The English actor Tim Curry has died at the age of 80. Polygon reported the death on Wednesday, August 26, crediting TMZ with reporting it first, and said Curry died the previous day at his home in Los Angeles. GameSpot reported that no cause of death had been revealed.
For players, Curry's most familiar work is Premier Anatoly Cherdenko, the Soviet leader he played in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, the real-time strategy game published by Electronic Arts. Polygon described the performance as delightfully over the top and singled out Cherdenko's line — "I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism: SPACE!" — as the one fans return to. GameSpot called it a scene-stealing turn.
Curry also voiced Chancellor Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, one of dozens of animated and video game characters he brought to life in the recording booth.
His career began on stage. Curry originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show in London and on Broadway, then reprised it for the 1975 film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Polygon reported the film was a modest success on release before becoming an enduring cult hit and ultimately grossing more than $170 million at the box office. He returned to the stage regularly in the decades that followed, including as King Arthur in Spamalot.
He reached mainstream stardom in the 1980s through the musical Annie, Ridley Scott's fantasy film Legend — in which he was unrecognizable as the character Darkness — and the board-game whodunnit Clue, where he played the butler Wadsworth. Later roles included The Hunt for Red October, the superhero film The Shadow, Congo, the concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, and Pennywise the Clown in the original adaptation of Stephen King's It.
Curry suffered a major stroke in 2012 that affected his mobility and memory. He continued to take voice roles and make special appearances in the years that followed.
Polygon characterized his body of work as vast and eclectic, running across stage, film, television and games. Two of the roles it named remain easy to find: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is available for sale on Steam, and Clue streams free with ads on YouTube.