Tim Curry Spills All In New Autobiography – Except The Juicy Bits
At 79, Tim Curry has finally written his life story. His new autobiography Vagabond promises insights into five decades of show business. But if you’re hoping for bedroom confessions, prepare for disappointment.
This week's revving up for Halloween movie was Rocky Horror Picture Show! Tim Curry's brilliant Dr. Frank-N-Furter burns up the screen! Let's do the time warp again!!! pic.twitter.com/6ujGQnte7G
— Juliet Landau (@julietlandau) October 17, 2018
The legendary actor, who suffered a stroke in 2012 that left him partially paralysed, remains refreshingly blunt about his privacy boundaries. When pressed about his love life in the book, Curry writes that his relationships and bedroom activities “are respectfully none of your f*cking business”.
Why Tim Curry chooses to stay mysterious.
In a recent CBS interview, Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz called Curry “a bit of an enigma”. The actor’s response was telling.
“I think it’s important,” Curry replied. “I encourage it.”
He continued, “One of the keys is to not encourage an identity, I think. And I’ve tried to nurse that. I have protected that and continued to.”
This deliberate mystique has served him well throughout his career. From campy comedy to menacing villainy, Curry has inhabited countless roles while keeping his true self carefully guarded.
How tragedy shaped a future icon.
Curry’s childhood was marked by constant movement and early loss. As the son of a Royal Navy chaplain, his family relocated frequently during his youth. When Curry was just 10 years old, his father suffered a stroke. As paramedics took his father away, the dying man told his young son to look after his mother.
His father died weeks later from pneumonia in hospital, aged only 49.
Nobody does Frank-N-Furter quite like Tim Curry.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) August 14, 2025
Film: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) pic.twitter.com/XytfC5tRvU
Curry describes his mother as complex, capable of both kindness and cruelty. He now believes she was probably bipolar. These harsh mood swings drove him toward acting, which offered “the freedom of being somebody else” and escape from domestic turbulence.
What made Dr Frank-N-Furter so revolutionary.
Of his most iconic role, Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Curry reflects with pride. “He gave a lot of teenagers the permission to be different and I’m very happy that he did have that power.”
Landing this career-defining role required audacity. Curry impressed creator Richard O’Brien by arriving at auditions wearing silver spray-painted boots and belting out a wild rendition of Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti.
When The Guardian asked if playing the “sweet transvestite” felt risky, Curry was characteristically direct.
“I did think it was risky and indeed it was. But I like risky. I would choose risky over anything. That’s the best way to be.”
He found the role personally liberating. “Enormously, because basically he can f*ck anybody. That’s quite a charge. It’s important to make that believable.”
Tim Curry behind the scenes of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ pic.twitter.com/Z5sJWHDMUs
— Evil Gremlin (@HorrorAddictX) March 3, 2019
When asked if he channeled that energy offstage.
“Well, I wasn’t lonely!” Curry replied. “It wasn’t too difficult to get laid. But it was the ’70s, which is crucial to what it is, I think.”
How success created family tension.
Despite his achievements, Curry’s mother remained “unimpressed (at best) and even embarrassed” by his career success. She feared fame would change her son.
“She was scared of it,” Curry told CBS. “She said to me later that I thought your head was going to grow too big. She would have preferred me to operate under the radar.”
However, she wasn’t above enjoying some perks. In 1980, when Curry appeared in The Pirates Of Penzance, the Queen Mother attended for her 80th birthday. His mother was thrilled to meet royalty backstage.
Tim Curry & Richard O'Brien performing "Wild And Untamed Thing" with Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Nell Campbell & Peter Hinwood in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) dir. Jim Sharman/chgph. David Toguri pic.twitter.com/YPSUPkMMJS
— Dancer on Film (@DancerOnFilm) October 22, 2024
Where health challenges changed everything.
Curry’s 2012 stroke occurred during an ordinary moment. He was receiving a massage when the symptoms began. Feeling fine and pain-free, Curry initially resisted when the masseur wanted to call for help. The masseur’s insistence on calling an ambulance may have saved Curry’s life.
The stroke left him partially paralysed, but his wit and privacy preferences remain intact. At DNA, we admire someone who knows their boundaries and sticks to them.
Vagabond offers plenty of career insights and childhood revelations. Just don’t expect kiss-and-tell confessions from this enigmatic icon.
