VAGABOND

Recollections of an iconic career on stage and screen.

Though his appearance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show is likely the first thing people think of when they think of Tim Curry (“I had the legs for it”), it is only one of many landmark roles on a distinguished résumé. Beginning with his appearance in the 1968 London production of Hair (they were looking for “hippies who could sing”) and continuing at a breakneck pace for over 50 years, Curry offers readers a backstage pass to the stage and screen productions he has been involved with, from Amadeus and Travesties to Muppet Treasure Island (“I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed working with the Muppets”). Though he doesn’t think much of acting method—as he tells John Huston on the set of Annie when asked for his thoughts on his part, “I thought I would show up”—he does pose a psychological question about the roots of his storied performances in villainous roles: “Was I able to play Pennywise—the murderous clown of It—or the malevolent, alluring Cardinal Richelieu of The Three Musketeers because of terrifying childhood memories of my mother?” Included in myriad fascinating tidbits about Rocky Horror is this typically brusque and funny passage: “People often ask me for my opinion about why audiences keep coming back to this outrageous film. How has it proven to have such endurance, which has allegedly changed people’s lives? What made it such a sensation?” His answer: “Nobody fucking knows”—though the still-ongoing midnight showings, he points out, are a guaranteed weekly party for which you don’t need an invitation or a date. He candidly details the downs as well as the ups, with details of his failed music career in the 1990s and the 2012 stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side. Look for cameos from Carol Burnett, Princess Diana, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Truman Capote, and Charlie Sheen (“not the sharpest pencil in the drawer”). Regarding his love life (and, by extension, his sexuality), he asserts that it is “respectfully—none of your fucking business.”

Entertaining, briskly paced, and well worth reading.