“Anticip-”
Tim Curry, born Timothy James Curry, is an icon of stage and screen, and the recording studio. Participating in productions as diverse as Annie and Spamalot, every turn he makes is an indelible memory.
EARLY LIFE
Born in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England, on April 19th 1946. His parents were a school secretary, Patricia, and a Royal Navy Chaplain, James. He also had an elder sister, Judith who was a concert pianist. His parents met in Malta during World War 2 and married in Egypt. Judith was born there, and Tim was conceived in South Africa. He was born in England, but before he was a year old the family had moved to Hong Kong. The Curry family moved like any military family until Tim’s father suffered a stroke. Then they moved to Plymouth, near Tim’s maternal grandfather. The stroke did not still James’ efforts, he received an M.A from Bristol University in 1956. Sadly, after another stroke and a bout of pneumonia, James Curry died in 1958.
EDUCATION
After his father’s death, Tim attended boarding school. After that, he got a scholarship to attend Kingswood School in Bath, England, where he began to act in plays. He also developed his singing voice. For a while, he went back and forth trying to decide which art he wanted to pursue. He spent a gap year traveling around Europe with a friend, and decided to focus on his acting. Tim chose the University of Birmingham for college. At the time it was one of the only schools in England to offer a drama program.
Academics weren’t Tim’s passion in school. He went through his classes putting the minimal effort. The majority of his time and passion was spent on stage. He participated in as many extra-curricular productions as he could. A story from those days is that one of Tim’s professors wouldn’t let him sit for a final exam because Tim had been absent so often that the professor didn’t recognize him.
THEATRE
After college, Tim wanted to break into the theatre scene in London. But he faced the classic college grad problem. And in the unique flavor that actors deal with. In order to be in his first professional show, HAIR, in 1968, Tim needed an Actor’s Equity union card. In order to get the card, you need professional acting credits. And in order to have professional acting credits, you need to have the card.
Tim decided to fudge his resume. He lied and said he had both an Equity card and professional experience. By the time the producers caught on, they were so impressed with Tim’s talent that they allowed him to stay in the show, and helped sponsor him to get his card. During the run of the show, Tim met Richard O’Brien, who would change his life just a few years later. HAIR palled for Tim quickly, and he managed to get out of his contract.
He moved on to AFTER HAGGARTY with the Royal Shakespeare company in 1970. After that, the next three years were a mixture of small television roles, various productions in the West End, the Glasgow Civic Repertory company, and the Royal Court Theatre, where stardom waited under the spotlight.
British great Ian McKellen recalls how Tim would come to his Christmas parties in the early 70’s. Tim was mixing with the London theatre crowd at the time. Ian recalls Tim as “the quiet lad in the corner who was a little hard to understand because he never opened his mouth.”
ROCKY HORROR
In 1973, Richard O’Brien invited Tim to audition for his experimental musical project, called THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. This production would be produced at The Royal Court Theatre upstairs. Tim’s audition song was Tutti Frutti. Originally, the director had another actor in mind for Frank-N’-Furter, but once Tim auditioned, there was no other choice.
Rocky Horror was an enormous hit, setting off fireworks in the London theatre scene. The show moved to progressively larger venues, attracting celebrity attention. Mick Jagger and Tennesee Williams were two names interested in the show. After several location changes, the show moved to Los Angeles, where it enjoyed a very successful run at the Roxy. Next, the show moved to Broadway, and for some reason, did not enjoy the same success. It closed after only 45 performances.
Tim was enormously crushed by Broadway’s reaction to Rocky Horror. He retreated to his apartment, and dealt with his first real failure as an artist. He said about that time, “‘I think that was really one of the most formative things that has ever happened to me. I just went home and took out a bottle of vodka for about a month, actually. I sent out for submarine sandwiches and drank and got hugely patched, and then started work again. And I think once you’ve had a really serious failure, nothing can ever be as bad as that again. So you might as well just go for it, because they can’t make you feel any worse than they did before.”
BEHIND THE MIC
Tim Curry didn’t let his failure keep him down. To detail his career over the next four decades would take a far longer article. He was in numerous plays, television shows, movies, and also moved into voice acting. Interestingly, Tim particularly enjoyed voice acting as it gave him a chance to practice American characters. He is so well known as having a British accent that producers wouldn’t hire him for onscreen American parts, so voiceover gave him the opportunity to stretch his craft in a new direction. His credit list for cartoon voices is just as diverse as the rest of his resume. Tim also worked in video games and audiobook work. One of the biggest markers of Tim’s career has been diversity. He has said about his choice in roles, “I want to establish a wide range and play all kinds of parts. It’s that sort of acting career I really respect. I like to turn a sharp left from whatever I’ve done before because that keeps me awake. That’s why I want to be an actor — I don’t want to play endless variations on one character.”
In addition to his incredible range and talent on stage, screen, and behind the voiceover mic, Tim also was able to produce several solo record albums. His youthful ambition to be a singer was given an open door by the success of Rocky Horror. He was able to work with A&M records and produce three solo albums between 1978 and 1981. Tim didn’t find as much success as a singer as he did as an actor, later saying they couldn’t make a ‘greatest hits’ album for him because there weren’t any.
VOICEOVER AND RETIREMENT
In more recent years, Tim’s health has begun to decline, and in 2012, he suffered a stroke. The stroke left him using a wheelchair He has remained more out of the public eye since, but credits his sense of humor for helping him get through his recovery. “Maintaining my sense of humor through rehabilitation was absolutely vital but not tough. It’s just part of my DNA.” Tim has attended a few comic conventions, table readings, and premiers as he has slowly recovered. However, voiceover remains a way for him to continue to perform.
Tim’s long career and many iconic roles across all media render him an iconic cultural voice. One can’t help but admire the passion and craft that has driven him to choose such a variety of roles from the silly to the most serious. The world will always be grateful for his contributions to the entertainment field.
“-pation”