Tim Curry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tim Curry
Curry at the 47th Emmy Awards in 1995
Born	Timothy James Curry (1946-04-19) 19 April 1946 (age 79) Grappenhall, Cheshire, England
Alma mater	University of Birmingham
Occupation	Actor singer
Years active	1968–present

Timothy James Curry (born on April 19, 1946) is a famous English actor and singer. He is known for playing many different characters in movies, TV shows, and on stage. One of his most famous roles was Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). He first played this role in stage shows in London and New York.

Tim Curry has also been in many other popular films like Annie (1982), Legend (1985), Clue (1985), and Muppet Treasure Island (1996). He is also well-known for playing Pennywise the Clown in the TV miniseries It (1990).

Besides acting, Tim Curry is a talented voice actor. He has lent his voice to many animated characters, including Captain Hook in Peter Pan & the Pirates and Sir Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys. He has also released three rock music albums.

Early Life and Education

Timothy James Curry was born in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England, on April 19, 1946. His mother, Patricia, was a school secretary, and his father, James, was a chaplain in the Royal Navy. When Tim was 12 years old, his father passed away. His older sister, Judith, was a concert pianist.

Tim Curry spent most of his childhood in Plymouth. After his father's death, his family moved to South London. He went to boarding school and then to Kingswood School in Bath. As a child, Tim had a very good singing voice. He decided to focus on acting and graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1968 with a degree in English and drama.

Acting Career

Tim Curry has had a long and successful career in acting, performing on stage, in films, and on television. He is also a very popular voice actor.

Stage Performances

The Rocky Horror Show

Tim Curry's first big role was in the musical Hair in London in 1968. There, he met Richard O'Brien, who later wrote the part of Dr. Frank-N-Furter especially for him in The Rocky Horror Show (1973).

When rehearsing for the role, Tim Curry tried different accents. He decided to play Dr. Frank-N-Furter with an English accent, making the character sound very unique. The director, Jim Sharman, helped the character become the memorable, over-the-top scientist with a distinct style. The show was an instant hit in London.

The stage show was so popular that it was made into a film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in 1975. This movie made Tim Curry famous around the world and gave him a huge fan base. He continued to play Dr. Frank-N-Furter on stage in London, Los Angeles, and New York until 1975. In 2016, he appeared in a TV remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as The Criminologist.

Other Theatre Roles

After Rocky Horror, Tim Curry returned to the stage in Travesties (1975-1976), which was a big success on Broadway. He played the artist Tristan Tzara and received good reviews.

In 1980, he starred as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Broadway show Amadeus. He was nominated for a Tony Award for this role. In 1982, he played the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance in London, which also earned him praise.

Spamalot playing at the Palace Theatre in London where Curry reprised his role as King Arthur

In the mid-1980s, Tim Curry performed in several plays with the Royal National Theatre in Britain. In 1992, he was nominated for another Tony Award for his role in the Broadway musical My Favorite Year. In 2001, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden.

From 2004 to 2007, Tim Curry played King Arthur in the musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The show was very popular and moved to Broadway in 2005. His performance earned him a third Tony Award nomination. He also played King Arthur in the London production of Spamalot. In 2015, Tim Curry received an Artistic Achievement Award for his amazing career in theatre.

Film Roles

After The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Tim Curry appeared in many films. He played Rooster Hannigan in the 1982 film Annie. In 1985, he starred as The Lord of Darkness in the fantasy film Legend. It took many hours to apply the special makeup for his character in Legend. In the same year, he played Wadsworth the butler in the comedy mystery film Clue.

In the 1990s, Tim Curry appeared in more Hollywood films. He played Mr. Hector, the concierge, in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996). He also took on roles in action films like The Hunt for Red October (1990) and The Three Musketeers (1993).

In the early 2000s, he appeared in films like Charlie's Angels (2000) and Scary Movie 2 (2001). His last major role in a feature film was in the British comedy Burke & Hare (2010). In 2024, he had a small voice role in the horror film Stream.

Television Roles

Tim Curry started his career with small roles in TV series. He played William Shakespeare in the miniseries Will Shakespeare (1978). He also played Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist (1982) and the Grand Wizard in the children's Halloween film The Worst Witch (1986).

One of Tim Curry's most famous TV roles is Pennywise the Clown in the horror miniseries Stephen King's It (1990). He also had recurring roles in shows like Earth 2 (1994) and Rude Awakening (1999–2000).

Voice Acting

Tim Curry is a very busy voice actor, lending his voice to many animated TV shows and movies. He won an Daytime Emmy Award for his voice performance as Captain Hook in the animated series Peter Pan and the Pirates (1990–1991). His longest-running animated role was as Sir Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys (1998–2004) on Nickelodeon.

He also voiced Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Other notable voice roles include Hexxus in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), King Chicken in Duckman (1994–1997), and Professor Finbarr Calamitous in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2003–2005). More recently, he voiced Auntie Whispers in the miniseries Over the Garden Wall (2014).

Tim Curry has also done voice acting in many animated films, such as The Pebble and the Penguin (1995), Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), and Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1998). He reprised his role as Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002) and Rugrats Go Wild (2003). His voice can also be heard in video games like Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993) and Dragon Age: Origins (2009).

He has narrated several audiobooks, including Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Music Career

Besides his acting, Tim Curry has also had a successful music career. He had classical vocal training as a boy and was influenced by jazz singers and rock bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

In 1978, he released his first solo album, Read My Lips. This album featured a mix of different music styles and cover songs. In 1979, he had a small hit song called "I Do the Rock." His second album, Fearless, released in 1979, was more rock-focused and included his only song to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, "I Do the Rock."

His third and final album, Simplicity, was released in 1981. Tim Curry toured North America and parts of Europe with his band between 1978 and 1980. In 1990, he performed in Roger Waters' production of The Wall – Live in Berlin.

Personal Life

Tim Curry enjoys gardening and has worked on developing and restoring gardens at his homes in Los Angeles. He once helped design Freddie Mercury's garden.

Since July 2012, Tim Curry has used a wheelchair after having a major stroke. Because of this, he mostly focuses on voice acting now. He still performs as a singer and attends fan events.

In October 2020, Tim Curry reprised his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter for a special online reading of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to support a political campaign.

Tim Curry's memoir, titled Vagabond, is planned to be released in October 2025. He chose the title because actors in the 17th and 18th centuries were sometimes called "vagabonds," and he has always traveled a lot for his work.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

• Read My Lips (1978)
• Fearless (1979)
• Simplicity (1981)
• The Best of Tim Curry (1985; compilation album)
• From the Vaults (recorded 1976, released 2010)

Soundtracks and cast recordings

• The Rocky Horror Show (Original London cast) (1973)
• The Rocky Horror Show (Original Roxy cast) (1974)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• Annie (1982)
• Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
• My Favorite Year (Original Broadway cast) (1993)
• The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
• Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
• Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)
• Spamalot (Original Broadway cast) (2005)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016)

Others

• Carly Simon – Spy (1979) – Backing vocals for "Vengeance" and "Pure Sin"
• Roger Waters – The Wall: Live in Berlin (1990) – Live recording of "The Trial"
• Little Tramp (1992) – Concept album for musical
• Disney's Music From the Park (1996) – "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Tim Curry para niños