Tim Curry

The son of James, a Methodist Royal Navy chaplain, and his wife Patricia, a school secretary, Tim Curry was born in the small village of Grappenhall located between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester England, on April 19, 1946. His family moved to Hong Kong when he was still a baby, but moved back to England in 1948, and lived mostly in the far south of England. Tim's father died when he was 12 years old, and his family then moved to London.

Before enrolling in University, Tim took a year off to work on boats in the Mediterranean; traveling to Morocco, Belguim, and the south of France. He later studied at Cambridge and Birmingham University, where basically all he did was perform a lot of plays. He was almost prevented from completing his finals because he never actually attended class, but he still graduated with honours in English and drama. His first professional success was in the London production of 'Hair', only a few months after graduating in 1968. He lied to get the role, saying he had an Equity card and that he had previous experience. By the time theydiscovered the truth they wanted him in their production so badly that they worked around any problems.

He continued work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Glasgow Civic Repertory Company, the Scottish Opera Company, and the Royal Court Theater where he created the role of Frank N. Furter in 'The Rocky Horror Show'. He recreated the role in Los Angeles and Broadway productions, and starred in the movie version, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He continued his career on New York and London stages. In 1981, he received a Tony Award nomination for 'Best Actor in a Play' for his performance as Mozart in in the Broadway production of "Amadeus", and another nomination in 1993 for 'Best Actor in a Muscal' for his performance in "My Favorite Year". He also won the Variety Club Award for 'Best Stage Actor' for "The Pirates of Penzance". In 1994, he received an Emmy nomination for 'Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series' for his performance in HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" in which he portrayed an entire family.

A composer and singer, Curry has toured the US and Europe with his own band and released four albums. In 1978, A&M Records released Curry's debut solo album, Read My Lips. The album featured an range of songs, including a reggae version of the Beatles song "I Will", a version of "Wake Nicodemus" with bagpipe backing, and an original bar-room ballad, "Alan". In 1979, Curry released his second and more successful album, Fearless. It was more rock-oriented and mostly original songs rather than covers. The record included Curry's only US charted songs, "I Do the Rock" and "Paradise Garage". His third and final album, Simplicity, was released in 1981. This album, which did not sell as well as the previous two, combined both original songs and covers. His distinctive voice can also be heard on more than a dozen audio books, animated television series and videos.