The renowned actor Tim Curry, star of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “It”, passed away on Tuesday night, August 25, as confirmed by specialized media such as Variety and TMZ.
According to preliminary information, his death occurred inside his home located in Los Angeles, United States. Authorities arrived at the scene around 11:23 PM and found him lifeless.
The health complications faced by actor Tim Curry
While the film and entertainment industry pays tribute to his professional career, more details continue to emerge about the health problems he faced in recent years.
His last role in a feature film was in the comedy ‘Burke & Hare’ in 2010. Two years later, in 2012, he suffered a stroke that kept him away from the set. According to several international media outlets, the legendary British actor was left in a wheelchair and with memory impairments.
In fact, just a few months ago, the actor himself revealed that he could not walk and was still under medical treatment.
In October 2025, he published his memoirs, under the title ‘Vagabond’, and that same month, in his last interview, granted to the American network CBS, he admitted that he “did not fear death”.
In his work, he recounted that his health deteriorated after the stroke he suffered while receiving a massage. He was immediately transferred to a medical center where he underwent surgery and, subsequently, went through an intensive recovery process to speak again.
“It was very strange,” he said. “I hated not being able to speak (…) I had paralysis on the left side and my face twisted as if it had gone to one side,” are some of the expressions he recorded in the book.
The life and professional career of British actor Tim Curry
Born on April 19, 1946, in Cheshire, in northwest England, he was the son of a Methodist naval chaplain and lived a nomadic life almost from birth (at six months his family moved to Hong Kong), something that prepared him for his future career as an itinerant actor.
He settled in Plymouth (southern England) after his father suffered a stroke. The man died of pneumonia when Tim was 12 years old.
After this loss, he obtained a scholarship to study in Bath, where he participated in his first school plays.
His love for acting led him to study Theater and English at the University of Birmingham between 1965 and 1968 and, subsequently, to take his first acting job in the London production of ‘Hair’, which would be followed by other productions in the West End and other small television roles.
It was precisely a castmate from ‘Hair’, Richard O’Brien, who invited him to audition for his experimental musical ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ in 1973 in the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, which would end up catapulting his career, first on the theatrical stage, with more or less success, and then with its film adaptation.
Curry turned this extravagant scientist, who introduces himself, in one of his most famous lines, as “a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania” into a cult figure that has transcended generations and has been celebrated for his aesthetics, his gender identity, and his representation of sexual freedom.
He also tried to make a name for himself in music. He went on to release several albums between the 70s and 80s, and even toured, though without achieving any significant success.
Curry’s figure, recognized for his expressive dramatism, has been mainly linked to secondary and villain roles. This is the case of the Lord of Darkness, in ‘Legend’ (1985), by Ridley Scott; or that of the mysterious concierge of the Plaza Hotel in ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ (1992), among others.
Throughout his extensive career, Curry received three Tony Award nominations and an Emmy, considered the most important awards in the television industry, in 1994, for his role as Captain Hook in the series ‘Peter Pan and the Pirates’.
Personally, Curry never married or had children. In November 2025, his last public appearance was made, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, alongside some of his castmates.
*With information from EFE
Luisa Fernanda Gutiérrez Henao
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