Source: Entertainment Weekly

Tim Curry is going home, and his Rocky Horror Picture Show castmates are bidding him a grand farewell.

Curry died at the age of 80 on Tuesday evening. A cause of death has not yet been reported, although the actor had endured serious health issues in the years after experiencing a major stroke in 2012.

After meeting writer Richard O’Brien while working on the London production of Hair in 1968, Curry originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic musical The Rocky Horror Show in 1973. He later stepped back into Frank’s iconic platform boots for the 1975 film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Susan Sarandon, the film’s ingenue Janet Weiss, called Curry a “funny, sexy, original” in a tribute post.

“But what I loved about him most was his heart,” she shared alongside photos with the actor. “Even wheelchair bound he continued to be so sweet and generous with his fans. Thank you Tim for meaning so much to so many people.”

Patricia Quinn, who starred as extraterrestrial maid Magenta, expressed her heartbreak over her costar’s death. She, alongside Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors) and Nell Campbell (Columbia), had been with Curry at his final public appearance in November 2025. Together, the castmates celebrated the film’s 50th anniversary with a special screening in New York City.

“I am in shock and utterly saddened and heartbroken by the news of Tim’s passing,” Quinn said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.

O’Brien, who played butler Riff Raff in addition to writing the musical, reacted to Curry’s death with an “exceptionally sad heart and misted-up eyes.”

“Tim Curry was a wonderful man by nature who was also a wonderful performer and understood the difference between such delightful achievements,” O’Brien told EW in a statement. “He never sought attention and never put himself before the roles that he played. He was, in short, a good egg and class act. It was both a privilege and delight to have known him and worked with him.”

He concluded his message, saying, “Rest in peace, dear Tim.”

“And that includes the fishnets,” she continued in a statement to EW. “He was a wit, kind, thoughtful, generous, quite shy, bookish, loved you being naughty and joyful company. Had Tim not been cast in the original stage show of Rocky Horror, who knows if the film would have followed. I will miss him tremendously.”

As for Bostwick, he invoked his character’s iconic song, “Dammit Janet,” while remembering his late costar.

“‘The river was deep, but you swam it…the road was long, but you ran it,’” he told EW in a statement. “Dammit Tim, I love you!”

Curry was also remembered by those who stepped into the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter after him. Luke Evans, who recently ended his run as the maniacal scientist in the recent Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, shared a letter he wrote to the late actor on Instagram, saying “there will only be one Tim Curry.”

“Although we’ve never met, you’ve been part of this journey from the very beginning,” Evans wrote. “Every actor who puts on Frank inevitably walks into a conversation that started with you, and I’ve felt that every single night.”

The Clue star often spoke about the legacy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which he believed spread a message of diversity and inclusivity.

“The motto ‘Don’t dream it, be it’ is not necessarily limited to your sexuality,” he told Entertainment Weekly in October 2025. “I think it applies to whatever you dream to be, and that’s a good thing. If it gives people permission to behave in a sexual way that they secretly want to, that’s a good thing, as long as it doesn’t hurt them.”