An Official Cause of Death Has Been Released for Tim Curry

Tim Curry in a black turtleneck and blazer seated at a red velvet-draped table at an indoor event.

Tim Curry died at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, on Tuesday, August 25, just before midnight at 11:18 p.m. His manager said he passed peacefully. LAPD confirmed officers responded to a call for service that day and completed a death investigation for a male in his 80s at home in North Hollywood.

Tim Curry at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for the Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th anniversary event
Tim Curry at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on September 26, 2025, celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images.

He suffered a major stroke in 2012, then pulled back from public life and turned to voiceover work. At a 50th anniversary screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show last September, he spoke about it plainly: “I still can’t walk, which is why I’m in this silly chair, and that’s very limiting. So I won’t be singing and I won’t be dancing very soon. I still have real problems with my left leg.”

Tim Curry dressed as William Shakespeare at a 1976 UK promotional event for the TV series Will Shakespeare
Tim Curry portrayed William Shakespeare at a UK press event for the upcoming TV series ‘Will Shakespeare’ in June 1976, with impresario Lew Grade visible in the background. Photo by Evening Standard / Hulton Archive via Getty Images.

Documents obtained from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health say coronary artery disease was the underlying cause of Tim Curry’s death. The department also listed a history of stroke and kidney cancer as significant conditions that contributed, though neither was the underlying cause, and it noted no operations were performed for any of the three.

Tim Curry at The Wiltern in Los Angeles at the Rocky Horror Picture Show 35th anniversary event in 2010
Tim Curry makes a rare public appearance at The Wiltern in Los Angeles for the Rocky Horror Picture Show’s 35th anniversary celebration in October 2010. Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images.

Curry never married and had no children. He was beloved for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rooster Hannigan in 1982’s Annie, the butler Wadsworth in 1985’s Clue, and Long John Silver in 1996’s Muppet Treasure Island. He published a memoir, Vagabond, in October 2025.

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