Tim Curry: An eccentric, stimulating career

“I’m a stranger to Nirvana,” Tim Curry sang on his 1979 song, “Paradise Garage.” “I don’t box outside my weight.”

Oh, yes he did.

Eccentric does not even begin to cover the breadth of the British actor’s talent. Curry died Tuesday at the age of 80 at his Los Angeles home.

Curry played the cross-dressing scientist in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the fiendish Pennywise from the horror television show “It,” and was the exasperated concierge in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

Curry was also a singer and later in his career he was a voice actor. He suffered a major stroke in 2012.

Here are some of the notable roles and songs by Curry. As he sang in “I Do The Rock,” they were “stimulating.”

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Curry played Frank-N-Furter in this off-the-wall twist on the mad scientist movie genre. Claud Rains and Fredric March had nothing on this guy. The film became a cult classic, with college students going to Saturday midnight performances, bringing props as audience participation was encouraged.

It (1990)

In the television adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, Curry played the evil, twisted -- and very scary -- Pennywise the clown, using a New York accent and delivering his lines in a low, raspy voice, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“My job was to give Tim the stage and not get in his way too much,” director Tommy Lee Wallace told the entertainment news outlet in 2017. “He was like Robin Williams in the way he brought a spontaneous improvisation to the part.”

Annie (1982)

Another evil character? You bet your bottom dollar. Curry played the conniving Rooster Hannigan in this musical. Curry conspired with his matronly sister, played by Carol Burnett, to kidnap Annie (Aileen Quinn).

Clue (1985)

In this suspense spoof of the iconic board game, Curry plays Wadsworth, the excessively talkative butler. The film is chock full of murder suspects, including Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull and Eileen Brennan.

Curry’s part can be compared to Sherlock Holmes on speed.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Curry played the suspicious, prim and pompois Mr. Hector, the concierge at New York’s Plaza Hotel.

His nosy nature added comedy to the film, as young Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) hides out to avoid crooks Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel). Curry is hilarious as Culkin uses a television remote to “interrogate” the concierge from another room.

“I Do The Rock” (1979)

Curry parlayed his film success with a recording contract. His stream-of-consciousness patter in “I Do the Rock,” from the “Fearless album,” reads like a playful romp through history, with plenty of word twists:

“I’ve always liked DiMaggio,

And Rockne’s pretty Knute you know.

I could never whack a ball with such velocity."

Paradise Garage (1979)

Another song from “Fearless,” Curry mocks the disco scene in New York City with tongue-in-cheek dialogue.

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