Tim Curry, the English actor whose stage work and film roles made him a fixture in cult cinema for more than four decades, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 80. Police found no evidence of foul play, and his cause of death had not been disclosed.
Curry was born and raised in Plymouth, England, and began his career in London theater. In 1968, he joined the original West End cast of the musical Hair—his professional stage debut—where he met Richard O'Brien, an encounter that would shape both their careers.
O'Brien went on to create The Rocky Horror Show, writing the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter specifically for Curry. Curry first played the character on stage in 1973 and reprised it in the 1975 film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film became one of the most enduring cult properties in cinema history, with midnight screenings still running in theaters decades after its release.
His film work extended well beyond Rocky Horror. Curry appeared in Clue, the 1985 comedy based on the board game, where he played the frantically suspicious Wadsworth. He played Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island in 1996 and had a supporting role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992, opposite Macaulay Culkin.
In July 2012, Curry suffered a major stroke that left him unable to walk. He used a wheelchair from that point forward. He was 66 at the time.
Rather than withdraw from the industry, Curry shifted his focus to work that did not require physical mobility. He continued in voice acting across television, film and video games through the following years, sustaining a career presence for more than a decade after the stroke.
