Tim Curry - Pre 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' UK Television Roles - 1970 - 1974

Описание: It’s widely known that The Rocky Horror Picture Show was Tim Curry’s first feature film, but it’s often wrongly claimed to be his first ever acting role. In actuality, Tim had been acting professionally for 8 years before RHPS premiered in August 1975 and he had appeared in 19 professional stage productions and as a featured artist in 7 television shows before he began filming RHPS in October 1974.

Although Tim’s professional debut and his subsequent Equity card were secured due to his role in the London stage production of ‘Hair’ during 1968, Tim made his television debut as a background artist in the soap opera ‘United!’, between 1965 and 1967, during his time at Birmingham University. Sadly, it was common practise at the time to wipe videotapes for re-use and it’s believed none of the 147 episodes survived. The following summer Tim appeared on television once again as a waiter, but this time with a very small speaking role in ‘Sinking Fish Move Sideways’ which was originally broadcast in August 1968. The show has never been broadcast again and it is not available for public viewing.

Tim’s second featured role was in the children’s television programme ‘Ace of Wands’ which was broadcast on the 16th September 1970. Again, due to the practise of wiping tapes the first two series of ‘Ace of Wands’, including Tim’s episode ‘Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Part 1’, were destroyed.

On the 27th December 1970 Tim’s biggest featured role to date was aired as part of ITV’s Sunday Night Theatre series entitled ‘The Policeman and The Cook’. You can enjoy a few clips in our video here (warning - spoilers!) or enjoy the whole thing which was recently unearthed by ITV News and uploaded to YouTube:    • Old Anglia programme starring Michael Craw...  

Tim's next television role wasn’t until late 1972 in ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ starring Eileen Atkins. Tim plays the small role of Madman 2 in a disturbing scene where the inhabitants of an asylum are paraded in front of the Duchess to torment her. Originally broadcast on the BBC on the 10th October 1972, you can watch his full appearance in our video here or view the entire production on YouTube:    • Видео  

More stage roles followed and off the back of his appearance in the stage production of ‘Give the Gaffers Time to Love You’ at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in May 1973, Tim was invited to audition for the next small-scale show to hit the Theatre Upstairs’ stage - The Rocky Horror Show. Tim was offered the role of Dr Frank N Furter and the rest, as they say, is history - but this didn’t stall his television career, and off the back of his performance in RHS Tim was offered the lead, Mik, in an episode of ITV’S ‘Armchair Theatre’ in the television play ‘Vérité’ which originally aired on the 23rd October 1973.

‘Vérité’ was written by Howard Schuman who Tim would go on to work with later in his career in ‘Rock Follies ‘77’ (1977) and ‘Video Stars’ (1983). Tim recommended his friend and ‘Hair’ co-star Annabel Leventon for the lead female role of Shirley and Mik’s girlfriend Barbara is played by Beth Porter who would later appear alongside Tim in ‘Rock Follies ‘77’ and ‘Blue Money’ (1985) . You can watch a few clips in our video here or watch the full production on YouTube:    • Tim Curry - Armchair Theatre -  Vérité (1973)  

Tim’s next television job was his first recurring role, Eugene, in ‘Napoleon and Love’ alongside Ian Holme and Billie Whitelaw. Tim started to film the show in November 1973 whilst he was still appearing as Frank N Furter on stage in London - you will see he is wearing a wig throughout to disguise his own hair which was dyed black with blonde highlights for Frank. His first episode aired on ITV on the 19th March 1974, the exact same date as the very first preview of ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. It’s strange to think a demure TC playing a shy 17-year-old in full Napoleonic regalia was being beamed into living rooms in the UK mere hours before his American debut as a sweet transvestite from Transsexual Transylvania! The show was remastered in 2009 and can be purchased on DVD. Tim appears briefly in four episodes and we’ve included several of his appearances in our video here. The region 2 (UK) version is now out of print and as such is priced at a premium, but the region 1 (US) DVD can still be purchased for a reasonable price on amazon: tinyurl.com/fs38c9hh

Tim began to film ‘Schmoedipus’ for the BBC in December '73. ‘Schmoedipus’ aired on the 20th of June 1974 as part of the ‘Play for Today’ series and Tim plays the unsettling man-child Glen. The programme has never been officially released on DVD and after a brief appearance on the now defunct BBC Store, the play is unfortunately blocked for UK users of YouTube so we haven't included it in this video. If you are based outside of the UK you can watch the full episode here:    • Видео