Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Tim Curry
birth name	Timothy James Curry
birth date	April 19, 1946
birth place	Grappenhall, Warrington, England, UK
occupation	Actor, singer, composer
years active	1968–present }}

Timothy James "Tim" Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Curry first became known to film audiences with his breakthrough role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 cult movie ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'', reprising the role he played in the 1973 London and 1974 Los Angeles stage productions of ''The Rocky Horror Show'', then later for his supporting roles as Rooster in the film adaption of ''Annie'' (1982), Lord of Darkness in the film ''Legend'' (1985), Wadsworth in the movie ''Clue'' (1985), as well as a starring role portraying Pennywise the Clown in the horror film ''It'' (1990).

He played Nigel, the father in the Nickelodeon children's TV show ''The Wild Thornberrys''. He originated the role of King Arthur in the Broadway hit ''Monty Python's Spamalot''. He is notable for often playing or voicing villainous characters in film.

Early life

Curry's father, James, was a Methodist chaplain in the Royal Navy, and his mother, Patricia, was a school secretary. Curry was born and raised in Cheshire and attended Lymm High School until his father's death in 1958. Curry's family then moved to South London, but Curry himself went to boarding school and attended Kingswood School in Bath. As a child, he developed into a talented boy soprano (treble). Deciding to concentrate on acting, Curry graduated from Birmingham University with a combined degree in English and drama.

Acting career

''Rocky Horror''

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 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 the fan attention from this role he became "chubby and plain" in order to escape it. However, he has become much more open about discussing the show and now recognizes it as a "rite of passage" for many young people.

Theatre

Shortly after the end 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 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 good 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 Ian McKellen, who played Antonio Salieri. In 1982, Curry took the part of the Pirate King in the Drury Lane production of Joe Papp's version of ''The Pirates of Penzance'' opposite George Cole, earning enthusiastic reviews.

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, 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 2001, Curry starred as Scrooge in the musical version of ''A Christmas Carol'' that played at Madison Square Garden. In 2004, Curry began his role of King Arthur in ''Spamalot'' in Chicago. The show successfully moved to Broadway in February 2005. The show sold more than $1 million worth of tickets in its first 24 hours. It brought him a third Tony nomination, again for Best Actor in a Musical. Curry reprised this role in London's West End at the Palace Theatre, where ''Spamalot'' opened on 16 October 2006. His final performance came on 6 January 2007. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award as the Best Actor in a Musical for the role and also won the Theatregoers' Choice Award (getting 39% of the votes cast by over 12,000 theatregoers) as Best Actor in a Musical.

From May to August 2011, Curry was scheduled to portray The Player in a Trevor Nunn stage production of Tom Stoppard's ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'' at the Chichester Festival Theatre and then in London. He withdrew from the production on 27 May, citing ill health.

Musical career

Aside from his performances on various soundtrack records, Curry has had some success as a solo musical artist. In 1976, he recorded a 9-song album for Lou Adler's Ode Records which was unreleased in its entirety until February 2010, when it was made available as a legal download (4 tracks from these sessions had been released on a 1990 ''Rocky Horror'' box set). In 1978, A&M; Records released Curry's debut solo album, ''Read My Lips''. The album featured an eclectic range of songs (mostly covers) performed in diverse genres. Highlights of the album are a reggae version of the Beatles song "I Will", a rendition of "Wake Nicodemus" featuring the Pipes and Drums of the 48th Highlanders of Canada, and a bar-room ballad, "Alan", composed by Canadian singer/songwriter Tony Kosinec.

The following year, Curry released his second and most successful album, ''Fearless''. The LP was more rock-oriented than ''Read My Lips'' and mostly featured original songs rather than cover versions. The record included Curry's only US charting songs: "I Do the Rock" and "Paradise Garage".

Curry's third and final album, ''Simplicity'', was released in 1981, again by A&M; Records. This record, which did not sell as well as the previous offerings, combined both original songs and cover versions.

In 1989, A&M; released ''The Best of Tim Curry'' on CD and cassette, featuring songs from his albums (including a live version of "Alan") and a previously unreleased song, a live cover version of Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate".

Curry toured America with his band through the late 1970s and the first half of the 1980s. He also performed in Roger Waters' (of Pink Floyd fame) 1990 production of The Wall in Berlin, as the prosecutor. Curry's voice also appeared on The Clash's ''Sandinista!'', on the track "Sound of Sinners".

