Creator / Tim Curry

Timothy James Curry (April 19, 1946-) is an English actor. With a handful of exceptions, every character he's ever played is a) evil, b) dead by the end of the film, or c) both. Has played Satan a couple of times, most spectacularly in Ridley Scott's Legend (1985). (And he topped even that with Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the TV miniseries It.) And it'd probably be easier to list the cartoons that he hasn't voiced a character in.

His first on-screen role was that of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (carrying on from the original stage production), which rather set the tone for his later roles. He even recorded a few rock albums in the late 1970s/early 1980s in the wake of its success, and he's done more than a few musicals since, usually animated ones. He's British, which is also convenient because most of the heroes he plays against have American accents (even in movies such as The Three Musketeers, which is set in France, or FernGully, which is set in an Australian rainforest. Even the goanna in that movie managed to be from South-Central L.A.). He played Captain James Hook in the TV series Peter Pan & the Pirates, a role for which he won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series.

Tim Curry has also done extensive voice work for video games; a memorable (live action) role is as Premier Anatoly Cherdenko in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, in which he once again plays a Magnificent Evil Deadpan Snarking Bastard... but strangely not a British one, though it doesn't make the role any less effective or awesome.

Sports a Beard of Evil, for convenience.

A little known fact is that Tim Curry was originally cast to be the Joker for Batman: The Animated Series, but was replaced by Mark Hamill. The DVD Commentary stated that Curry was too creepy (keep in mind his performance as Pennywise) and the role was threatening to damage his throat. He was also the actor chosen to play the Doctor in the 1996 TV movie, but he suggested Paul McGann for the role instead due to a scheduling conflict.

He returned to the forefront for his work in The Wild Thornberrys as Nigel Thornberry (who for once is not an Evil Brit), due to the various memes surrounding the character.

For his lovable villain roles, it is not surprising that he'd be considered to be the Anglo-American counterpart of Norio Wakamoto (or vice versa).

His voice is rather distinctive in the animation roles he's performed, but not always. Darkwing Duck fans might be surprised to learn that the Spanish (or is it Russian?) accented Taurus Bulba is actually Curry. Likewise, his role as the Goose God in Courage the Cowardly Dog doesn't sound much like him at first. Nor does his role as Zimbo (the one-legged fly who is often seen around the Snorch) on Ahhh! Real Monsters, which he, according to an interview, based on an "Argentinian gigolo".

Sadly, in 2012 Tim suffered a stroke. As of October 2015, footage of him promoting the 40th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show shows that he is able to speak (though more slowly and deliberately), but he uses a wheelchair now and has some facial paralysis. He has been cast in the 2016 TV movie remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as The Narrator, which hopefully means his voice has recovered even more.

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In person, Tim Curry has appeared in:

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as Dr. Frank N. Furter.
• Annie (1982) as Rooster Hannigan.
• Clue (1985) as Wadsworth aka Mr. Boddy in the 3rd ending.
• Legend (1985) as Darkness.
• The Worst Witch television movie (1986) as the Grand Wizard.
• Wiseguy (1989) as Winston Newquay.
• The Hunt for Red October (1990) as Dr. Yevgeniy Petrov
• It (1990) as Pennywise.
  • It must be noted that as a method actor, Tim Curry stayed in character as Pennywise for much of the shoot, which greatly unnerved many of his fellow actors.
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) as Mr. Hector, the Concierge.
• Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) as Mr. Jigsaw.
• The Three Musketeers (1993) as Cardinal Richelieu.
• The Shadow (1994) as Farley Claymore.
• Duckman (1994-1997) as recurring villain King Chicken.
• Congo (1995) as Herkermer Homolka.
• Muppet Treasure Island (1996) as Long John Silver.
• Titanic (1996) as Simon Doonan.
• Addams Family Reunion (1998) as Gomez Addams, (Replacing Raul Julia).
• Attila (2001) as Emperor Theodosius II
• Scary Movie 2 (2001) as the Professor.
• The Colour of Magic (2008) as Trymon.
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008) as Premier Anatoly Cherdenko.

