Tim Curry Starred In A Forgotten Series About Shakespeare With An Impressive Cast

Tim Curry's filmography stretches back to the late 1960s, and the British-born actor played a staggering array of characters until his death August 25 at age 80. Curry is best known for his iconic performance as mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," but just a few years later, he took on another larger-than-life figure: William Shakespeare. Curry played the legendary playwright in the 1978 biographical drama "Will Shakespeare" alongside Paul Freeman, John Normington, Ron Cook, and Roger Lloyd Pack. The six-episode series also featured Meg Wynn Owen as Shakespeare's wife, Anne, and Patience Collier as Queen Elizabeth I.

 William Shakespeare lived from 1564 until 1616, but the miniseries only covers his life between 1590 and 1607, a period during which he wrote enduring classics including  "The Merchant of Venice," "Much Ado About Nothing," and "Romeo and Juliet." "Will Shakespeare" was written by John Mortimer and produced jointly by RAI and ATV. Because relatively little is known for certain about Shakespeare's life, Mortimer took some creative license when filling in the details.

Tim Curry was also an accomplished stage actor, earning three Tony nominations during his career. The first came in 1981 for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Broadway production of "Amadeus," followed by nominations for "My Favorite Year" in 1993 and his performance as King Arthur in "Spamalot" in 2005. He also received three Emmy nominations and a Grammy nomination. His notable screen roles include playing Rooster in the 1982 film version of "Annie," the butler Wadsworth in "Clue" in 1985, and the evil clown Pennywise in ABC's 1990 adaptation of Stephen King's "It." Tommy Lee Wallace directed the two-part production and said that he allowed Curry to improvise much of the part. 

In 2017, Wallace told The Hollywood Reporter, "My job was to give Tim the stage and not get in his way too much." Curry later reflected on the production in his memoir, "Vagabond," writing, "I have great respect for Stephen King and think it's a strong adaptation, but it wasn't exactly a Stoppard experience. Nor did I expect it to be." TVLine later ranked "It" among the best horror shows of the 1990s.