The writing, production and musician roster for Curry's solo albums included an impressive list of collaborators, including Bob Ezrin and David Sanborn.

Real estate career

Apart from his activities as an actor, Curry has also developed several properties in the city of Los Angeles. Among these is a 1926 Mediterranean Italianate Revival estate located on Nottingham Avenue just below Griffith Park Observatory in the neighborhood of Los Feliz.

Filmography

Films and television

Curry's television and film credits are long and varied. A partial list of roles:

"Madman" in a telefilm of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (1972)

Glen in ''Schmoedipus'', a BBC ''Play for Today'' TV episode written by Dennis Potter and directed by Barry Davis (1974)

Dr. Frank N. Furter ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975)

Jerome K. Jerome in the BBC's TV movie ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1975)

Has-been rock star Stevie Streeter in ''Rock Follies of '77'' (1977)

William Shakespeare in a 6-hour British TV series ''Will Shakespeare'' directed by Mark Cullingham, Robert Knights, Peter Wood (1977)

Robert Graves in "The Shout" (1978)

Disc jockey Johnny LaGuardia in ''Times Square'' (1980)

Host of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1981); in one sketch, Curry and Meat Loaf ran a "Rocky Horror" memorabilia store.

Larry Gormley in LWT's TV comedy ''Blue Money'' (1982)

Rooster Hannigan in the musical ''Annie'' (1982)

Lord of Darkness in the film ''Legend'' (1985)

Wadsworth in the film ''Clue'' (1985)

The Grand Wizard in ''The Worst Witch'' (1986)

Pentecostal televangelist in ''Pass the Ammo'' (1988)

Rapacious record producer Winston Newquay in ''Wiseguy'' (1989)

Prince Charles (voice) in episode 27 – "Europe in 30 Minutes" of ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' (1990)

The Prosecutor in Roger Waters' 1990 Performance of ''The Wall – Live in Berlin'' (1990)

Pennywise in Stephen King's ''It'' (1990)

Dr. Petrov in ''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990)

Dr. Thornton Poole the elocutionist in the film ''Oscar'' (1991)

The Plaza Hotel concierge, Mr. Hector, in ''Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992)

Mr. Jigsaw in the film ''Loaded Weapon 1'' (1993)

Roger in 2 episodes of ''Roseanne'' (1993)

Cardinal Richelieu in Disney's ''The Three Musketeers'' (1993)

Pa, Ma, and Winoma Brackett in ''Death of Some Salesman'' from ''Tales from the Crypt'' (1993)

Corrupt scientist Farley Claymore in ''The Shadow'' (1994)

Gaal in ''Earth 2'' (1994)

Kilokahn in ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' (1994)

Herkermer Homolka, Romanian philanthropist in ''Congo'' (1995) – Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor

Long John Silver in ''Muppet Treasure Island'' (1996)

Simon Doonan in the ''Titanic'' miniseries (1996)

Major Vladikov in ''McHale's Navy'' (1997)

Dr. Kao in ''Doom Runners'' (1997)

"Poet Man" in ''Lexx'' (1997) in the episode "Supernova"

''Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas'' (voice of Forte) (1997)

Simon Ferguson in Over the Top (1997)

Gomez Addams in ''Addams Family Reunion'' (1998)

"The Sorcerer" (voice only) in ''The Net'' (1998–1999)

"Jezebel Jack" in ''Pirates of the Plain'' (1999) from the creators of Ernest.

"Edward Whatsett St. John" in ''Jackie's Back!'' (1999)

"Officer Lightoller" in ''The Titanic Chronicles'' (1999)

Roger Corwin in ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000)

Felix in ''Four Dogs Playing Poker'' (2000)

Captain Fitzgerald in ''Lion of Oz'' (2000)

Damien Kemp in ''Sorted'' (2000)

The Mouse King in Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001)

Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II in ''Attila'' (2001)

Professor Oldman in ''Scary Movie 2'' (2001)

Harley Dune in ''Wolf Girl'' (sometimes listed as ''Blood Moon'' (2001)

Vet Matthew Hope in ''Ritual'' from the Tales from the Crypt (2001)

Priest in ''The Scoundrel's Wife aka Home Front'' (2002)

Butler Mr. Giles French in the remake of ''Family Affair'' (2002)

Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck in the ''Mr. Monk Goes to Jail'' episode of the ''Monk (TV series)'' (2004)

