TIM CURRY
Name: Timothy James Curry
Born: 19 April 1946 Grappenhall, Warrington, Lancashire, England
Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946) is an Emmy Award-winning English actor,
singer, and composer, perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Stephen King's
It. He also had a career as a rock musician. His list of roles is extensive, in
both TV and movies, live-action and voice-acting for animated features. He
currently resides in Los Angeles, although he has spent a considerable amount of
time in Chicago, New York City, and most recently London, in his role as King
Arthur in the Broadway hit Monty Python's Spamalot.
Curry's father, James, was a Methodist Royal Navy chaplain, and his mother,
Patricia, was a school secretary. Curry was born and raised in Warrington and
attended Lymm High School until his father's death in 1958, when Curry relocated
to South London. He attended Kingswood School, Bath, and although he didn't
enjoy the religious aspect of the Methodist school, he did enjoy the vast number
of hymns available. There, he developed into a talented boy soprano. Deciding
to concentrate on acting, Curry graduated from Birmingham University with a
combined degree in English and drama.
Curry's first full-time role was as part of the original London cast of the
musical Hair in 1968, where he first met Richard O'Brien who went on to write
Curry's next full-time and perhaps still most famous role, that of Dr. Frank-N-Furter
in The Rocky Horror Show.
Originally, Curry rehearsed the character with a German accent and peroxide
blond hair, but the character evolved into the sly, very upper-class English mad
scientist and transvestite that carried over to the movie version of The Rocky
Horror Picture Show and made Curry both a star and a cult figure. He continued
to play the character in London, Los Angeles, and New York until 1975.
For many years, Curry was reluctant to talk about Rocky Horror, feeling that it
was a trend that had gone too far and had distracted attention away from his
later roles. A VH1 Pop-Up Video Halloween special even quoted Curry as saying he
grew so unnerved by all the fan attention after this role that he became "chubby
and plain" in order to escape it. However, in recent years he has been much more
open about discussing the show and now recognises it as a "rite of passage" for
many young people.
Shortly after the failure of Rocky Horror Show on Broadway, Curry was back on
Broadway with Tom Stoppard's Travesties, which ran in London and New York from
1975 to 1976. Travesties was a huge Broadway hit which won two Tony Awards (Best
Performance by an Actor for John Wood and Best Comedy), as well as the New York
Drama Critics Circle Award (Best Play), and Curry's performance as the famous
dadaist Tristan Tzara received spectacular reviews.
In 1981, Curry formed part of the original cast in the Broadway show Amadeus,
playing the title character, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was nominated for his
first Tony Award (Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play) for this role,
but lost out to his co-star Sir Ian McKellen, who played Antonio Salieri. In
1982, Curry took the part of the Pirate King in a London stage version of The
Pirates of Penzance opposite George Cole.
In the mid 1980s, Curry performed in The Rivals (Bob Acres 1983) and in several
plays with the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, including the Threepenny
Opera (MacHeath 1986), Dalliance (Theodore 1986), and Love For Love (Tattle 1985).
In 1987/1988 Tim Curry did the national tour of "Me and My Girl" as the lead
role of 'Bill Snibson'. A role originated on Broadway by Robert Lindsay and
followed by Jim Dale.
In 1989/90, Tim Curry returned once again to the New York stage in "The Art of
Success". In 1993, Curry played Alan Swann in the Broadway musical version of My
Favorite Year, earning him his second Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a
Musical.
In late 2004, Curry began his role of King Arthur in Spamalot in Chicago. The
show successfully moved to Broadway in February 2005. It brought him a third
Tony nomination, again for Best Actor in a Musical.
Curry reprised his role in London's West End at the Palace Theatre, where
Spamalot opened on October 16, 2006. His final performance came on January 6,
2007 and he returned to his home in Los Angeles a few days later. On January 18,
2007, Curry was nominated for Laurence Olivier Award as the Best Actor in a
Musical; this was one of seven nominations earned by the London production of
Spamalot, including Best New Musical. On February 9, 2007, it was announced that
Curry also won the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award (getting 39% of
the votes cast by over 12,000 theatregoers) as Best Actor in a Musical for his
performance as King Arthur.
