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Tim Curry’s Mom Had Mixed Feelings About His “Rocky Horror” Legacy
Long before Pennywise haunted our nightmares or a certain concierge terrorized Kevin McCallister, Tim Curry cemented his place in pop culture history as the iconic Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. But as the legendary actor recently revealed, his mother, Patricia Curry, wasn’t exactly thrilled with his breakout role.
During a candid interview with CBS Sunday Morning‘s Ben Mankiewicz, the 79-year-old actor reflected on his mother’s reaction to his burgeoning fame after the 1975 cult classic. “She didn’t make much of it,” Curry shared.
“She was scared of it. She thought it would change me.”
Curry’s career soared after Rocky Horror, with memorable turns in films like Clue, Annie, It, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. But his mother’s concerns about his newfound notoriety persisted.
“She said to me later that, ‘I thought your head was gonna grow too big.’ There was certainly a whole thing about not putting your head above the parapet,” he recalled.
“It wasn’t good to be noticed. She would have preferred me to operate under the radar.”
When Mankiewicz playfully suggested Curry was “unsuccessful” in staying under the radar, the actor readily agreed. “I never did,” Curry quipped. “I didn’t give a s–t about the radar.”
Intriguingly, Curry confirmed that his mother’s reaction even informed his performance as the mad scientist. “I’m in touch with anger, that’s for sure. I know how it feels and how to project it,” he explained.
Mankiewicz pressed further, asking if a particularly “heinous act” in The Rocky Horror Picture Show-when Frank-N-Furter dispatches Eddie with an ax-might have been subtly directed at his mother. “It’s not directed at her, it’s just channeling,” Curry clarified.
“I do remember actually coming out of the fridge where I just offed Meat Loaf with an ax, and I staggered out holding this ax with blood on it. I found that quite easy.
I kind of knew how to do that.”
Earlier in the interview, Curry opened up about the complexities of his relationship with his mother, explaining how their dynamic shifted dramatically after his father’s death when Curry was just 12. “Having my life run by my mother was a very different experience,” he said.
“Her expectations were different. She could be really chilly.
I actually think now that she was probably bipolar, because she could turn on a dime.”
The Legend actor described navigating such a relationship as needing to “tread very carefully… or don’t.”