Years ago, there was a meme going around that you can tell a lot about someone from what movie they most remember Tim Curry.
On Aug. 25, the actor passed away more than 14 years after he suffered a life-changing stroke that left him in a wheelchair unable to walk. To condense Curry’s body of work into one blog post is impossible. I had seen Annie a few times before I saw him in The Worst Witch but didn’t recognize him. He was both prolific and versatile.
He made a mark in movies, on TV and on the stage. He played King Arthur during the initial run of Spamalot. But it was his role as Dr. Frank N. Further in The Rocky Horror Show and then later in the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. One of my friends said he could have retired from 50 years ago and still left his mark.
Rocky Horror became the quintessential midnight movie and even though I feel it loses its steam in the second half, Curry held it together. In the 1980s, he appeared in the comedy thriller Clue which was promoted on the gimmick of having different endings. It wasn’t a success in theaters but found its fanbase on home video and cable.
At the same time, he appeared behind a lot of make-up as Darkness in the dark fantasy Legend. And then there was his role as Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries IT. His role as the murderous evil entity stood out in an mediocre horror production. It’s hard to squeeze Stephen King’s lengthy novel in to just three hours but if people weren’t scared of clowns before, they were afterwards.
For the most part, he proved the idiom that “There are no small roles, just small actors.” In Home Alone 2, he played the sneaky concierge of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. And while it wasn’t as well received as other Muppet movies, his role as Long John Silver in Muppet Treaure Island stood out mainly because you can tell Curry isn’t acting like he’s performing wirh puppets. Maybe it was his wide range of appearing in family-friendly shows and movies that he knew it wasn’t a demeaning role to work with felt.
Curry actually did a lot of voice acting roles, TV roles and movie roles playing good guys, bad guys, and just about anything else. Despite his extreme body of work, he rarely won an awards except for a Daytime Emmy in the early 1990s. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, Grammy and several Tony Award. But he proved that true actors don’t do it just for the awards. It’s more important than that.
Rest in power, Mr. Curry.
What was your favorite role or movie of his? Please comment.
Zane Says 