Tim Curry was in the middle of a routine massage at his Los Angeles home when his masseuse suddenly realized something was terribly wrong.
The beloved “Rocky Horror Picture Show” star, who died Tuesday at age 80, later revealed that he had no idea he was suffering a massive stroke at the time — and credited the quick-thinking masseuse with getting him medical help before it was too late.
Curry suffered the life-changing stroke in 2012, leaving him partially paralyzed and eventually dependent on a wheelchair. The actor opened up about the frightening ordeal during an emotional “CBS Sunday Morning” interview in October 2025. (CBS News)
“It was so strange,” Curry recalled.
He said he was lying on the massage table feeling perfectly normal when his masseuse became concerned and suggested calling a doctor.
Curry had no pain and said he wasn’t aware of any obvious warning signs. But his masseuse had apparently noticed something alarming enough to dial 911.
Paramedics rushed to Curry’s home, carried him downstairs on a stretcher and took him to a nearby hospital.
Even then, Curry said neither he nor the emergency workers initially realized he had suffered a stroke.
The terrifying diagnosis came later.
Doctors discovered Curry had suffered two brain bleeds, according to his account of the medical emergency.
The news immediately brought back painful memories from his childhood. Curry’s father had also suffered a stroke when the future Hollywood star was just 11 years old.
“I knew that a lot of people didn’t survive a stroke,” Curry recalled, admitting he was frightened.
Curry underwent brain surgery and then spent about a month in the hospital and rehabilitation.
One of the hardest parts was losing something the famously charismatic performer had relied on his entire life — his ability to speak.
“I had to learn how to speak again,” he said.
For Curry, who built an extraordinary career around his unmistakable voice, razor-sharp delivery and larger-than-life personality, the experience was especially brutal.
“I love words, I love to communicate,” he said.
The stroke permanently changed Curry’s life.
He was left with serious mobility problems and spent his later years using a wheelchair. At a 2025 event celebrating the 50th anniversary of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Curry candidly told fans that he still could not walk and continued to struggle with his left leg.
Still, Curry refused to disappear completely.
He continued working after the stroke, particularly in voice roles, and even returned to film in the 2024 horror movie “Stream.” (Reuters)
For generations of fans, however, Curry will forever be remembered as the outrageous Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 cult phenomenon “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
The role turned him into a pop-culture icon and helped launch a remarkable career that stretched across movies, television, Broadway and music.
Curry later terrified audiences as Pennywise in the 1990 television adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” played the hilariously suspicious Plaza Hotel concierge in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” and appeared in favorites including “Clue,” “Annie,” “Legend” and “The Three Musketeers.” (CBS News)
Onstage, he earned three Tony Award nominations and famously played King Arthur in the hit musical “Spamalot.”
Curry died peacefully at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, his representatives confirmed. He was 80. A specific cause of death was not immediately announced. (CBS News)
His death comes more than a decade after the stroke that nearly killed him — and that he may never have recognized in time without the masseuse who noticed something was wrong before Curry himself did.
It was a split-second decision that may have given the legendary performer another 14 years of life.
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