Name: Timothy James Curry
Born: 19 April 1946 Grappenhall, Warrington, Lancashire, England
Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946) is an Emmy Award-winning English actor,
singer, and composer, perhaps best known for his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Stephen King's
It. He also had a career as a rock musician. His list of roles is extensive, in
both TV and movies, live-action and voice-acting for animated features. He
currently resides in Los Angeles, although he has spent a considerable amount of
time in Chicago, New York City, and most recently London, in his role as King
Arthur in the Broadway hit Monty Python's Spamalot.
Curry's father, James, was a Methodist Royal Navy chaplain, and his mother,
Patricia, was a school secretary. Curry was born and raised in Warrington and
attended Lymm High School until his father's death in 1958, when Curry relocated
to South London. He attended Kingswood School, Bath, and although he didn't
enjoy the religious aspect of the Methodist school, he did enjoy the vast number
of hymns available. There, he developed into a talented boy soprano. Deciding
to concentrate on acting, Curry graduated from Birmingham University with a
combined degree in English and drama.
Curry's first full-time role was as part of the original London cast of the
musical Hair in 1968, where he first met Richard O'Brien who went on to write
Curry's next full-time and perhaps still most famous role, that of Dr. Frank-N-Furter
in The Rocky Horror Show.
Originally, Curry rehearsed the character with a German accent and peroxide
blond hair, but the character evolved into the sly, very upper-class English mad
scientist and transvestite that carried over to the movie version of The Rocky
Horror Picture Show and made Curry both a star and a cult figure. He continued
to play the character in London, Los Angeles, and New York until 1975.
For many years, Curry was reluctant to talk about Rocky Horror, feeling that it
was a trend that had gone too far and had distracted attention away from his
later roles. A VH1 Pop-Up Video Halloween special even quoted Curry as saying he
grew so unnerved by all the fan attention after this role that he became "chubby
and plain" in order to escape it. However, in recent years he has been much more
open about discussing the show and now recognises it as a "rite of passage" for
many young people.
Shortly after the failure of Rocky Horror Show on Broadway, Curry was back on
Broadway with Tom Stoppard's Travesties, which ran in London and New York from
1975 to 1976. Travesties was a huge Broadway hit which won two Tony Awards (Best
Performance by an Actor for John Wood and Best Comedy), as well as the New York
Drama Critics Circle Award (Best Play), and Curry's performance as the famous
dadaist Tristan Tzara received spectacular reviews.
In 1981, Curry formed part of the original cast in the Broadway show Amadeus,
playing the title character, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was nominated for his
first Tony Award (Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play) for this role,
but lost out to his co-star Sir Ian McKellen, who played Antonio Salieri. In
1982, Curry took the part of the Pirate King in a London stage version of The
Pirates of Penzance opposite George Cole.
In the mid 1980s, Curry performed in The Rivals (Bob Acres 1983) and in several
plays with the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, including the Threepenny
Opera (MacHeath 1986), Dalliance (Theodore 1986), and Love For Love (Tattle 1985).
In 1987/1988 Tim Curry did the national tour of "Me and My Girl" as the lead
role of 'Bill Snibson'. A role originated on Broadway by Robert Lindsay and
followed by Jim Dale.
In 1989/90, Tim Curry returned once again to the New York stage in "The Art of
Success". In 1993, Curry played Alan Swann in the Broadway musical version of My
Favorite Year, earning him his second Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a
Musical.
In late 2004, Curry began his role of King Arthur in Spamalot in Chicago. The
show successfully moved to Broadway in February 2005. It brought him a third
Tony nomination, again for Best Actor in a Musical.
Curry reprised his role in London's West End at the Palace Theatre, where
Spamalot opened on October 16, 2006. His final performance came on January 6,
2007 and he returned to his home in Los Angeles a few days later. On January 18,
2007, Curry was nominated for Laurence Olivier Award as the Best Actor in a
Musical; this was one of seven nominations earned by the London production of
Spamalot, including Best New Musical. On February 9, 2007, it was announced that
Curry also won the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award (getting 39% of
the votes cast by over 12,000 theatregoers) as Best Actor in a Musical for his
performance as King Arthur.