Tim Curry's voice has appeared in:

• Abel's Island (1989) as Abel.
• Peter Pan and the Pirates (1990-1991) as Captain James Hook.
• The Legend of Prince Valiant (1991-1993) as Sir Gawain.
• FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) as Hexxus.
• Mighty Max (1993-1994) as Skullmaster
• Sonic the Hedgehog (1993-1994) as King Acorn
• Aladdin: The Series as Caliph Kapok and Amok Mon-Ra.
• Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad (1994) as Kilokahn.
• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994-1999) as Zimbo.
• Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger as Melek nar Kiranka.
• Gabriel Knight (first and third games) as Gabriel.
• Toonstruck (1996) as Count Nefarious.
• Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) as Maestro Forte.
• The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004) as Nigel Thornberry.
• Voltron: The Third Dimension (1998-2000) as Prince Lotor
• Xyber 9 New Dawn (1999) as Renard.
• Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot as Dr. Neugog.
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009) as Arl Rendon Howe.
• Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja (2012) as The Sorcerer.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2013, Series Finale) (Replacing Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious)
• Brütal Legend (2009) as Doviculus.
• The Cat Returns (2002) as the Cat King.
• ChalkZone (2002-2008) as the pumpkin-headed singer Jacko.
• Over the Garden Wall as Auntie Whispers, a monstrous good witch.

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Tim Curry is known for these particular tropes:

• Badass Baritone: Interestingly, he was apparently a boy soprano in his youth.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Compare the page image to this video of him in the Made-for-TV Movie of The Worst Witch from the 80's. Yes, that's the same guy.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor
• Money, Dear Boy: Much like Christopher Lee, Mr. Curry isn't particularly picky about the roles he plays, especially in cartoons, as he's been in hundreds of them. While he usually plays the roles quite well, a great many of these features are not well known for being very good.
• Promoted Fanboy: Reportedly, he's a huge Scooby-Doo fan (he appeared in The Witch's Ghost and The Goblin King). He was supposed to be Emile Montivarious in the live-action film, but turned down the role once he learned that Scrappy Doo was involved.
• Stalker with a Crush: Not Tim himself, but rather his fans. In fact, it's the main reason why he was so reluctant to talk about being in Rocky Horror for so long.

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Tim Curry's characters provide examples of the following tropes:

• Affably Evil: While he's generally playing jerks or Faux Affably Evil characters, he did a great job as the charming Anti-Villain John Long Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.
• Ax-Crazy: Many of the villains he's played can be considered completely and utterly insane. Played painfully (and literally) straight with Dr. Frank N. Furter.
• Bondage Is Bad: His role as Emperor Doviculus in Brütal Legend.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Often gives one of these to show when a character he plays is up to something devious. Interestingly enough, one of his nicknames is "Cheshire Cat".
  • Most notable example: Home Alone 2, combined in a Match Cut with a similar smile from the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
• Deadpan Snarker: Often plays this kind of character.
• Evil Brit: He mostly plays these types of characters.
• Evil Is Hammy: A lot of his villainous roles are quite hammy.
  • Surprisingly averted with Arl Howe in Dragon Age: Origins, who is more subtly evil and detestable as opposed to over-the-top.
• Evil Laugh: Is quite fond of them.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Comes with having a baritone voice.
• Genre Blindness: His character in Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, Ben Ravencroft, who missed the memo about how Sealed Evil in a Can does not automatically do your bidding just because you freed it.
• Head-Tiltingly Kinky: He plays Doviculus in Brütal Legend, who's basically a kinky version of his role in Legend (1985). Tim Schafer sought him out specifically for this role.
• The Hedonist
• Humanoid Abomination: His role as Pennywise, and, in turn, one of his most well-known.
• Jerkass: Most of his characters. Even many of the relatively few who aren't actually villains are complete and total jerks.
• Large Ham: Often overlapping with Evil Is Hammy.
• Mad Scientist: Has played several over the years. The most well-known being Dr. Calamitous from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron (and, by extension, the Nicktoons Unite series) and, of course, Dr. Frank N Furter.
• Monster Clown: His version of Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the movie It.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Accents aren't exactly his strong suit.
• Slasher Smile: He uses these when the Cheshire Cat Grin isn't evil enough. Most notably in the The Rocky Horror Picture Show, right before Frank hacks Eddie to pieces with a pick axe.
• Smug Snake: If he's not one of the above, he's one of these. And he plays them well.
• The Butler Did It: Clue. Subverted in that he's actually the real Mr. Boddy, depending on the ending.
• Villain Song: He's performed several over the years, and he is talented at them:
  • "Sweet Transvestite", "I Can Make You a Man", "Planet Schmanet Janet", "Don't Dream It", and "Wild and Untamed Thing" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show
  • "Easy Street" from Annie
  • "Toxic Love" from Ferngully The Last Rainforest
  • "Don't Make Me Laugh" from The Pebble and the Penguin
  • "Professional Pirate" from Muppet Treasure Island
  • "Don't Fall in Love" from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
  • "Nick O'Teen" from Ozzy and Drix
  • "Just Like Me" from The Little Mermaid
  • "I Wanna Bury You" from ChalkZone
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: The bizarre Czech-Jamaican voice he sings with in "I Do The Rock."

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