Thurman Rice in ''Kinsey'' (2004)

Marion Finster in ''Will & Grace'' (2004)

Caspar Pennington in ''Bailey's Billion$'' (2005)

Nigel St. Nigel in ''Psych'' second season episode "American Duos" (2007)

Gordon McLoosh in ''Christmas in Wonderland'' (2007)

Coeur De Noir in ''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2008)

Trymon in ''Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic'' (2008)

Lord Greville Boynton in ''Agatha Christie's Poirot: Appointment with Death'' (2008)

Dodo in ''Alice'' (2009)

Signor Brunoni in ''Return to Cranford'' (2010)

Dr. Monroe in ''Burke and Hare'' (2010)

Billy Flynn in ''Criminal Minds'' fifth season episode "Our Darkest Hour" and sixth season episode "The Longest Night"(2010)

Voice acting

From the early 1990s onward, Curry has also become known as a highly acclaimed voice artist. Notable roles include:

Voice of priest on ''The Clash'' "Sound Of The Sinners" song from album ''Sandinista!'' (1981)

The Serpent in "The Creation", an episode of ''The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible''

Judas Iscariot in "The Easter Story", episode of ''The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible''

Captain James S. Hook in Fox's ''Peter Pan and the Pirates'' TV series (1990)

Konk in Hanna–Barbera's TV series ''The Pirates of Dark Water'' (1990)

M.A.L., evil sentient computer programme and assistant to Doctor Blight in ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' (1990–1993)

Sir Gawain in ''The Legend of Prince Valiant'' (1991–1994)

Taurus Bulba in ''Darkwing Duck'' (1991)

Chief Elder in ''Dinosaurs'' TV series (1992–94)

Hexxus in ''FernGully: The Last Rainforest'' (1992)

Sharkster in ''Fish Police'' (1992)

S.I.R. – Alien Encounter (Magic Kingdom Attraction) (1995)

King Maximillian Acorn on three episodes of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1993)

Skullmaster in ''Mighty Max'' (1993)

Dr. Maelstrom in ''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' (1994)

Kilokahn in ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' (1994)

George Herbert Walker "King" Chicken on ''Duckman'' (1994–1997)

Dr. Anton Sevarius in ''Gargoyles'' (1994)

Pretorius in the cartoon series ''The Mask: The Animated Series'' (1995)

Drake in ''The Pebble and the Penguin'' (1995)

Dr. Mystico in ''Freakazoid!'' (1995)

Zimbo in ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'' (1996)

Lazlo Gigahurtz in ''Bruno the Kid'' (1996)

Lord Dragaunus in Disney's ''The Mighty Ducks'' TV Series (1996)

Trader Slick in the ''Jumanji'' animated TV series (1996)

Voice of Dr. Anton Sevarius in Gargoyles (TV series) (1996)

Prince Lotor and King Alfor in ''Voltron: The Third Dimension'' (1996)

Nostro the head elf in ''The Story of Santa Claus'' (1996)

Forté in Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas''

The frog in the ''Teen Angel'' episode, "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog" (1997)

Emperor Nero in the ''Easter Storykeepers'' (1997)

Ben Ravencroft in ''Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost'' (1999)

Rex Pester in ''The Rugrats Movie'' (1998)

The Skull in ''Bartok the Magnificent'' (1999)

King Renard in ''Xyber 9: New Dawn'' (1999)

Leichliter in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1999-2004)

Dr. Neugog in ''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot''

Mutro Botho in ''Batman Beyond''

Slagar the Cruel in the TV series ''Redwall'' based on the books by Brian Jacques

The Goose God in ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' (2001)

Spooky the cat in ''Teacher's Pet'' (2001)

The Mouse King in ''Barbie in the Nutcracker'' (2001)

The three musketiers ''Kardinaal Richelieu'' (2002)

Nigel Thornberry in ''The Wild Thornberrys'' (1998–2004), ''The Wild Thornberrys Movie'' (2002) and ''Rugrats Go Wild'' (2003)

Professor Finbarr Calamitous in several episodes of ''The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'' (2002, 2004–2006)

Hazzaka in the first episode of ''K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments''

The Cat King in The Cat Returns (English dub) (2005)

General Von Talon in ''Valiant'' (2005)

The Magnificent Rogue on ''Duck Dodgers''

El Malefico in ''¡Mucha Lucha!: The Return of El Malefico''.

