Biography

Tim Curry was born in Grappenhall, a small village in the English county of Cheshire, on The 19th of April 1946. His father, James, was a Royal Navy Methodist Chaplain and his mother, Patricia, was a school secretary. Timothy James Curry was a boy soprano in the church at the age of six and started performing in school plays from a very early age. Tim spent his early childhood in various naval bases including Hong Kong (until he was 2 and a half) and then various ports around the UK such as Plymouth and Portsmouth. When his father died, when Tim was just twelve, he moved to South London with his mother and sister. It was decided Tim would attend boarding school at the prestigious Kingswood School in Bath, Somerset. The School is notable for being founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and it was originally built to school the sons of Methodist ministers.

Despite his father’s profession and his religious schooling, Tim explains he was never under any pressure to be religious and admits he has been, and he remains, ‘a cheerful agnostic’ since he was a boy.

At the age of eighteen Tim left School and took a gap year before going to University in 1965. There were only three universities in England at the time who offered Drama as part of a degree (Bristol, Manchester & Birmingham) and even then you had to study the subject as a ‘combined honour’ whereby you had to study another subject alongside it. Tim finally settled upon a degree in English & Drama at BirminghamUniversity due to its close proximity to Stratford-Upon-Avon and its strong English Department complete with the internationally renowned ‘Shakespeare Institute’. He claims because he had no choice but to be ‘academic’ in his approach to acting he felt that Birmingham University was the best place to be. He admits he ‘wasn’t a great student’ and simply ‘acted all the time.’ A lecturer tried to stop Tim from taking his final exam as he had never met him before!

Tim graduated from University in 1968 and within a few months he got his first professional job in the London Production of Hair. Tim admits he ‘blagged’ his way into the production by ‘lying through his teeth’. An Equity card was required to audition and thus appear in the play and despite not owning one, Tim insisted he did, getting through numerous rounds of auditions before they discovered he didn’t have one. By this point the producers were so impressed with him they insisted Equity should give him a card, and as they say – The rest is history! Tim appeared in the infamous nude scene and played various different roles when other actors were ‘too stoned’ to appear, relishing in the experience and training the show provided him with. He says Hair was his ‘drama school’ and he learnt an awful lot about performing during his time with the show between 1968 – 1970.

He left the company of Hair in 1970 and continued his acting career up and down the country most notably with the Glasgow Citizens Theatre and The Royal Court Theatre in London. It was due to his work at The Royal Court that he heard about an audition for a musical written by his friend and Hair co-star Richard O’Brien. In June, 1973, Tim landed the starring role of Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. He auditioned with a rousing rendition of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and despite originally auditioning for the part of Rocky – he was offered the plum role of Frank. The production opened at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1973 and Tim continued to perform as Frank in both the LA and Broadway Shows alongside the screen adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show which marked his motion picture debut.

The role of Frank rocketed Tim’s profile and he found himself mixing with the rich and famous in London and Los Angeles. It was when the production transferred to Broadway that things began to look uncertain, and the show closed within a month due to bad reviews and ticket sales. To add insult to injury his movie debut inThe Rocky Horror Picture Show was initially a box office failure and Tim returned to England to continue his stage and small screen career.

It wasn’t long until Tim’s ambition and talent brought him back to the Broadway Stage and in October 1975, just six months after Rocky Horror closed, Tim was back in New York performing in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties. The show was a hit and Tim’s performance as Tristan Tzara gained him great critical acclaim. He continued his television career in the UK and in December 1975 Tim appeared as Jerome K Jerome alongside Michael Palin and Stephen Moore in another Stoppard project Three Men In A Boat.

Tim continued to work on British Television and appeared in several TV Shows throughout the late seventies, including Rock Follies Of 77 and, most notably, as William Shakespeare in the mini-series Life Of Shakespeare in 1978. Tim also returned to the big screen in 1978 and appeared alongside Alan Bates & John Hurt with a small role in the feature film The Shout. It was during this time that Tim finally found himself able to pursue a career in rock music, and he spent his time between New York and London making his first record Read My Lips (1978). The Rocky Horror Picture Show had started to gain momentum on the midnight movie circuit in New York, and Tim found he had a whole new fan base won by his brilliant portrayal of the infamous sweet transvestite Frank N Furter. This newly foundfame gave him the opportunity to start to work as a musician as he suddenly had a ready-made audience for his Concerts throughout the United States and Europe.

