Before we’ve even had a chance to recover from the death of Dolly Parton, pop culture has lost another giant, also at the age of 80. And it’s sadly another figure beloved by the LGBTQ community. Tim Curry, the prolific character actor, passed away on August 26. Curry’s resume was massively long. He was, of course, the original Pennywise in Stephen King’s It, and stole the show in Clue. He created one of the most iconic demonic figures in cinema history in Legend. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But to several generations around the globe, he was first and foremost Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. To several generations of queer kids in particular, it’s a role that literally changed our lives.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the adaptation of Richard O’Brien’s 1973 stage musical parodying sci-fi and horror tropes through a sexy lens, turned 50 years old last year. Yet in those five decades, Rocky Horror has been playing on the big screen somewhere in the world, every weekend, consistently. Yes, even during the pandemic, a theater played Rocky Horror to an audience of one, to make sure the record wasn’t broken. And no shade at all to Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meatloaf, or any other member of that cast. But the main reason people love Rocky has everything to do with Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter, that “Sweet Transvestite from Transexual Transylvania.”
Side note: Yes, I am aware that from a 2026 viewpoint, some of the language and situations in The Rocky Horror Picture Show are problematic. I’m not going to use this article about Tim Curry’s legacy as Frank-N-Furter to hash all that out. Time and place, people. Also, this movie is fifty years old. Name anything from half a century ago that’s not problematic through a modern lens.
Ostensibly, the protagonists of Rocky Horror are the innocent Brad and Janet, played by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon. Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter doesn’t even appear until about 25 minutes into the movie. And technically, he’s the film’s villain. But from the moment Frank steps out of the elevator and sings “Sweet Transvestite,” it’s just over for everyone else in that movie. The unapologetically sexual Frank is the star of the show, and everyone else needs to make room. Dressed in lingerie, makeup, and platform shoes, Tim Curry’s Frank is glam rock sexual liberation distilled into one human (alien) being. He’s the reason fans love The Rocky Horror Picture Show and why they keep coming back. Especially queer fans.
Curry as Frank was special to LGBTQ fans for many reasons. From the ’70s to the early 2000s, there was almost no queer representation in media. If there was, we were victims, like in the film Cruising, or so bland we vanished into the background, like on shows such as Melrose Place. Frank was the literal opposite of all of that. He was decked out to the nines in pearls and glitter, flaunting every bit of femininity he possessed. Frank was pure sexuality of the non-hetero-normative kind, seducing not only Brad and Janet, but also the titular Rocky himself, whom he had created to be his perfect sexual partner. He also had dalliances with supporting characters like Columbia and Eddie in the past, meaning he slept with almost the entire main cast. Frank was a beast.
To be fair, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is something thousands of young people experience, weirdos of every stripe. I am fully aware that It’s not exclusively for queer-identifying folks. But for us, Tim Curry gave us a performance and character that has an extra layer of significance. I was just 16 years old in 1990 when I snuck out of the house to go to my first Rocky Horror shadow cast screening, at the long-gone Balboa Theater in Newport Beach, CA. For most audience members, it was a chance to yell obscenities at the screen and be rowdy as hell. And I can’t lie, I enjoyed that part too.
However, for any and all queer kids like me in the crowd? Curry’s Frank-N-Furter portrayal represented something else. He hit us like a lightning bolt. When he sang “Don’t dream it, be it,” he was giving us permission to be ourselves. Whether that was gay, lesbian, bi, trans, cross-dressing, whatever. He was saying, “Be yourself, and be fabulous. Even if the rest of the world doesn’t get it, or sees you as the bad guy.” And I kept going back, Saturday after Saturday. It’s certainly a message that still means a lot in this political climate, to be sure. But it meant even more when the culture at large rendered us invisible, or vilified, and we basically couldn’t see ourselves represented at all in media. We couldn’t even imagine a Heated Rivalry back then.
I stopped attending Rocky Horror midnight screenings around the time I turned 21 and could go clubbing, but there was a new crop of teenagers to take my spot in the theater. There always is. But the importance of Rocky, and in particular Tim Curry as Frank N. Furter, never left my heart. It’s been 30 years since I’ve gone to a Rocky Horror screening, but I can still shout out every callback. It’s just part of my DNA. I may forget what I had for lunch yesterday, but I’ll be in a nursing home before I forget to shout out “Asshole!” when I hear the words “I’m Brad Majors.”
Sometimes, younger queer folk ask me how I could have been so “out and proud” in the early ’90s, when the culture was so hostile toward us. Yes, there were a solid handful of people of influence in our corner who made us feel “seen.” (I won’t name them right now, as I don’t wish to tempt fate. They’re older too.) But right toward the top of the list was Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter. I know I speak to queer people of multiple generations when I say, “Thank you, Tim Curry.” And even though he’s gone now, we highly suspect that Dr. Frank-N-Furter will be throwing that cape off every Saturday night at midnight on a big screen, somewhere in the world, when most of us are long gone. That’s a legacy worthy of admiration and love forever.
The post Tim Curry’s ROCKY HORROR Icon Was a Hero to My LGBTQ Generation appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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