Tim Curry entertained and inspired Long Islanders
Tim Curry, who portrayed Dr. Frank-N-Furter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," was an inspiration to the LGBTQ community on Long Island. Credit: 20th Century Fox Films
Michael Russo first saw Tim Curry in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at Uniondale's Mini Cinema in late 1978, a time when the sight of a man in drag was still considered shocking. Watching Curry prance around as the pansexual Dr. Frank-N-Furter wearing little more than women's lingerie was a revelation to Russo, then a closeted Italian American teenager from conservative Rockville Centre. Russo soon after came out, then began making campy, low-budget short films that would eventually lead to his current career as a videographer.
After hearing of the 80-year-old Curry’s death at his home in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles Wednesday, "My heart is ripped out," said Russo, 65. "He made it easier for all of us to be ourselves — gay, bi, straight, whatever way you want to go."
Long Island was one of the first swaths of America to embrace the English-born Curry, thanks to his career-defining role in 1975's "Rocky Horror." Not only was the Mini Cinema an early adopter of the famous midnight movie, but the Calderone Concert Hall in Hempstead also hosted what appears to be the first-ever "Rocky Horror" convention, on Feb. 20, 1978. Curry did not attend, but his co-stars Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Meat Loaf and Richard O’Brien (who also created the original play and co-wrote the screenplay) showed up to the suburban venue full of, well, anticipation.
"We were like, ‘What the hell is this?’ " Campbell, who played the groupie Columbia in the film, told Newsday last fall. "Suddenly there were dozens of Frank-N-Furters, Columbias, Magentas, Riff Raffs, Brads, Janets, the whole gamut. It was just all so jaw-dropping."
In "Strange Journey," a documentary on "Rocky Horror" released last year, O’Brien recalled the Calderone event as the first time he’d ever seen an audience-participation screening of his film. Among the crowd of roughly 1,000 fans was a Frank-N-Furter performer named Dori Hartley. "She looked exactly like him, the makeup was perfect," O’Brien says in the film. "It was quite remarkable."
Among the members of a local "Rocky Horror" troupe called The Zen Room, "A lot of people are taking this very hard," said founder Jordana Dlugacz, of Ronkonkoma. Some of her cast members are so young that they first knew Curry from his voice-over work in cartoons ("The Wild Thornberries") and other movies ("Annie," "Clue") before they ever saw him in "Rocky Horror," Dlugacz said.
"He was also a part of their childhood," she added. "It just goes to show how many different generations enjoyed him."
Paul McDuffie, of Babylon, also remembered Curry through "Rocky Horror," which he said became a major part of his youth when he saw it the Mini Cinema. “Every Friday night at midnight, it was the thing to do, was to go there and watch 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show,' ” he said. The screenings became an immersive and fun experience, McDuffie said, with audience members participating in the movie and dressing as Curry and other characters.
Marc Hollid-Ausset, CEO and president of the CM Performing Arts Center in Oakdale, said he played Frank-N-Furter twice while in his early 20s. "I idolized him, I studied him so much for that role," Hollid-Ausset said of Curry. "He understood those little, tiny moments that really solidify that performance into something that's real and something that you believe."
Having come out as a gay man before playing the character, Hollid-Ausset said he was at first insecure about wearing Frank-N-Furter’s outré lingerie, corset and heels. But he mimicked Curry’s performance until he developed a genuine confidence of his own — and he still has it at the age of 49.
"I'm very comfortable with myself right now," Hollid-Ausset said, "and I credit that to that role."
Newsday's Maureen Mullarkey and Ava Shaw contributed to this story.
