Tim Curry, Rocky Horror Picture Show star, dies at 80

Tim Curry, the English actor whose flamboyant portrayal of Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show made him a cult icon, has died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 80.

Curry died on Tuesday night, August 25, 2026, according to his longtime manager, Marcia Hurwitz. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed officers responded to a medical call at his residence around 11:23 p.m. and conducted a death investigation, finding a man in his 80s who was declared deceased at the scene. No cause of death was immediately provided, though Curry had been in declining health for years following a major stroke in 2012.

Born in Cheshire, England, in 1946, Curry began his career on the London stage, appearing in the original West End production of Hair in 1968. His breakthrough came in 1973 when he was cast as the transvestite mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in Richard O'Brien's musical comedy The Rocky Horror Show. Curry reprised the role for the 1975 film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which initially flopped but later became a global phenomenon through raucous midnight screenings where audiences dressed as characters and participated in the show.