Tim Curry, ‘Rocky Horror,’ ‘It’ and ‘Clue’ Star, Dies at 80

• Tim Curry has died at the age of 80.
• The beloved British actor was best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pennywise in It and memorable roles in Annie and Clue.
• Curry suffered a major stroke in 2012 that left him unable to walk, but he continued working and making occasional public appearances.

 

Tim Curry, the unmistakable actor whose wildly varied career included The Rocky Horror Picture Show, It, Annie and Clue, has died. He was 80.

TMZ first reported that Curry died late Tuesday night, August 25. Law enforcement sources told the outlet that no foul play is suspected. A cause of death has not yet been announced.

Tim Curry rises to remarkable stardom

Born in England in 1946, Curry began acting professionally in the original London production of Hair in 1968. According to his official biography, his breakthrough came in 1973 when Richard O’Brien invited him to audition for a new stage musical called The Rocky Horror Show. Curry originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and brought the character to the screen in 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show, creating one of the most distinctive performances of his career.

But Curry was never defined by just one role. He played Rooster Hannigan opposite Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters in 1982’s Annie, Wadsworth the butler in the 1985 comedy Clue and Pennywise the Clown in the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King’s It. He also appeared in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Muppet Treasure Island and became a prolific voice actor, winning a Daytime Emmy for Peter Pan and the Pirates. PEOPLE notes that Curry was also a three-time Tony Award nominee and released three albums during his career.

Reshaping an industry

In 2012, Curry suffered a major stroke that dramatically changed his life. The stroke left him unable to walk, and he later had to relearn how to speak, according to CBS News. Curry nevertheless continued voice acting and occasionally returned to the spotlight, including an appearance as the criminologist in the 2016 television production The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.

One of Curry’s most touching later appearances came in October 2025, when he joined Rocky Horror costar Barry Bostwick at a 50th-anniversary screening of the film. Curry greeted the crowd with the same wit that had followed him throughout his career, while Bostwick recalled how warmly Curry had welcomed the cast all those decades earlier. “It wouldn’t be the same without you,” Bostwick told him, according to PEOPLE. Fifty years after Curry first invited audiences into Frank-N-Furter’s strange and unforgettable world, generations of fans could have said much the same.