Tim Curry died of coronary artery disease, death certificate confirms

Tim Curry, the British actor best known for his iconic turn as Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, died of coronary artery disease, his spokesman has confirmed to the BBC. The 80-year-old passed away at his Los Angeles home on 25 August. A death certificate filed in Los Angeles County also cited a history of stroke and kidney cancer as significant conditions contributing to his death.

Born in the north-western town of Warrington in 1946, Curry landed his first acting job after university in the 1968 London production of the rock musical Hair. It was there that his castmate Richard O'Brien asked him to audition for a new musical he had written—The Rocky Horror Show. Curry's portrayal of the lingerie-clad, transvestite scientist in the 1973 stage production and the 1975 cult film adaptation catapulted him to fame and fixed him in the popular imagination. His delivery of the line "don't dream it, be it" became emblematic of the film's enduring appeal.

His career spanned stage, screen and voice work. Curry played the sadistic clown Pennywise in the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King's It, King Arthur in the stage production of Spamalot, Rooster in the 1982 musical film Annie, and appeared in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Hunt for Red October and Scary Movie 2. His versatility as a performer earned him a devoted following across generations.

Curry suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2012 that left him reliant on a wheelchair. He subsequently shifted his focus exclusively to voice acting, expressing gratitude that the stroke had resulted in paralysis rather than robbing him of his ability to speak. He continued to appear at film conventions and published his memoir, Vagabond, last year, in which he reflected on the medical incident and his prolonged recovery. "If there was anything impressed upon me in the aftermath, it was just how remarkable it was that I was still alive," he told People magazine at the time.

Tributes have poured in from colleagues and admirers. Susan Sarandon, who starred alongside Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, described him as "funny, sexy, original" and recalled that even in later years, "wheelchair bound, he continued to be so sweet and generous with his fans". Michael McKean, his co-star in the 1985 comedy whodunit Clue, said that the ailing actor had been in a "grim physical state" but remained spirited. Curry's legacy as one of British cinema's most distinctive and beloved performers—a man whose flamboyant, boundary-pushing turn in a low-budget cult film left an indelible mark on popular culture—endures.