50 Years Later: The Real Story Behind the Lips on the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Poster
Great Scott! The groundbreaking cult phenomenon The Rocky Horror Picture Show turns 50 on September 26, 2025 — though if you took a time warp back to 1975, you certainly wouldn’t have guessed the film would still be finding new fans, generations later.
The story of naive engaged couple Brad and Janet — who get far more than they bargained for when their car breaks down on a rainy night — began its life in 1973 as the U.K. stage sensation The Rocky Horror Show and ran for more than seven years in London. Successfully transferring the play’s glam-rock swagger (and leading man, Tim Curry) to the big screen felt like a no-brainer.
The film, however, was a surprising box office bomb in 1975, barely making back its minuscule budget. It was pulled from theaters by its distributor and was largely critically panned.
But then, a funny thing happened: Fans began watching it over and over, and the failed glittery musical was reborn as one of the biggest cult films of all time.
Don’t just sit there, shivering with antici … pation. Read on to rose-tint your world with some facts you never knew about The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
1 Tim Curry got his big break on the street
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
It’s impossible to imagine Rocky Horror without Tim Curry as the film’s glamorous villain, sweet transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter. But Curry, who was 27 the first time he donned those fishnets, was far from an established star at the time — he’d only had a small role in the London production of Hair and appeared in a number of Shakespeare performances around the U.K.
Curry might have continued down that path, if not for a chance encounter with Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien, who also played Riff Raff. In a syndicated 1992 interview with the Newspaper Enterprise Association, Curry revealed that he became aware of the role after running into O’Brien close to his home. “O’Brien had been to the gym to see if he could find a muscleman who could sing,” Curry recalled. “He told me that his musical was going to be done, and I should talk to [director] Jim Sharman. He gave me the script, and I thought, ‘Boy, if this works, it’s going to be a smash.’”
2 “A Different Set of Jaws”
20th Century-Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection
Almost as iconic as anything featured in the actual film is the film’s poster — a pair of pouting lips, covered in red lipstick. In a nod to fellow 1975 film release Jaws, the film’s tagline was “A Different Set of Jaws.” Since the film opens with an extremely similar set of lips, belonging to actress Patricia Quinn (who plays Magenta), many assume her pucker is on the poster, too.
But the actual story is far stranger. The lips belong to a woman named Lorelei Shark, née Goldberg. She began her career working at Dick Clark Productions, but soon became a model — and one of her modeling gigs involved two hours spent posing for the Rocky Horror poster.
Shark went on to appear on Playboy After Dark and became “Lorelei the Loop Girl,” the spokesperson for Chicago radio station WLUP The Loop.
But the most shocking twist to her story? According to a 2016 interview she did with Dearly Departed Tours With Scott Michaels, she’s still never seen the movie.
3 The start of a midnight sensation
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for TCM
Rocky Horror bombed in its initial fall 1975 release, with Fox pulling the film from eight cities and canceling a New York City premiere due to disappointing ticket sales. However, in April 1976, the film began its second life as a midnight movie, where it immediately had more luck; regular screenings were soon held throughout the country, with fans dressing as characters and talking back to the screen, while performers pantomimed the film on the stage below. Curry claimed that Angie Bowie, first wife of David Bowie, was the first person to shout at the screen while the film was being shown.
4 Fans thought Tim Curry was just someone pretending to be Tim Curry
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The film’s ground zero in the ’70s was the New York City cinema the Waverly Theater, which held regular sold-out screenings. Tim Curry happened to be living a block away at the time; as he revealed in a 2005 interview with NPR, “I got to know about it rather quickly because I was a neighbor,” and he saw filmgoers passing by in costume.
He decided to check out the action — but since it was almost impossible to get a ticket, he called the box office ahead of time, to explain that he was in the film and would love to attend a screening. The theater employee’s reply? “You’re the third Tim Curry to call this week.”
Once Curry made it to the theater, he was let in; fans gawked, touching him and running away giggling. But it turned out, not everyone was convinced that he was the real deal: An “usherette came and sort of dragged me out of my seat, announced that I was an imposter, and threw me out of the theater.” Curry showed the staff his passport; they apologized and asked him back to the screening. Incensed, Curry told them, “I wouldn’t dream of coming back in.”
5 Barry Bostwick once played a serial killer who was inspired by The Rocky Horror Picture Show
CBS/Courtesy: Everett Collection
Through the years, Barry Bostwick, who played the charmingly obtuse Brad Majors, has carved out a distinguished career on TV, most notably starring on the ’90s sitcom Spin City. He’s also frequently celebrated his Rocky Horror legacy, presenting screenings of the film and attending fan conventions. But in 2005, he had a chance to do both things at once. In “Creatures of the Night,” a Season 2 episode of the police procedural Cold Case, Bostwick played Roy, a serial killer who may be linked to the 1977 murder of a man who just attended a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Clips and classic tunes from the movie play throughout the episode, and a younger version of Bostwick’s character attends a screening of Rocky Horror in a flashback sequence.
6 You can spend the night at the Frankenstein Place
Wikipedia
Almost all of Rocky Horror was shot at two locations: Bray Studios, the U.K. film studio used for many Hammer horror films, and Oakley Court, a nearby old Gothic mansion that also figured into a number of Hammer films, including 1958’s Dracula. Oakley Court can be seen most distinctly when Brad and Janet approach Frank-N-Furter’s castle, and during the “Time Warp.”
Today, Oakley Court is a charming luxury hotel that attracts many families looking for a wholesome weekend in the country, and the hotel doesn’t loudly advertise its connection to the biggest midnight movie ever. But the building’s profile and front door remain immediately recognizable. And any fan who walks up to the gargoyle-bedecked front entrance will have an incredibly hard time not turning to the nearest person and saying, “I’m glad we caught you at home. Could we use your phone? We’re both in a bit of a hurry.”
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