Tim Curry Does the Time Warp

Tim Curry was a twentysomething stage actor living in London in the seedy, sex-drenched nineteen-seventies when he auditioned for a new B-movie musical spoof called “The Rocky Horror Show.” The production was being staged at a sixty-seat space at the Royal Court Theatre; the role was Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a domineering, corset-clad mad scientist from “Transsexual, Transylvania.” Curry landed the part with a rendition of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” wearing boots he’d spray-painted silver. “Rocky Horror” opened in the summer of 1973 and became a sensation. In 1975, Curry starred in the movie version, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which fizzled at the box office—until something curious happened. Fans started turning up at midnight screenings, yelling back cheekily at the screen; eventua