RIP, Tim Curry: Ars remembers his top 10 iconic performances

A dashing pirate, a butler, a shapeshifting killer clown, an alien mad scientist in drag—the man had range. It’s said celebrity deaths come in threes. We lost Sam Neill last month, and the legendary Dolly Parton yesterday. Now we find out that the universe has also seen fit to deprive us of the glorious presence of Tim Curry, who died at home yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 80. No cause of death has been given, but Curry had been in ill health since 2012, when he suffered a stroke and required brain surgery; he had been confined to a wheelchair ever since. Curry’s longtime friend and manager, Marcia Hurwitz, confirmed the actor’s passing to Deadline and said Curry had died peacefully. Per the official announcement: Throughout his life, he refused to be boxed in or confined to others’ expectations. Across five decades, he moved fluidly between comedy, horror, drama, and music, delighting himself and his legion of fans with his countless dynamic personas. … He is, depending on who you ask, the definitive Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the definitive Pennywise, the man who made a butler’s death-scene monologue in Clue an all-time comedic bit, or simply ‘that unforgettable voice’ from a be