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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Michael Coveney

UNCOVERED: Tim curry obituary - The Untold Story

Tim Curry as Dr Frank-N-Furter at the Royal Court theatre, Sloane Square, London, in 1973.
Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter in the The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975. Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar

In June 1973, I went to the Royal Court to see one of Edward Bond’s best plays, The Sea. On my way out, I met a colleague who said he had a spare ticket for something called The Rocky Horror Show in the Court’s studio space, the Theatre Upstairs, starting at around 10.30pm.

We had no idea what this was going to be about. There was a gantry rigged above us and, astonishingly, suddenly, crawling along it was a frizzy haired chap in fishnet stockings, suspender belt and lurid makeup. This was Tim Curry, as the deranged scientist and debauched sex magnet Dr Frank-N-Furter, introducing himself in song as “just a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania”.

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