Tim Curry is a perfect example of a performer whose true worth I was unaware of until he left us. Now, of course, I’m finding I miss him greatly, having grown up watching the man in countless films and TV programs. I’ve also listened to him narrate many an audio book, Mr. Curry having been a rare example of a performer with an indelible physical appearance—that mouth, with its imposing lips that tapered off to razor-sharp edges, is unmistakable—combined with great vocal dexterity.
Curry was born in Cheshire, England. His acting education was forged on the stage, in iconic shows like HAIR, AMADEUS, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and THE THREEPENNY OPERA, but those aren’t what he’s known for. Nor are his failed attempts at becoming a rock star in the late 1970s (resulting in four little-known albums) terribly well remembered, with his smartest move being a relocation from his native land to Los Angeles—because “that’s where they point cameras at you. And that’s what I’d like them to do.”
Curry was, in common with fellows like Anthony Hopkins and Roddy McDowell, prone to overacting. That was an inevitability given the larger-than-life characters in which he specialized, including “Darkness” (as in “Prince of…”) in LEGEND (1985), Pennywise the clown in the 1990 IT miniseries and William Shakespeare in the 1976 WILL SHAKESPEARE miniseries. Many of those characters were evil, and often outlandishly so; “Contrary to popular belief,” he once claimed, “I don’t just play dreadful old villains.” He did, however, incarnate many such personages, oftentimes with a campy flourish that would have made him an ideal John Waters cast member (Curry and Waters, for the record, never worked together, although they should have).
Something else Tim Curry had in common with his British thespian fellows was that he was never too particular about the roles he took. His 243 film credits range from Jerzy Skolimowski’s bizarre Robert Graves adaptation THE SHOUT (1978) to CLUE (1985), directed by Curry’s childhood friend Jonathan Lynn, and THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990), a rare example of Curry essaying a non-showy role that was overshadowed by the film’s co-stars (who included Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin). Upon being cast for ANNIE (1982), Curry was asked by director John Huston what he planned to do with his part; he cheekily responded that he intended to “just show up.”
That wasn’t the case with Curry’s most famous role. Dr. Frank-N-Furter was a part Curry can be said to have
owned, playing it in both the 1973 stage production THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, and the 1975 film adaptation THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Curry incarnated Dr. Frank-N-Furter with great conviction, and no wonder, as the character (who was initially meant to speak with a German accent) was fleshed out in large part by Curry himself.
“It is parody,” he once said of the role, “but I play it and think of it as a kind of grisly reality.” Reality would appear to be the operative word; the fact that Curry never married, had no known romantic partners and was for decades quite dismissive about THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (saying he “couldn’t relate to it”) suggests that in playing the cross-dressing Dr. Frank-N-Furter Curry was exposing a part of himself he may not have wanted revealed.
I think we all know the history of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, a box office flop upon its release in 1975 that went on to redefine the midnight movie (which is to say that it’s essentially become the definition of the term), and now holds the title of longest running theatrical release in movie history. It’s no exaggeration to say that the film’s effectiveness is due in large part to Tim Curry’s performance.
It’s been claimed that Curry’s reticence about promoting THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was the major reason his career never reached the heights of those of the aforementioned Anthony Hopkins or Roddy McDowell. Unlike them, Curry spent the remainder of his career relegated to supporting roles in largely forgettable films, with his best work done, as in ROCKY HORROR, in elaborate costume. He was known to complain mightily about the heavy make-up regimen on LEGEND, yet his performance far outshone those of the film’s stars Tom Cruise and Mia Sara, while his work as Pennywise belies his abovementioned John Huston retort, as he did with that character 
what he previously did with Dr. Frank-N-Furter, imbuing it with detail that wasn’t in the script (or the Stephen King source novel). As director Tommy Lee Wallace has stated, his job consisted mostly of “staying out of” his star’s way.
So consistent in their boldness and bravura were Curry’s performances that I, in common with Hollywood overall, came to take them for granted. The fact is that he added a great deal to the likes of ANNIE, HOME ALONE 2 and even SCARY MOVIE 2 (2001), movies even he was unable to render worthwhile, although his presence did at least make them bearable.