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Tim Curry
Timothy James Curry
April 19, 1946, Grappenhall, Cheshire, England
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Tim Curry is a close friend of Carly Simon and sang backing vocals on her
1979 album "Spy".
I want to establish a wide range and play all kinds of parts. It's that sort of acting career I really respect. I like to turn a sharp left from whatever I've done before because that keeps me awake. That's why I want to be an actor -- I don't want to play endless variations on one character.
Tim Curry
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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, Lord of Darkness in the film Legend (1985), Wadsworth in the movie Clue, as well as a starring role portraying Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the horror film It. 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 villain characters in film.
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.
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
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.
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" with full bagpipe backing, and an original bar-room ballad, "Alan".
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.
Apart from his notable successes 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.
Provided the voice of "Sir" who welcomed visitors to the Alien Encounter attraction in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World. The Alien Encounter ride was replaced after a few years.
Has read several times for "The Great Writers Series" in Los Angeles
Performed in Roger Waters' historic production of "The Wall: Live in Berlin" in July, 1990
Appears as both subject and author in the photography book "Double Exposure, Take Four" by Roddy McDowall.
Was Tim Burton's second choice for the role of the Joker on Batman (1989). He did go on to playing a crazed "clown" in Stephen King's It (1990) (TV).
Turned down the role of Mitzi in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Studied Drama & English at Cambridge and at Birmingham University, from which he graduated with Combined Honors.
Has earned three Tony Award nominations, the first in 1981 as Best Actor (Play) for portraying the title character Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in "Amadeus" - the second in 1993 as Best Actor (Musical) for "My Favorite Year" - and the third in 2005 for Best Actor (Musical) for his role of King Arthur in "Spamalot".
Personally paid for his cousin, Keighley Twocker frontman Michael Loftus to have cosmetic surgery
Already an accomplished singer, he performed a cover of the theme song to Disney's "Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier".
In a Fresh Air interview in 2005, he reported meeting Princess Diana. It turned out she was such a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), she told him, "Thank you for completing my education.".
Not only was he Tim Burton's second choice for the role of The Joker, he was the producers' first choice for the role in the animated television series, until Mark Hamill was cast. Tom Hulce succeeded him in the role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus.
Don't Look Now (1973) is one of his favorite films.
He was presented with an honorary citizenship of New Orleans and key to the City of New Orleans by Angela Baham, Administrative Assistant to the Chief Administrator Officer Reynard J. Rochon to Mayor Ernest Morial on October 8, 1979 following a concert in New Orleans.
Was working on an album project with Lou Adler in 1976. However only four songs were completed. The best is a cover of The Supremes' "Baby Love." Also recorded three albums for A&M Records. "Ready My Lips" (1978), "Fearless" (1979), and "Simplicity" (1981). Though only one charting song, "I Do the Rock," both it at "Paradise Garage" [from "Fearless"] have become cult hits, having two music videos made for MTV which were often played before showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). His best album is often praised "Fearless," and his best songs are "Birds of a Feather," "Alan," "Sloe Gin," "I Do the Rock," "S.O.S.," "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire," "Paradise Garage," "No Love on the Street," "Something Short of Paradise," "Working on My Tan," "Simplicity," "On a Roll," "Take Me I'm Yours," "Out of Pawn," and "I Put a Spell on You.".
Was on the 1980 Clash album "Sandinista!" On track 18, "The Sound of the Sinners", he spoke as a priest mid-song.
Has a dog named Frank.
Has voiced two royal cats, voicing Prince in "Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties" and The Cat King in "The Cat Returns".
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"I'm not a conventional leading man at all and have no wish to be."
"They couldn't call it ['The Best of Tim Curry' CD] 'Greatest Hits' because there weren't any."
"My specialty roles are Louche, Brio, and Bravura."
"[with reference to climbing volcanos while filming Congo (1995)].. I smoke two packs of Marlboros a day, which doesn't go well with volcanos"
"Any new way to infiltrate myself into your minds."- "The Making of Gabriel Knight", on rapidly evolving computer technology.
"Gabriel Knight is VERY, very cool. And impossibly handsome. So of course, they picked me." - "The Making of Gabriel Knight"
(Speaking to a crowd at a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" convention) "It's so comforting to know that there are so many people in this world sicker than I am."
