Rocky Horror Show, IT and Home Alone star Tim Curry dead at 80

Rocky Horror Show, IT and Home Alone star Tim Curry dead at 80 Legendary Home Alone and Rocky Horror Show actor Tim Curry has died at the age of 80 at his home in Los Angeles Tim Curry has died, aged 80. The Home Alone and Rocky Horror Show star was at his home in Los Angeles and died on Tuesday night. Police were called to his address at 11:23pm – but no foul play is suspected. In recent years, the actor had been plagued by health issues. In 2012, Tim, born in Warrington, suffered from a stroke which left him unable to walk. Last year, he explained that he had not initially realised anything was wrong until a masseur pointed it out. After tests revealed that he had suffered a stroke, he was quickly given surgery on his brain. He continued to live with the effects of the condition, relying on the use of a wheelchair. He was also left unable to use his left arm and had a short temper, as well as issues with his memory. "I can't remember a f*****g thing. I'm not sure that I could do theatre again," he told The Guardian last year. When asked whether he was concerned about the possibility of another stroke in the future, Tim said that he had come to terms with this and had to accept the possibility. "I probably should. It could happen any time. I wouldn't want to go through it again. Because it just makes you so f*****g vulnerable," he said. Tim's career took off aged just 22, when he landed a role in an adaptation of the musical Hair on London's West End, after studying at Birmingham University. He later shot to fame in 1973 thanks to his role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Dr Frank-N-Furter. By the 1990s, Tim had landed more Hollywood film roles, including the role of Thornton Poole in the 1991 film Oscar. However, he was introduced to a new legion of fans as Mr Hector, the concerned concierge at New York's The Plaza Hotel, in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He's also known as the iconic clown, Pennywise, from the 1990 adaptation of IT. Tim's last on-screen credit was just last year, as himself in the documentary Stranger Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror. Meanwhile, just two years ago, he lent his voice to the character Lockwood in Stream. Born in 1946, Tim was the younger child of a school secretary, Patricia, and a Methodist chaplain for the Navy, James. Despite being born in Warrington, he grew up in Plymouth and attended boarding school. However, aged just 12, Tim's world fell apart following the death of his dad from pneumonia. His determination to become an actor came after watching Dame Judi Dench on stage in Cabaret. Aside from his stage and acting career, Tim was a successful musician. He had received classical vocal training as a young boy and cited Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong as his inspirations, as well as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. His debut record, Read My Lips, was released in 1978, featuring mainly covers from an assortment of genres, including a reggae version of I Will, originally by The Beatles. But his second album, Fearless, released a year later, was his most successful, and included his only Billboard Hot 100 single, I Do the Rock.