About a year before his death, actor Tim Curry published a memoir titled Vagabond. In the book, he opened up about his complicated relationship with his mother, and some of his comments have resurfaced online.
Curry, who was known for his role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, died at age 80. His manager confirmed his death on Wednesday, August 26.
In his memoir, he shared some details about his relationship with his mom.
Tim Curry — the legendary film and TV actor best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" — has died 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/vp4QONklU5
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 26, 2026
And some of the most heartbreaking comments have resurfaced after his death. When promoting his book last year, he told The Guardian that his mom would “explode” at times, and he channeled her “rage” for his unsettling roles in horror films and shows.
Even though their relationship was complicated, he still tried to take care of her as she got older and battled melanoma.
“My mother had always said that she wanted to live to be eighty,” he wrote, per People. “And she was nothing if not determined. So of course she did make it to eighty — and that was her exact age when she died, due to melanoma. I tried to help take care of her whenever I could, but she did not want me to be her nurse, nor was I particularly eager to fill that role.”
But he still had some regrets.
In his memoir, he tried to be totally honest without sharing intimate details that “are – respectfully – none of your f—ing business,” per The Guardian. “I tried to be as absolutely truthful as possible,” he told the publication. “I couldn’t see the point of doing it otherwise, really.”
But when speaking to The New York Times, he admitted that he did have some regrets. One of them was related to the language he used when writing his book. “I have a very rich Anglo-Saxon vocabulary,” he told the news outlet. “And it’s certainly for real. It’s certainly the sound of my voice. But perhaps I could have honored my language more.”
His other regret was related to his mother. “I think I could have maybe treated my mother better,” he admitted.
His relationship with his mother seemed to worsen after his father’s death.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was the movie that made me fall in love with Tim Curry, no one could ever play Frank N Furter the way that he did, I just can’t believe he’s gone this has hit me so hard pic.twitter.com/bscThqk26T
— retrocvnt (@retrocvnty) August 26, 2026
Curry was only 11 years old when he lost his dad. “I couldn’t reconcile it as being the truth,” he told The Guardian. And, according to him, this was when his mom started experiencing more mood swings and showing extreme rage. At the time, he had tried to be there for her — but he was a child.
Years later, Curry lost both his mom and his older sister within two years of each other. His mom died at age 80 in 1999. Just two years later, his older sister died of a brain tumor when she was just 60 years old. Her death hit him really hard.
For one thing, they hadn’t really talked to each other about losing their parents. “At the time, neither of us needed or really wanted to revisit all of that hurt, and there were more interesting things to discuss,” he explained, per People.
He added, “There is no way to articulate how it felt to lose my sister, who was in many ways my only lifeline back to myself and my roots. I was shattered.”
More than 20 years later, he seemed skeptical of the idea that “time heals all wounds” because he continued to miss his sister “all the time.”
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