Tim Curry, the legendary actor whose wild, unforgettable performances in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Stephen King’s It made him a pop culture icon, has died at 80.

Curry died late Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home, according to TMZ. The actor had battled serious health problems for years after suffering a major stroke in 2012.

For generations of movie fans, Curry was impossible to forget.

Whether he was strutting across the screen in fishnets as the outrageous Dr. Frank-N-Furter, terrifying millions of viewers as Pennywise the Clown or stealing scenes as a suspicious hotel concierge in Home Alone 2, Curry had a rare talent for making even the strangest characters unforgettable.

His biggest breakthrough came with The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Curry first played Frank-N-Furter in the original London stage production before bringing the flamboyant mad scientist to the big screen alongside Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick in the 1975 movie.

The bizarre musical initially struggled at the box office, but something extraordinary happened afterward.

Rocky Horror became one of the biggest cult movies of all time.

Fans began packing late-night screenings dressed as characters from the film, shouting lines at the screen, tossing props and singing along with songs including “Time Warp” and Curry’s memorable “Sweet Transvestite.”

The movie ultimately turned Curry into a permanent part of pop culture.

But Curry was determined not to become trapped by the role.

He quickly began showing audiences just how versatile he could be.

In 1982’s Annie, Curry played scheming con man Rooster Hannigan alongside Carol Burnett.

Then came another role that would haunt an entire generation.

In the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King’s It, Curry transformed himself into Pennywise, the demonic clown lurking beneath the fictional town of Derry.

More than 37 million households reportedly tuned in to the two-part ABC miniseries.

Curry’s raspy voice, disturbing grin and unpredictable performance helped turn Pennywise into one of television’s most terrifying villains.

Director Tommy Lee Wallace later compared Curry’s improvisational ability to Robin Williams, saying his job was largely to give the actor room to perform.

Curry also became a favorite of comedy fans thanks to 1985’s Clue, where he played frantic butler Wadsworth.

The movie was not initially a blockbuster, but like Rocky Horror, it developed a passionate following and became a cult favorite.

Then came The Hunt for Red October in 1990, where Curry appeared alongside Sean Connery.

Two years later, he popped up in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as the suspicious Plaza Hotel concierge determined to figure out what young Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, was up to.

Curry continued playing villains audiences loved to hate.

He portrayed Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island and appeared in films including Congo, Charlie’s Angels and McHale’s Navy.

His talents went far beyond movies.

Curry earned three Tony Award nominations during his celebrated stage career.

He was nominated for playing Mozart in Amadeus, alcoholic actor Alan Swann in My Favorite Year and King Arthur in the smash Broadway musical Monty Python’s Spamalot.

He was also a prolific voice actor.

Curry won a Daytime Emmy for playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan and the Pirates and later voiced the villainous Hexxus in FernGully: The Last Rainforest.

Younger audiences knew him as eccentric wildlife documentary host Nigel Thornberry in Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberrys.

He also voiced Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Curry even released three rock albums and toured as a musician during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

His life changed dramatically in 2012 when he suffered a major stroke.

The medical emergency left Curry using a wheelchair, but it did not end his career.

He continued acting and doing voice work and later returned to the Rocky Horror universe in Fox’s 2016 television production The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.

This time, Curry appeared as the narrator while Laverne Cox stepped into the role that had made him famous.

He also made a rare movie appearance in the horror film Stream, released theatrically in August 2024.

Born Timothy James Curry on April 19, 1946, in Cheshire, England, Curry lost his father, a Royal Navy chaplain, when he was just 12.

After graduating from the University of Birmingham, he launched his professional acting career in a 1968 West End production of Hair.

That production introduced him to Richard O’Brien, who would go on to create Rocky Horror.

Together, they helped transform Frank-N-Furter from what had originally been envisioned as a more conventional German scientist into the corset-wearing, fishnet-clad character who would change Curry’s life forever.

Curry later recalled that even Princess Diana was apparently a fan.

When the two met, Diana reportedly admitted she had seen Rocky Horror and jokingly told Curry that it had “quite completed my education.”

Despite spending decades in the spotlight, Curry remained fiercely private about his personal life.

He never married and had no children.

But on screen, his characters were anything but quiet.

From Frank-N-Furter to Pennywise, Wadsworth to Nigel Thornberry, Curry created the kind of performances people remembered decades after the credits rolled.

And few actors could make being the bad guy look quite as much fun.