Tim Curry's mom 'scared' of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Tim Curry said his mom, Patricia, was not a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show - which shot him to global stardom in 1975.
Tim Curry's mom was "scared" of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
In 1975, the 79-year-old actor shot to global stardom after playing transgender alien scientist Frank-N-Furter in the beloved horror-musical film - which Patricia Curry was not a fan of.
Tim told CBS Sunday Morning: "She didn't make much of it. She was scared of it. She thought it would change me.
"She said to me later that, 'I thought your head was gonna grow too big.' There was certainly a whole thing about not putting your head above the parapet.
"It wasn't good to be noticed. She would have preferred me to operate under the radar.
"I didn't give a s*** about the radar."
Interviewer Ben Mankiewicz, 58, asked Curry: "When Frank is committing his particularly most heinous act in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, [killing the character Eddie (Meat Loaf) with an axe], was some of that directed at your mom maybe?"
Curry replied: "It's not directed at her, it's just channeling.
"I do remember actually coming out of the fridge where I just offed Meat Loaf with an ax, and I staggered out holding this ax with blood on it. I found that quite easy. I kind of knew how to do that."
Asked if Patricia informed his performance as Frank in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Curry quipped: "I'm in touch with anger, that's for sure. I know how it feels and how to project it."
Curry was 12 when his dad, James, died from a stroke, and the actor went on to have a complex relationship with his mom.
He recalled: "Having my life run by my mother was a very different experience.
"Her expectations were different. She could be really chilly. I actually think now that she was probably bipolar, because she could turn on a dime."
"[Having that kind of parent means] you tread very carefully … or don't."
Elsewhere, Curry could suffer another stroke "at any time".
The actor is unable to walk and is reliant on a team of carers, as well as a wheelchair, after surviving a stroke 13 years ago.
And he admits he "wouldn't want" to go through the health crisis for a second time, but it is a possibility.
When asked if he worries about going through a similar situation again in the future, Curry told the Guardian newspaper: "I probably should [worry]. It could happen any time. I wouldn’t want to go through it again. Because it just makes you so f****** vulnerable."
Curry is now reliant on a wheelchair to get around and cannot use his left arm, but he's helped by a team of carers, saying of them: "They really take incredibly good care of me and make me laugh."
He went on to reveal that the worst thing about his condition is the loss of his short-term memory, as it means he will never work on stage again. He added: "I can’t remember a f****** thing. I’m not sure that I could do theatre again."
And Curry thought about his dad when he suffered the same medical emergency as him in 2012.
He told the publication: "It was an odd thing, because my father had a stroke and died very soon afterwards. I knew I had to force myself to relax and just take the opportunity to float a little ... I did think about how he coped.
"He was very determined to not be a changed man for us, you know."
