Okay, we’ve been planning our Rocky Horror Picture Show film review for a while now and had it penned in for October. Then came the sad news yesterday of Tim Currys’ passing.
He was one for us misfits of the world, he knew it, and that’s why he needs celebrating. From the memorable stage and film performances, through to his singing career, this guy managed to make being cool and unusual a career. And we’ve got to celebrate that, dammit!
All Hail, Tim Curry
Our first experience of Mr. Curry was from Home Alone 2 (1992) where he played an uptight hotel concierge. Then there was the ridiculous, silly, great fun Congo (1995). We saw it as kids 30 years ago and took it very seriously, then as adults we realised the intention of the film and enjoyed it for what it really is.
It was another one of Michael Crichton’s book adaptations, but this was no Jurassic Park.
Curry played diamond-obsessed philanthropist Herkermer Homolka and hammed it up to the nines. He seemed to be the only actor in the film who realised it was a B movie type daft-o-thon and he’s the one who came out of it shining.
He’s in a scene with the line STOP EATING MY SESAME CAKE! A brilliant one for the ages.
But he’s most famous for his roles in It (1990) as Pennywise the clown, an adaption of Stephen King’s horror novel.
And, of course, there’s his stage show run in the Rocky Horror Show in the early 1970s. Once it was adapted to the 1975 film it turned him into an overnight star.
This was the mid-1970s, a very homophobic, conservative time. From Curry, this performance was just total confidence, no concerns about anything, and very much in the Freddie Mercury maximum flamboyance run of things. Queen was around at the time, of course, Bohemian Rhapsody launched the same year as this film.
It won’t be much of a surprise, really, but Mercury loved the stage play (which he saw many times) and the film.
At first, Rocky Horror Picture Show wasn’t a hit at all and met with snotty reviews from critics. It didn’t really do anything until the American subculture audience latched onto it with the legendary midnight movie marathons in the US.
The gay community of the time (now LGTBQ) was floored by it and suddenly realised what it meant. Written by Richard O’Brien and one of the few films of the time to celebrate misfits and diverse sexuality. It became a sensation and people began turning up at cinemas dressed as various characters and, to this day, the film is still in circulation.
It’s the longest running film in history, having never left any cinema ever. There’s always one showing of it on the go! And we think that’s a glorious tribute to Tim Curry’s charisma in the film.
His co-star in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Susan Sarandon, gave him a lovely tribute.
Incredible achievements, really, for a post-WWII baby born in April 1946 in Cheshire. His mother was a school secretary and father a Royal Navy chaplain. A year after his birth, his family moved to Hong Kong, then back to England, where they constantly moved to new seaside towns.
Eventually, he went to Birmingham University to study English and Drama. The year was 1968!
He got his first role in the musical Hair (1968), which is where he met Richard O’Brien. That put him on the radar to play Dr. Frank-N-Further for the stage play of The Rocky Horror Show. The rest is history.
As an actor and singer, he was always happy to take tongue-in-cheek roles and not take himself too seriously. Later in his career he branched out into video games, way before that became the norm with actors.
There’s the famous absurd clip below from Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008) where he was just about able to compose himself.
Curry was a heavy smoker and suffered a major stroke in July 2012. This changed the course of his life and left him using a wheelchair, but from his various recent interviews he was as funny and witty as ever.
He’d been very active in the last few years giving many interviews, writing his autobiography Vagabond (it launched in 2025), and commemorating the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It’s a sad time, but a hell of a life must be celebrated, too.