Narrator of the ''Lemony Snicket'' audio books

Narrator of the ''Abhorsen Trilogy'' audio books

Ringmaster in ''Loonatics Unleashed'' (2005)

Mr. Salamone in ''Eloise: The Animated Series (2006)

Prince in ''Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties'' (2006)

King Evilo in ''Nick's Evil Ways'' (2006)

Yegor in ''Fly Me to the Moon'' (2007)

Dr. Joseph Chadwick in ''Ben 10: Alien Force'' (2008)

Philippe in ''Barbie and the Three Musketeers'' (2009)

Stubbings and Dr. Lloyd Wexler in ''Phineas and Ferb''

Henchman and Robot Clown in ''Batman: The Animated Series''

The librarian in ''Higglytown Heroes''

The Goblin King in ''Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King''

The Cat King in the English release of ''The Cat Returns'' by Hiroyuki Morita

The ring master Piccadilly in Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! (2010)

The Hot Dog Leader in Regular Show

The "Master" Prank Caller in Regular Show

Sonnicula in Bunnicula (2011)

Narrator of ''A Journey to the Center of the Earth'' audio book by Jules Verne

Lord Poltergeist in SpongeBob SquarePants

Curry was cast as the Joker in Warner Brothers' ''Batman: The Animated Series'', and even recorded several episodes worth of dialogue. At the 1993 San Diego Comic-Con, Bruce Timm told a panel audience that Curry could not maintain the Joker voice for long, and would violently cough between takes, so he was replaced by Mark Hamill.

At the end of 2002, Curry served as the narrator in a parody of ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' called "How the You-Know-Who Stole You-Know-What" for Nickelodeon as part of their "Merry Nickmas" promotion.

Curry was also cast as the voice of SIR (Simulated Intelligence Robotics) at Walt Disney World's ''Alien Encounter'', which ran from 1995 to 2003.

Games

Melek in ''Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger'' (1994)

Gabriel Knight in ''Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'' (1993) and ''Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned'' (1999)

Doctor Victor Frankenstein in ''Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster'' (1995)

Count Nefarious in ''Toonstruck'' (1996)

Decanter in ''The Day the World Broke'' (1997)

Stratos, the God of Air in the video game ''Sacrifice'' (2000)

Mastermind in ''Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights'' (2002)

Lemony Snicket in ''Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events'' (2004)

Professor Finbarr Calamitous in ''Nicktoons Unite!'' (2005) and ''Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots'' (2007)

The sailor in ''Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey''

Premier Anatoly Cherdenko in ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3'' (2008)

Emperor Doviculus in ''Brütal Legend'' (2009) Arl Rendon Howe in ''Dragon Age: Origins'' (2009)

Awards and nominations

1975 Drama Desk Award nomination, Best Actor in a Musical (for playing Dr. Frank N Furter in ''The Rocky Horror Show'')

1981 Tony Award nomination, Best Actor in a Play (for playing the title role in ''Amadeus'')

1981 Drama Desk Award nomination, Best Actor in a Play (for playing the title role in ''Amadeus'')

1991 Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series (for playing Captain James S. Hook in ''Peter Pan and the Pirates'')

1993 Tony Award nomination, Best Actor in a Musical (for playing Alan Swann in ''My Favorite Year'')

1994 Emmy Award nomination, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (for a trio of roles in ''Tales from the Crypt'', in an episode entitled ''Death of Some Salesmen'')

1996 Razzie Award nomination, Worst Supporting Actor (for playing Herkermer Homolka in ''Congo'')

1998 Annie Award nomination, Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production (for playing Forté in ''Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas'')

2005 Tony Award nomination, Best Actor in a Musical (for playing King Arthur in ''Monty Python's Spamalot'')

2007 Laurence Olivier Award nomination, Best Actor in a Musical (King Arthur in ''Monty Python's Spamalot'')

2007 Whatsonstage Theatregoers' Choice Award as Best Actor in a Musical (King Arthur in ''Monty Python's Spamalot'')

References

External links

Ultimate Video Tribute to Tim Curry Pictorial Tribute

Tim Curry at RockyMusic.org

''Fresh Air'' interview with Tim Curry

Tim Curry ''Downstage Center'' interview at American Theatre Wing

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:English film actors Category:English male singers Category:English musical theatre actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Old Kingswoodians (Bath) Category:People from Grappenhall and Thelwall Category:People from Warrington Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:Audio book narrators Category:English expatriates in the United States

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