Tim Curry Opens Up About His Stroke and Learning to Speak Again
Tim Curry has shared new details about the stroke he suffered in 2012, revealing how sudden and frightening the experience was.
The actor, famous for roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue, Annie, It, and Home Alone 2, spoke with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz in an interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning.
Curry said he didn’t notice anything was wrong until a masseuse raised concerns. “It was so strange,” he recalled. “I was actually having a massage, and the guy who was giving me a massage said, ‘I’m worried about you. I think we should call a doctor.’ I felt fine. I had no symptoms I was aware of. I wasn’t in pain.”
After being admitted to the hospital, Curry learned he had suffered a stroke. The news immediately brought back memories of his father, who had died from a stroke when Curry was ten. “I was scared,” he said, reflecting on how it felt to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Curry underwent brain surgery and a long rehabilitation process. He described how he had to relearn basic skills, including speaking. “I had to learn how to speak again,” he said. “That was very weird. I hated not being able to speak.”
He also experienced partial paralysis on the left side of his face. “My face kind of went sideways,” he added.
Looking back on his career, Curry reflected on the impact of his iconic role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. “He had a lot of power — Frank. He gave a lot of teenagers permission to be different, and I’m very happy that he did have that power,” Curry said.
Curry has also released a memoir, Vagabond, but he clarified that it isn’t a tell-all book. “One of the keys is to not encourage an identity,” he explained. “I’ve tried to nurse that. I have protected that and continued to.”
He spoke candidly about his childhood and his relationship with his mother, whom he believes may have had bipolar disorder.
He described her as sometimes cruel and worried about his success. “She didn’t make much of it,” he said. “She was scared of it. She said to me later, ‘I thought your head was going to grow too big.’ She would have preferred me to operate under the radar … [But] I never did. I didn’t give a shit about the radar.”
Curry also said he doesn’t dwell on sadness or self-pity. “I don’t admire self-pity much — another legacy from my mother, I guess,” he said. “It’s one I am thankful for. ‘Why are you so important that we have to pity you?’”
The actor, now 79, remains unafraid of death. “I don’t fear death. I try to avoid it,” he said. “I think we all do, but I suspect that in the end, I will welcome it. I think it may be very comforting to go bye-bye, and I want to earn it.”
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