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Timothy James "Tim" Curry (born 19
April 1946) is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his
work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. 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 Dancing
Clown in the horror film It (1990).
He played Nigel Thornberry, 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. Curry
resides in Beverly Hills, California and London.
****
Background Information
Born Timothy James Curry
19 April 1946 (1946-04-19) (age 65)
Grappenhall, Warrington, England,
UK
Occupation Actor, Singer
Years active 1968–present
****
Early
life
Curry's father, James, was a
Methodist chaplain in the Royal Navy, and his mother, Patricia, was a school
secretary.[1] Curry was born and raised in Warrington, 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).[2] Deciding to concentrate on acting, Curry graduated from Birmingham
University with a combined degree in English and drama.[3]
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[4] who went on to write Curry's next full-time role, that of Dr.
Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
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.[8]
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)
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
Drake in "The Pebble and the
Penguin" (1995)
Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure
Island (1996)[5]
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"
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)
Damien Kemp in Sorted (2000)
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)[9]
The UnSub, Billy Flynn, Derek
Morgan's nemesis in Criminal Minds fifth season episode "Our Darkest Hour" and
sixth season episode "The Longest Night"(2010)
Voice
acting
This section does not cite any
references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to
reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October
2011)
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)
Klang in Tale Spin 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)
The Evil Manta in The Little
Mermaid Series (1992-94)
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)
The Atrocimator in Turbocharged
Thunderbirds (1994)
Kilokahn in Superhuman Samurai
Syber-Squad (1994)
George Herbert Walker "King"
Chicken on Duckman (1994–1997)
Dr. Anton Sevarius in Gargoyles
(1994)[5]
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)
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
Captain Fitzgerald in Lion of Oz
(2000)
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)
Scarlet Fever and Nick O'Teen in
Ozzy & Drix (2002-2004)
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 ˇMucha 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)
The Chosen One (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 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
Emperor in Kung Fu Panda: Legends
of Awesomeness
Narrator of Cravendale "Cats with
thumbs" adverts (2011)
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)[10]
Arl Rendon Howe in Dragon Age:
Origins (2009)[11]
Jean Descole in Professor Layton
and the Last Specter (english dub) (2011)
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[12] 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
1.^ "Tim Curry Biography (1946–)".
Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/35/Tim-Curry.html.
Retrieved 15 September 2009.
2.^ Mervyn Rothstein, "Tim Curry
Plunges Ahead Into the Past, Part IV", New York Times, 24 January 1990
3.^ Harding, James (1987). The
Rocky Horror Show Book. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. page 45
4.^ "Terry Pratchett's The Colour
of Magic :: Sky One". Web.archive.org. 18 January 2008. Archived from the
original on 18 January 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080118092709/http://www.skyoneonline.co.uk/tcom/tim_curry.htm.
Retrieved 15 September 2009.
5.^ a b c Mark Brown (20 October
2006). "'We were all going to join this street theater troupe. Tim got a job in
Hair the next day. All he had to do was sing'". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1927272,00.html.
Retrieved 26 March 2008.
6.^ "In Step With: Tim Curry".
Parade Magazine. 29 May 2005. http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_05-29-2005/in_step_with_0.
7.^ "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead Announcement". 27 May 2011. http://www.cft.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=728.
8.^ Los Angeles Times. 7 May 2006.
Ruth Ryon. "An Eye for Crowning Touches", Real Estate Section.
9.^ "Landis Heads to the Streets of
Edinburgh for 'Burke & Hare'". http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19231.
10.^ McWhertor, Michael (15 June
2009). "Tim Schafer Explains Why Dio's Out Of Brütal Legend, Tim Curry's In —
ronnie james dio". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5291718/tim-schafer-explains-why-dios-out-of-brutal-legend-tim-currys-in.
Retrieved 15 September 2009.
11.^ "Dragon Age: Origins — VO
Talent". YouTube. 27 August 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTAJn4H3FBA.
Retrieved 15 September 2009.
12.^ Tim Curry Emmy Nominated
****
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