In 1979 Tim took an entire year away from theatre, film and television and devoted himself to the production and promotion of his second album Fearless. Tim wrote several tracks for the album and he went on a full scale tour of the United States and Europe. He appeared in two music videos: Paradise Garage & I Do The Rock, which were to be shown before Midnight Screeningsof Rocky Horror. Although Tim thoroughly enjoyed the chance to be a Rock God for a year, the album never became a mainstream hit, and in 1980 Tim returned to stage and screen to continue his acting career.

Between 1980 &1981 Tim appeared alongside Ian McKellen & Jane Seymour in Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus. Forplaying the title character of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Washington and New York, Tim was nominated for his first Tony Award, but he lost the trophy to his co-star McKellen. Alongside his performances in Amadeus, Tim continued to quietly work on his music career putting together his third and final album Simplicity (1981). He continued to develop his film career, and alongside performing as Mozart and recording his album, he was filming his scenes for the movie Times Square. During this period of his life, Tim found himself fulfilling a lifelong dream when he was cast as Rooster Hannigan in John Huston’s screen adaptation of Annie. He was thrilled to be working with a director as renowned as Huston, and he speaks fondly of his time on what is often considered Hollywood’s last big musical.

In 1982 Tim returned to the London stage in a revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. Taking to the stage at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Tim played the glamorous Pirate King and admits it was the first time in his life he was required to take formal singing lessons. Tim gained rave reviews for his performance and won The Royal Variety Club award for ‘Stage Actor Of The Year’. Tim’s return to the UK saw several television appearances including Blue Money, a comedy written specifically for Tim as a vehicle to showcase his mimicry and singing skills. We see him imitate Elvis, Mick Jagger, and perhaps his most remembered impersonation, Billie Holiday! He also appeared in a television adaptation of Oliver Twist as Bill Sikes and the feature film The Ploughman’s Lunch as journalist Jeremy Hancock, which to this day Tim claims to be one of his favourite film roles.

Tim remained in England and in 1983 he joined The National Theatre where he stayed until 1986, performing in a number of productions including The Rivals, Love For Love, Dalliance and The Threepenny Opera. Alongside his commitment to The National Theatre it was during this period Tim was to appear in perhaps some of his most remembered movie roles. In 1985 he appeared in both Ridley Scott’s Legend, where he wore full prosthetic make-up to play the now iconic character of Darkness, and The Jonathan Lynn & John Landis movie Clue where he played one of his most memorable characters, Wadsworth. In 1986 Tim appeared as The Grand Wizard in the TV Movie The Worst Witch, a role often remembered as a pivotal performance for all the wrong reasons, mostly due to the now infamous ‘Anything Can Happen On Halloween’ music video.

After working at The National Theatre for several years, Tim claims he seriously needed to increase his income and thus agreed to appear in the US National Tour of Me & My Girl as the central character Bill Snibson. He toured the United States throughout 1988 before doing a run at The Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. It was during this residency at The Pantages that two things that would change Tim’s life and career occurred. The first was that Tim decided to move to Los Angeles permanently after his run in Me & My Girl, as he wanted to focus on a movie career, and LA was ‘where they point camera’s at you’. The second happened quite by chance when he was approached to voice The Serpent in a cartoon adaptation of The Creation. Tim agreed and found he thoroughly enjoyed doing voiceover work, prompting him to mention his imminent move to LA and how he’d love to be considered for any future voice work available. Tim has since gone on to be one of the most well known, prolific voiceover artists in the industry today. He has voiced hundreds of cartoon characters, perhaps most notably Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys, a varied range of Audiobooks including Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and many video games, including Gabriel Knight, Frankenstein: Through The Eyes of A Monster, and most recently Red Alert 3, Dragon Age: Origins, & Brutal Legend.

Following his move to LA, Tim appeared in the television series Wiseguy (1989) as corrupt record producer Winston Newquay in the story arc ‘Dead Dog Records’. He appeared in six episodes, and his performance is often regarded by fans as one of his best. Tim returned to the stage between 1989 and 1990 playing William Hogarth in The Art Of Success for The Manhattan Theatre Club before finally attempting to pursue a focused movie career in LA. In 1990 Tim won a small role alongside Sean Connery in The Hunt For Red October followed by a television adaptation of Stephen King’s IT where he played Pennywise, a terrifying killer clown where Tim yet again, somewhat reluctantly, returned to wearing prosthetic makeup for the role. Alongside these roles, Tim appeared as The Prosecutor in Rodger Walter’s benefit concert The Wall: Live In Berlin which marked a year’s passing of the destruction of The Berlin Wall.

