Tim Curry put on a corset, fishnet stockings and heels in 1975 and created the character who is now a global LGBTQ+ symbol

Tim Curry didn’t play Frank-N-Furter. He inhabited him. 🎭

In 1975, putting on a corset, fishnet stockings, heels and makeup to play a scientist from Transylvania was a total break with everything cinema expected of a man on screen. But Curry later revealed something that changes everything: he never thought of the character as drag or a costume. To him, that was simply Frank-N-Furter’s natural way of being. That certainty, without irony or shame, was what allowed the performance to transcend generations.

The character was born earlier on a London stage, long before reaching the screen in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Decades later, he stopped being considered provocative and became a symbol of sexual freedom and gender expression. In 2025, Curry himself spoke about what it meant to him to be recognized as an LGBTQ+ icon. ✨