The Rocky Horror Picture Show Tim Curry dead at 80
Tim Curry - who starred It, The Rock Horror Picture Show, Home Alone 2: Lost in new York and Annie - has died aged 80.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show star Tim Curry has died at the age of 80.
The English actor - who is best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in Richard O'Brien and Jim Sharman's cult classic 1975 musical movie - passed away late Tuesday night (August 25, 2026) at his Los Angeles home, TMZ has reported.
Curry had been in ill health after having a serious stroke in 2012.
As well as his role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Curry's other most famous performances came as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the 1990 TV miniseries It, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, and as pompous Plaza Hotel concierge Mr. Hector in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which saw Macaulay Culkin reprise his role as Kevin McCallister in the 1992 sequel to the Christmas comedy Home Alone.
Other notable roles came in Annie, The Three Musketeers, The Hunt for Red October, Clue - based on the popular murder mystery board game - Addams Family Reunion, Congo, and Scary Movie 2.
His theater career saw him nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his roles in London's West End as The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (1982) and King Arthur in Spamalot (2007).
His Broadway runs earned him three Tony Award nominations: his first for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus (1980), followed by two nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for My Favorite Year (1992) and Spamalot (2005).
In 2025, Curry released his memoir Vagabond.
At the end of last year, Curry opened up about his numerous health struggles after his stroke and also admitted he was "not scared" of dying.
Talking about his life after his stroke in 2012 - which left him unable to walk and reliant on a team of caregivers - during an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning, he said: "I don’t fear death. I try to avoid it. I think we all do, but I suspect that in the end, I will welcome it. I think it may be very comforting to go bye-bye, and I want to earn it."
He also confessed he was frightened when he first suffered a stroke because the same condition had previously killed his father.
Curry said: "I was scared ... I had to learn how to speak again. That was very weird. I hated not being able to speak. [And] my face kind of went sideways."
The thespian previously revealed he suffered the stroke during a massage, and his therapist was the one who noticed something was wrong and called an ambulance.
Speaking on stage at a special screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles last month, Curry told the audience: "I was having a massage at the time and I didn’t even actually notice anything, but the guy who was doing the massage said, ‘I’m worried about you, I want to call an ambulance.’ And he did, and I said, ‘That’s so silly.’"