In 1991 Tim continued to pursue his film career appearing in Oscar with Sylvester Stallone. Tim admits the role of Dr. Thornton Poole, a shy and bumbling elocution coach, remains one of his favourite parts as he got to play a genuinely kind character who gets the girl – a complete contrast to the dark menacing villains Tim is well known for playing. Unable to resist the lure of the stage, Tim appeared briefly with his good friend and Pass The Ammo (1988) co-star Annie Potts in Love Letters at The LA Theatre Club in 1991. Tim also continued his voiceovercareer and appeared in his first full-length animated feature film FernGully: The Last Rainforest in 1992.

Although Tim continued to make steady progress with his movie career, appearing in the popular movie sequel Home Alone 2: Lost In New York as the Plaza’s nosey concierge Mr. Hector, he decided to return to the Broadway Stage during 1992. Tim appeared in the musical My Favourite Year as Alan Swann, an ageing alcoholic movie star who is given one last chance to revive his washed-up career on a television show. Tim gained his second Tony Award nomination, but yet again did not win. In 1993 Tim returned to the big screen where he created one of his most memorable villains in Walt Disney’s The Three Musketeers as the evil Cardinal Richelieu. In 1994 he appeared in The Shadow alongside Alec Baldwin and his Amadeus co-star Ian McKellen.

Alongside large amounts of animation voice work, Tim continued to work on the small and large screen, appearing in the TV show Earth 2 (1994) and the feature film Congo in 1995. In 1996 Tim landed the role of Long John Silver in the new Muppet Movie Muppet Treasure Island. Tim gained great critical acclaim for this magical and superb performance and director Brian Henson applauded Tim’s ability to stand his own amongst the screen-grabbing Muppet crew. Tim performed his two songs ‘Sailing For Adventure’ and ‘Professional Pirate’ live on set and impressed Henson so much, he insisted all performers should do the same from then on.

Tim’s appeared in several films through 1996 and 1997, including Lover’s Knot and McHale’s Navy, which were filmed alongside his animation work on the cult cartoon Duckman and television guest parts in Lexx and a TV adaptation of Titanic. In 1997 Tim once again worked with his good friend Annie Potts on the ABC Sitcom Over The Top. Tim worked as a producer on the series and did several large-scale interviews to promote the series on shows such as The View, Regis & Kelly, and Arthel & Fred. Tim was the star of the show as washed-up actor Simon Ferguson, the ex-husband of Annie Potts’ hotel owning Hadley. Simon is sacked from daytime soap ‘Days To Remember’ and shows up at his ex-wife’s hotel, hoping for a free place to stay, despite the fact their marriage of just three days ended twenty years before. The show also featured a young Steve Carell as a wacky European chef and guest stars such as John Ritter. Unfortunately only three episodes of the eleven filmed were ever shown on American television due to low ratings. It is widely agreed that the show was never really given a chance and would have had better success if shown today.

After the lack of success of Over The Top, Tim went on to do several television and straight-to-video movies such as Doom Runners (1998) and the ill-fated Addams Family Reunion where Tim as Gomez and Daryl Hannah as Morticia never truly had a chance when compared to Raul Julia’s and Angelica Huston’s performances in the previous two films. The television ‘mockumentary’ Jackie’s Back was filmed in 1999 alongside a great deal of voiceover work inanimation, audiobooks, and video games before Tim finally got back into mainstream work during 2000.

Tim appeared in the widely anticipated movie adaptation of Charlie’s Angels in 2000 as villain Rodger Corwin. Alongside this Hollywood movie he appeared in two small scale independent films Four Dogs Playing Poker (2000) and ‘Brit Flick’ Sorted (2000) before returning to the Broadway Stage in 2001. Tim played the lead of Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol for the Madison Square Garden Theatre. This was Tim’s first theatre performance for almost a decade, and he took a strong role in the campaign to attract people to New York and the theatre after the 9/11 attacks.

