shape-shifting entity Pennywise.

"He's completely irredeemable, " the actor informed Fangoria magazine in 2014 of the legendary horror character. "He's the kind of chap that's entirely without charm."

Along with his plenty of screen appearances, Curry was a passionate musician who issued three albums in the late 1970s and early '80s, featuring a variety of original rock songs and covers of Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell. He was additionally a prominent voice actor for video games and TV, and earned a Grammy nomination for narrating an audiobook of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Tim Curry memoir discussed private life, health.

Although I have loved and been loved, he wrote in his 2025 memoir Vagabond. And specifics regarding my affairs of the heart or the bedroom are ‒ respectfully ‒ none of your f—— business, curry never married or had children.

In an interview around the release of "Vagabond" last October, Curry informed USA TODAY that he hoped to act onscreen again despite suffering short-term memory difficulties due to his stroke. Asked regarding his legacy, he stated that he hopes it's as an actor "but not as a movie star."

"I don't think of myself that way, " Curry remarked. "I think of myself as a working actor who isn't working right now."

He additionally secured reflective regarding mortality while speaking to CBS Sunday Mornings last fall.

"I don't fear death. I try to avoid it, " Curry remarked. "I think we all do, but I suspect that in the end, I will welcome it. I think it may be particularly comforting to go bye-bye, and I want to earn it." Contributing: Brian Truitt, USA TODAY. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

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