Tim Curry remembered for iconic roles across film, TV and games
Tim Curry died at 80, and his career is being honored with a list of his most notable performances spanning five decades.
Tim Curry died on August 25 at the age of 80. Over a five-decade career he appeared in film, television, stage productions and video games, earning recognition for a wide range of characters. A recent tribute compiled a personal ranking of ten performances, noting additional memorable roles that did not make the main list.
Among the highlighted roles were Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Wadsworth in Clue (1985), Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1995), and the villainous Darkness in Legend (1985). The list also cited his voice work as Hexxus in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), the clown Pennywise in the 1990 TV adaptation of It, and the animated character Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004). Additional mentions included parts in The Three Musketeers (1993), Xyber 9: New Dawn (1999-2000), and the video-game role of Anatoly Cherdenko in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008).
The tribute noted Curry’s influence on multiple generations of fans and his reputation for delivering energetic, charismatic performances, both on-screen and in voice roles. It also referenced Curry’s own reflection on the cultural impact of Rocky Horror in a 2024 social-media post.
"Ah the ‘is Rocky Horror problematic’ chat. Through a 2024 lens – of course it is. But babies, being gay was illegal in England 6 years before Rocky was first staged in ‘73. It was brave, bold & brilliant for its time," Curry wrote in a 2024 tweet.
Curry’s death has prompted numerous tributes online, many highlighting his final performance of the song “I’m Going Home” from Rocky Horror as a symbolic farewell.