R.I.P. Tim Curry: Top 5 of his most unforgettable performances

Greetings, reader!

First Dolly Parton, and then Tim Curry on the very next day...the giants among us have been dropping like flies this week. While I'm not quite well-versed enough in Parton's body of work that her passing would've called for a blog post, I will say this before moving on to today's main topic: Dolly's unwavering allyship to the LGBTQ+ community and other minorities, her example of devout Christianity being a reason to spread love and not bigotry, and her admirable philanthropy make for one hell of a legacy. She made enough money in her career that she could've become a billionaire, but she was so consistently charitable towards various important causes that she never came close to hoarding that much money for herself - and millions of children across the world are better off for it.

Then for today's main topic - this is a movie&TV blog, so I just have to address what an incredible career Tim Curry had before passing away at the age of eighty. The dude gave us so many memorable performances, and it seems like every stage of my life has featured the discovery of a piece of media where Mr. Curry plays an incredible role. Here is my ranking of the roles that I'll remember him by the most.

Honorable mentions: voicing Auntie Whispers in Over the Garden Wall, and various villains in the Scooby-Doo franchise.

5. Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers (1993)

As well-cast as the titular musketeers (and fourth wheel D'Artagnan) are in this film, Tim Curry absolutely stole the show in all of his scenes, portraying the legendary villain Richelieu. The 1993 Three Musketeers flick walks the line of being decent adventure cinema while not taking itself too seriously, and Curry's antagonist fit this vision like a glove: he had enough gravitas to make the character a believably serious presence, but also got so wonderfully hammy with it to ensure a good time for everyone watching.

4. Professor in Scary Movie 2 (2001)

While Hollywood has turned out to be upsettingly full of real-life creeps, Tim Curry was by all accounts a decent guy - and the all-time greatest at playing a creep. While the man had range and could pull off a number of roles, I always considered this to be his biggest strength - no one could pull off "creepy" in a manner as deliciously entertaining as him. Throughout his impressive career, Curry showed us many different sides of this trait, making many of his best-remembered characters somewhat creepy in different ways - and in Scary Movie 2, he nails 'funny-creepy'.

There was no one in Hollywood better suited for the role of the cheesy, overtly sinister 'Professor' in this horror spoof than Tim Curry. He had so much fun with the role, hamming it up while still keeping a certain degree of sincerity that builds a wonderful contrast with the more over-the-top performances of Anna Faris and company.

3. Pennywise in IT (1990)

I've been contrasting the careers of the two giants we lost this week, and one of the clearest comparisons is this. Tim Curry's take on Pennywise is like Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, and Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise is Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly's song. In both cases, the latter can be universally agreed to be 'even better' by many merits - but in both cases, the original still deserves tons of praise for paving the way and still being an absolute banger.

I must admit, with absolutely no disrespect to Curry, that I've always liked Skarsgård's Pennywise even more - but it's a tight margin, and both performances are total all-timers. Appearing in an overall lesser adaptation of Stephen King's masterpiece, what I found particularly striking when watching this was how Tim Curry's frightening performance is so clearly the best part of the miniseries. Curry's acting chops absolutely carry the end product, as he turns his signature acting-creepy talents to its darkest, most devastating lengths (while still being fairly campy with it, because, well, when you get Tim Curry, you get Tim Curry. What a legend).

2. Concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

While I couldn't quite put this at #1, a big part of me wanted to - this is the Tim Curry performance that has affected me the most, and is the first one to come to mind when I think of him. While he doesn't even showcase as much conventionally recognizable acting talent in this film as he does in IT or The Three Musketeers, one has to remember that acting for the right target audience is a skill in itself - so for a family movie, what really matters is how your performance translates to a child watching the film. And let me tell you, as someone who mass-consumed the two first Home Alone films at a young age - Curry's concierge character scared the living hell out of me as a kid.

The best part is that there wasn't anything scarring about it - as authentically creepy as the character is, there's still something so whimsical about it that even as a kid, it doesn't rub you the wrong way. It wasn't a scary villain that will haunt you in your dreams after seeing the film - he was genuinely scary in the moment when you're watching the film, but once the credits roll, it's already a fun memory and not a disturbing one. But yeah, those facial expressions really got to me - and in retrospect, the role is very funny to me because he didn't need to be doing all of that. The concierge isn't the main villain - I'm not sure if he was written as an antagonist at all. Curry just decided to do his thing with the character, doing SO MUCH with his facial expressions and tonal inflections, and the movie is better off for it.

1. Dr. Frank-N-Furter - A Scientist in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

But yeah - it had to be this one at #1. The role that permanently cemented Tim Curry in cinematic history (not to mention queer culture) has everything - dramatic flair, delicious humor, and genuine weirdness. With effortless talent and a magnetic screen presence, Curry could be sexy and charming in one scene, scary and unhinged in the next, and hilarious and absolutely bonkers right after that, while believably remaining in the same character. With vocals and line deliveries on point, and facial expressions that will stay with you long after the credits rolled, he truly made the most out of this role, setting the gold standard for the key role in one of our most beloved musicals.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I celebrate the Star Trek franchise's 60th anniversary by ranking the top 10 reasons why you should get into the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time.