Remembering one of the great - albeit underappreciated - actors of the last half-century

 

Yesterday actor Tim Curry died in Los Angeles at the age of 80.  He'd been wheelchair-bound since a stroke in 2012, which curtailed his acting career.

Curry was an absolute master of different roles, characters and persona.  Here are just a few of his many roles over the years.  Of course, we have to start with the one that made him (in)famous:  Dr. Frankenfurter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".

(Read on to the bottom of this article to see an extended commentary on Rocky Horror (and Tim Curry) from Meat Loaf, one of his co-stars.)

Curry did some serious acting, too.  His role as Chief Medical Officer Petrov in "The Hunt For Red October" was relatively insubstantial, but as a character switch from Rocky Horror always struck me as going from one extreme to another.

Nevertheless, he truly shone in comedy roles.  Here are snippets from his performance as Colonel Anatoly Cherdenko in the 2008 video game "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3".  You can see him struggling to hold back laughter as he plays the character in a magnificently tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top delivery.

In 1992 he played Mr. Hector, the concierge at the Plaza Hotel, in "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York".  This is one of my favorite scenes from that movie.

He memorably played Long John Silver the pirate in "Muppet Treasure Island".

He left his mark on the entertainment world, on stage and screen, with performances like those.  I can't think offhand of any current actor who can replace him in characters like those.  Rest in peace, Mr. Curry, and thank you for many years of viewing pleasure.

I promised you more about the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Meat Loaf gave an extended commentary on his participation in the movie, and his first (emotionally traumatic) encounter with Tim Curry (which resulted in his getting a jaywalking ticket as he tried to flee from the theater!).  There are two parts.

One of the funnier memories I have of Rocky Horror is that, back in the 1970's, South Africa had an official Publications Control Board, dominated by the heavily Calvinist teachings of the Dutch Reformed Church, which censored all books, movies and other entertainment media.  The movie must have given them fits of apoplexy, because they censored it heavily.  As a result, neither of the seduction scenes where Frankenfurther waylays first Janet, then Brad, was included - with the result that nobody could figure out their reactions from that point onward in the film!  Bootleg copies of the entire movie were soon smuggled in, clearing up the confusion.

Peter