Iconic movie star Tim Curry died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 80, according to his longtime publicist.
Curry is best known for his flamboyant performance in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” from 1975.
‘I like playing the more curious corners of the human mind and human behavior.’
He also gained fame for his humorous role as the butler in the movie version of the board game “Clue” from 1985 and as the evil clown in the first television series version of Steven King’s “It.”
Timothy James Curry was born on April 19, 1946, in the rural village of Grappenhall in Cheshire, Britain.
After graduating from the University of Birmingham with a dual degree in English and drama, he met Richard O’Brien while performing on a tour of “Hair.”
Curry played the lead role in O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show” play, a musical spoof of horror and science-fiction films. The play was developed into a movie after being brought to Los Angeles, California.
The movie version of the play was initially a flop when it was released, but has since skyrocketed into cult-film status. Fans developed an audience participation guide for the movie, and it continues to be screened at midnight showings on Halloween throughout the country.
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Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage/Getty Images
“‘Rocky Horror,’ wrote Los Angeles Times writer Danny Sullivan, “is more a performance than a movie, because during screenings, art imitates art.”
Curry released rock music records and became known for numerous roles in television shows and movies. He was nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award and was nominated three times for a Broadway Tony Award. In 1991 he won a daytime Emmy Award for his role in the animated show “Peter Pan & the Pirates.”
Curry had recently curbed his public appearances after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2012 that left him wheelchair-bound.
He continued to work as a voice actor until his death.
“I like playing the more curious corners of the human mind and human behavior,” he said, “partly because they’re a tad more interesting.”
He never married and had no children.
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