Following his performance as Scrooge, Tim returned to film and television work appearing in Attila (2001), Scary Movie 2 (2001), Wolf Girl (2001), and The Scoundrel’s Wife (2002). In 2001 he provided the voice of Nigel Thornberry in the Nickelodeon cartoon The Wild Thornberrys which remains one of his most popular animation voiceovers to this day. In 2002 Tim landed the role of Mr. French in a remake of the popular sitcom Family Affair. After the failure of Over The Top, this series marked a chance for Tim to return to mainstream American television and prove himself to the public once more. Unfortunately, despite a well-crafted and subtle performance by Tim, this show was also slated by the critics, and, once again, Tim did not gain the success he clearly craved and deserved.

Animation feature films and cartoon voiceovers followed alongside two television guest star appearances in the popular sitcoms Monk and Will & Grace and the feature film Kinsey during 2004. It was in early 2004 Tim was approached by his friend and ex-Monty Python star Eric Idle and asked to attend a read-through for a new musical written by Idle based on the 1975 film Monty Python & The Holy Grail to be named Spamalot. Tim would be playing the role made famous by Graham Chapman, King Arthur, in this Broadway-bound musical comedy spoof. The reading went well, and, to quote Tim, ‘the whole thing went like Dambusters’ and the show was to go ahead. Spamalot was performed inChicago for a preview period to be followed by a run on Broadway. Tim secured the role of King Arthur alongside Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez as The Lady Of The Lake. Tim performed in the show between 2004 and 2007 appearing in the Chicago, Broadway and London productions. His role in the London production marked his return to the London stage for the first time in twenty years. He performed in London for a limited four-month run and was then replaced by Simon Russell Beale.

During his time in Spamalot, an old foot injury which he’d had surgery for many years before, began to surface again. He continued to perform in Spamalot despite the injury and has since had more surgery to correct the problem. However, due to this persistent problem, Tim has said how he would perhaps find it difficult to perform in such a demanding theatre production again, making Spamalot his ‘farewell’ show. Of course, we all hope this isn’t the case, as Tim truly belongs on the stage – but his health must come first!

Tim returned to film and television appearing in the sitcom Psych in 2007 as a Simon Cowell-type talent judge called Nigel St. Nigel. He appeared alongside Patrick Swayze in 2007’s Christmas In Wonderland and returned to British Television for the first time in several years in Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic in 2008. In 2009 Tim appeared as Dodo in a Syfy Channel adaptation of Alice In Wonderland simply titled Alice. This was quickly followed by yet more British television during Christmas of 2009 where viewers saw Tim appear in an episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot entitled Appointment With Death at 9pm on Christmas Day. Tim appeared as an eccentric Italian magician on the BBC’s ever popular television series Cranford alongside Judi Dench the very next day.

Tim most recently appeared as serial killer Billy Flynn on CBS’s Criminal Minds. Tim appeared in the final episode of season five in May 2010 and the first episode of season six in September 2010. In October 2010 Tim appeared as Dr Monro in the John Landis Film Burke and Hare. In May 2011 Tim was set to return to the UK stage as The Player in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead directed by Trevor Nunn. Unfortunately after only a few days in the production at Chichester Festival Theatre Tim was forced to pull out of the play due to ill health. Tim's understudy, Chris Andrew Mellon, took on the role of The Player for the remainder of the Chichester run and in the London run at The Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Tim currently lives in Los Angeles with his dog DeNiro, a puppy he took home from the set of Bailey’s Billions in 2005. He has never been married and has no children. Tim is an avid reader, painter, and a keen gardener; he created a beautiful garden from scratch in his previous residence in Los Feliz, LA, which was featured in several magazines alongside his interior design skills. In addition to his performance career, Tim is known to enjoy property development and has developed several beautiful homes around Los Angeles. Tim has not released any personal albums since Simplicity in 1981 but he appears on many Original Cast Recordings including My Favourite Year and Spamalot. He has also appeared in several benefit concerts over the years where he has performed songs, sketches, readings, and speeches. He is also regularly featured in rehearsed readings for Universities (such as UCLA) and for friends and colleagues (He appeared in Eric Idle’s rehearsed reading of What About Dick? in 2007). Tim continues to pursue a film and television career alongside an incredibly prolific voiceover career where he records several adverts, audiobooks and cartoons every month. Tim has said he would love the opportunity to record a jazz album and he would love to perform his ‘dream role’ of Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady. Tim has had an exciting and varied career and I hope you will join us in enjoying and anticipating many more fantastic projects in the years to come!

If you would like to find out more about Tim have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions Page by clicking here!