Actor Tim Curry died on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. His longtime manager Marcia Hurwitz announced that he passed peacefully at his home in Los Angeles. Curry had a severe stroke in 2012 and suffered multiple health issues since then. He was 80 years old.

Curry was an Emmy and Grammy award winning actor and singer who started performing on film, television, and the stage in the 1960s. He was known for playing the sexually charged Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Curry was the fast-talking Wadsworth the bulter in Clue and Pennywise the monstrous clown in the It miniseries.

He was born on April 19, 1946, in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England, and his family spent most of his early childhood moving around seaside British towns. After his father died of pneumonia, the family moved to South London where he attended boarding school. It was then that he started singing and acting, and he chose to study English and drama at the University of Birmingham.

Curry’s first lead role was in a London production of Hair in 1968, where he met The Rocky Horror Show writer Richard O’Brien. A few years later in 1973, Curry starred in the musical as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the cheeky mad scientist and self-described “sweet transvestite.” Two years after the play debuted, Curry starred in the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He continued playing the character on stage in London, Los Angeles, New York, and elsewhere.

Curry continued to work on stage as his onscreen roles increased. He was in productions of Travesties, Amadeus (earning a Tony nomination), The Pirates of Penzance, The Art of Success, A Christmas Carol, Spamalot, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

His onscreen work started with an episode of Television Theatre From… in 1968 and The Rocky Horror Picture Show marked his film debut. Curry played William Shakespeare in the miniseries of the same name, he played Bill Sikes in the Oliver Twist TV movie, and was in Annie. In ’85 to ’86, he played Darkness in the dark fantasy Legend, and the Grand Wizard in the family musical The Worst Witch.

He voiced Mr. Curry in the Paddington Bear animated show, was in The Hunt for Red October, and voiced Captain Hook for Peter Pan & the Pirates TV series. Curry voiced Hexxus in Ferngully: The Last Rainforest and he played the suspicious concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He voiced Sir Gawain in The Legend of Prince Valiant series and played Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers.

Curry was in Congo, played Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, and played Gomez Addams in the Addams Family Reunion TV movie. He voiced Sir Nigel Thornberry for The Wild Thornberrys show and movies, was in the Charlie’s Angels movie, and appeared in episodes of Psych and Criminal Minds. Curry voiced Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in The Clone Wars and most recently he made a cameo in the film, Stream.

He suffered a major stroke in 2012 that required brain surgery. It gave him mobility issues, especially in his left arm and leg, and the actor had been using a wheelchair since. Despite that, he continued to work, primarily in voice acting. Curry’s memoir, Vagabond, was released in 2025.