It’s said celebrity deaths come in threes. We lost Sam Neill last month, and the legendary Dolly Parton yesterday. Now we find out that the universe has also seen fit to deprive us of the glorious presence of Tim Curry, who died at home yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 80. No cause of death has been given, but Curry had been in ill health since 2012, when he suffered a stroke and required brain surgery; he had been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
Curry’s longtime friend and manager, Marcia Hurwitz, confirmed the actor’s passing to Deadline and said Curry had died peacefully. Per the official announcement:
Throughout his life, he refused to be boxed in or confined to others’ expectations. Across five decades, he moved fluidly between comedy, horror, drama, and music, delighting himself and his legion of fans with his countless dynamic personas. … He is, depending on who you ask, the definitive Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the definitive Pennywise, the man who made a butler’s death-scene monologue in Clue an all-time comedic bit, or simply ‘that unforgettable voice’ from a beloved cartoon of someone’s childhood.
Few actors can claim to have left as many distinct fingerprints on pop culture and though he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2012, he continued adding to his achievements as an artist and, most recently, a writer. Though widely known for his inimitable, flamboyant characters and colorful stage performances, his greatest legacies to those who knew him were his curious, expansive mind and generous, gentle heart, both of which remained open and filled with anticipation until his final breath.
As obituaries and fond tributes roll in, we at Ars choose to mark the passing of this extraordinary performer with our choices for Curry’s top 10 most iconic portrayals on stage, in film, and on television.
(Some spoilers below but no major reveals.)
10. Palpatine/Darth Sidious, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2012–2014)
People sometimes forget that Curry was also a profile voice actor for animation in addition to his many live-action roles, particularly for children’s fare, where his campy silliness played very well. He won an Emmy for voicing Captain Hook in 1990’s Peter Pan and the Pirates, and his work on The Wild Thornberrys (1998–2004) was particularly beloved. From 2012–2014, he played a villain, replacing the late Ian Abercrombie as the voice of Palpatine in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.