Tim Curry, Star Of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue And It, Dies Aged 80

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news that Tim Curry, the iconic star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Stephen King's It, Clue and much more, has died at the age of 80. The multitalented stage and screen actor and singer, who suffered a major stroke in 2012 from which he never fully recovered, passed away at his Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles, as confirmed by his longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz.

The son of a Royal Navy chaplain and a school secretary, Timothy James Curry was born on 19 April 1946 in the English village of Grappenhall, Cheshire. He was never destined to follow in his parents' footsteps. Having sampled the travelling life as a boy — Cheshire to Hong Kong to Plymouth to Bath, all before the age of 12 — he caught the acting bug in school plays, and went on to study Drama and English at Birmingham University, mostly by ditching classes for extracurricular productions.

A talented soprano with undeniable acting ability, Curry's breakthrough came in the original 1968 production of Hair. It was there that he first met Richard O'Brien, who five years later would write — and invite Curry to audition for — an experimental new musical: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. With his insatiable, provocative, fearless turn as Dr Frank-N-Furter, first in London, then Los Angeles, and eventually in Jim Sharman's cult classic 1975 movie, Curry announced his arrival as a bona fide star.

Through the 1980s and 90s he became a household name with a wild variety of roles: the moustachioed con man Rooster Hannigan in Annie; operatic malevolence as the literally devilish Darkness in Ridley Scott's Legend; breathless, bumbling brilliance as butler Wadsworth in Clue; the pompous Concierge of Home Alone 2: Lost In New York; and, in one of his most out-of-left-field turns, killer clown Pennywise in the original miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's It.

The thing about a performer like Tim Curry is that once you start listing his roles — the movies, TV shows, and even video games (his delivery of the word "Space!" in Command And Conquer: Red Alert 3 will always be famous) — you realise he always gave 100 per cent, no matter the assignment. Long John Silver surrounded by Muppets? Tim Curry. An animated Emperor Palpatine? Tim Curry. Nigel Thornberry, or the audiobooks of A Series Of Unfortunate Events? Tim Curry.

Tributes have poured in from friends, family and collaborators. Luke Evans, who has just wrapped an acclaimed run as Broadway's latest Frank-N-Furter, paid tribute to "a force, a bright fierce flame, an exquisite charm". His Annie co-star Carol Burnett remembered "a dear friend", attesting that "nobody could play a lovable villain like he could." Clue co-star Lesley Ann Warren called him her "companion in crime", writing: "The brilliant, hilarious, hysterically funny magician of artistry has left us."

Whether a sweet transvestite, a breathless butler, a West Country pirate or a horned Lord of Darkness, Tim Curry was a singular performer who loved what he did his whole life through. He will be remembered for his immense talent, magnetic charisma, and a body of work destined to bring joy to viewers of all ages for generations to come.