Tim Curry, iconic character actor and 'Rocky Horror' star, dies at 80

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Updated: 1:15 PM CDT Aug 26, 2026

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Sydney Hartman

Digital Curator

Tim Curry, an iconic British actor whose career spanned film, television and theater, has died, according to numerous reports.

He was 80 years old.

Curry, best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," had dealt with health issues for years, including a major stroke in 2012.

Curry died at his home in Los Angeles, according to his longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz. A cause of death has not been released.

Tim Curry

His other notable roles include Pennywise in the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” as well as appearances in “Clue,” “Legend,” “Muppet Treasure Island” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

Curry also has performed extensively onstage, including in productions of “Amadeus,” “The Threepenny Opera” and “Spamalot.”

He has provided voices for numerous animated films, television programs and video games, including “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “The Wild Thornberrys” and “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.”

Curry, who never married and had no children, was deeply private about his personal life. But he wrote in his memoir that he was convinced to tell his story thanks to so many moving encounters with fans.

“The notion that my experiences might resonate helps me persevere — if they strike a chord with only one teenager, alone with a book in his room, as I so often was; or that young woman reading this on an interminably long bus ride; or that older queen, hopefully still in his fishnets, who saw ‘Rocky Horror’ upstairs at the Royal Court; or that middle-aged mother who organizes ‘Clue’ watching parties and refuses entry to anybody out of costume; or that buttoned-up bank clerk who relishes musicals; or that woman who kicked me out of the Waverly for being myself,” he wrote.

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