A cause of death has been confirmed for โRocky Horror Picture Showโ star Tim Curry, a week after his death at 80. The actorโs main cause of death was coronary artery disease, People magazine reported.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health also listed a history of stroke and kidney cancer as contributing factors.
The theater and film star had suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2012. Doctors discovered two blood clots in his brain and performed emergency surgery. Following the stroke, the left side of his body was paralyzed and he required the use of a wheelchair.
Curry was unable to speak for several weeks after the stroke. Although his voice returned the following year after rehabilitation, he focused mainly on voice acting for the remainder of his career.
The actor was transparent about his stroke and recovery. โI still canโt walk, which is why Iโm in this silly chair, and thatโs very limiting,โ he said at a 50th anniversary screening of โRocky Horror Picture Showโ in September 2025. โSo I wonโt be singing and I wonโt be dancing very soon. I still have real problems with my left leg.โ
โI donโt fear death. I suspect that in the end I will welcome it,โ he told Ben Mankiewicz last year. โI may well embrace it.โ
The actorโs last credited role was in the 2024 horror film โStream.โ He was set to return in an expanded role in โStream 2: Sudden Death,โ which is in production with Fuzz on the Lens Productions. The film will be dedicated to Curry, who completed filming his scenes for the sequel, director Michael Leavy said.
โI had been very scared when I did not know what was happening to me, because I had no sense of whether tremendous pain was forthcoming,โ Curry wrote in his 2025 memoir โVagabond.โ โBut if death comes for me peacefully and I fade gently from light into dark oblivion, why would I be afraid of it? Sometimes, I rather think it would be a comfort.โ
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