Tim Curry Details Becoming ‘Rocky Horror’s Frank in Rare Appearance After Stroke
On September 27, the man, the myth, the Legend Tim Curry made a rare appearance at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The evening was not only a tribute to the cult classic but also a heartfelt celebration of the man behind the garters himself.
Curry has been a pivotal figure in pop culture for the last five decades, from his sinister turns as Darkness in Legend and Pennywise the Dancing Clown in It to his comedic performances in Clue and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Yet few of his roles are as iconic and as gloriously outrageous as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a character that cemented his status as a cult legend.
Photo: Courtesy of Chelsea Stardust
In 2012, Curry suffered a debilitating stroke that left in incapacitated and wheelchair-bound. “I was having a massage at the time, and I didn’t even actually notice anything, but the guy who was doing the massage said, ‘I’m worried about you. I think I want to call an ambulance. And he did, and I said, That’s so silly,'” recalled Curry. “They put me in an ambulance, and a very nice paramedic said, I’m going to give you morphine. And I said, ‘Bring it on.'”
“I still can’t walk, which is why I’m in this silly chair.”
To celebrate the rare outing for the actor, many of the cast and crew, including Patricia Quinn (“Magenta”), Barry Bostwick (“Brad”), “Little” Nell Campbell (“Columbia”), and producer Lou Adler were all present to pay tribute to both the man and the movie that changed the face of pop culture, cult cinema, and Saturday night midnight screenings.
Barry Bostwick, Nell Campbell, and Patricia Quinn at the Academy Museum (Photo: TV Insider)
Moderated by the director of film programs for the Academy Museum KJ Reith-Miller, Curry spoke in depth about how he was able to transform into the highly sensual, sexual, and smoldering Dr. Frank-N-Furter back in 1975.
“Jim [Sharman’s] directing technique was that you weren’t allowed to bore him. If he wasn’t bored, it stayed in,” said Curry. “I read it, and loved reading it. I went to see my best friend in London — who still is my best friend today — an American writer called Howard Schuman. And I said, I want you to read this. I think it’s very good. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll say bye-bye. And didn’t have to, fortunately.”
“I didn’t know it would work for me. When I read it, it seemed to be a classic science-fiction script. When we started rehearsing, because he was called Dr. Frank-N-Furter, I played him with a German accent, which evidently bored Jim.”
Tim Curry and moderator, Director of Film Programs at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures KJ Relth-Miller (Photo: Courtesy of Chelsea Stardust)
Apparently, finding the voice for Frank came by happenstance on a ride to London.
“I was on a bus to London, and a few rows in front of me were two very grand ladies, upper-class ladies. God knows what they were doing on a bus? One would think they would take a cab,” mused Curry. “But one of them said to the other, ‘Do you have a ‘ho-use‘ in ‘t-owne‘? Or a ‘ho-use‘ in the country?’ And I thought, ‘That’s it!'”
“[Frank] really wanted to sound like the Queen. And that seemed appropriate for Frank, really, who really thought he was the Queen.”
Photo: TV Insiders
Now that the sound of Frank was established, the look of Frank had to be refined for the big screen. On the stage, Curry was a bit more scruffy as he did his own makeup, but for the screen, Sharman wanted a more refined look.
“I did a very grungy makeup. I was smudged in a kind of a street way, like a backstreet hooker,” said Curry. “But when Jim did the movie, he hired a man called Pierre La Roche, who is exactly as he sounds. He was rather a famous person at the time because he did the cover of David Bowie‘s Ziggy Stardust and for Twiggy. And I was horrified, actually, by his first attempt because I thought I was ready for the runway. It was just too polished for me. I wanted to just kind of smudge it all. But I didn’t dare because he was a very formidable character,” joked Curry.
“If words could kill, he had an extensive vocabulary,” recalled Curry. “Even in English.”
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