Tim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and queer icon, dies

British actor and singer Tim Curry has died at the age of 80. His death was confirmed by his longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

Curry died at his home in Los Angeles. In 2012, the actor suffered a severe stroke, after which he moved in a wheelchair, but continued to work and appear in public. In 2024, he returned to cinema in the horror film Stream, and a year later he released his memoirs, Vagabond.

The main role in Curry's career was Dr. Frank-n-Furter in the musical The Rocky Horror Show and its 1975 film adaptation. It was this image that made the actor a queer icon for several generations of LGBTQ people.

Frank-en-Furter appeared on screen in a corset, stockings, heels and heavy makeup, spoke openly about sex and did not at all try to conform to traditional ideas of masculinity. For the 1970s, such a character looked especially defiant. He mixed the masculine and the feminine, played with gender norms and demonstrated freedom of sexual expression.

After an unsuccessful first release, the film unexpectedly found new life thanks to late-night screenings. Spectators came in costumes, shouted lines along with the characters, danced in front of the screen, and later began acting out scenes from the film live at the same time as the screening.

It was around these nightly sessions that a whole community gradually formed. For many LGBTQ people, they became a space where they could more freely experiment with clothing, makeup and gender expression, and meet and find people with similar experiences. Frank 'n Furter's image and film aesthetic have notably influenced drag, camp, fashion, theater and pop culture.

Today, some elements of The Rocky Horror Picture Show are perceived differently than they were half a century ago. Its language and ideas about gender are very 1970s, and certain scenes raise questions about modern ideas about consent. But for generations of LGBTQ viewers, the film became an important experience of freedom, visibility and community.

Curry's career was far from limited to one role. He played the butler Wadsworth in Clue, Pennywise in the film adaptation of Stephen King's It, appeared in Annie and Home Alone 2, worked extensively in the theater and was nominated for a Tony Award three times. Curry also did a lot of voice acting.

However, it was Frank-n-Furter that remained his main contribution to queer culture. Curry played a character who did not try to conform to other people's ideas of "normality", and audiences turned his image into a symbol of freedom to be bright, strange, theatrical and not fit into the expected framework.

In loving memory of Tim Curry. Thank you for your courage, freedom and incredible Frank-n-Furter.