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Rocky Horror, 50 Years On

Tim Curry's death at 80 has sent fans back to the 1975 midnight movie. Here is where its nine performers ended up.

Photo: big-ashb, CC BY 2.0

Tim Curry: Frank-N-Furter

He died on 25 August at 80. A stroke in 2012 left him using a wheelchair, but he never stopped working, filling out decades of voice roles.

Photo: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0

Susan Sarandon: Janet

The most decorated of them all. Five Oscar nominations followed, and she won Best Actress for Dead Man Walking in 1996. She is 79.

Photo: Ariela Ortiz-Barrantes, CC BY-SA 4.0

Barry Bostwick: Brad

He had already originated Danny Zuko in Broadway's Grease. A Tony followed in 1977, then six seasons as the mayor on Spin City. He is 81.

Photo: Super Festivals, CC BY 2.0

Richard O'Brien: Riff Raff

He wrote the whole thing in 1973 while out of work as an actor. The stage show has barely stopped running since. Now 84, he lives in New Zealand.

Photo: istolethetv, CC BY 2.0

Patricia Quinn: Magenta

Hers are the lips in the opening titles, though the voice singing over them is O'Brien's. The Northern Irish actress is 82.

Photo: steve cranston, CC BY-SA 2.0

Nell Campbell: Columbia

Billed as Little Nell, she swapped acting for nightlife and opened Nell's in Manhattan in 1986. She moved home to Australia in 2005 and is 73.

Photo: steve cranston, CC BY-SA 2.0

Meat Loaf: Eddie

Two years after his brief, deafening turn came Bat Out of Hell. That trilogy sold more than 100 million records. He died in January 2022, aged 74.

Photo: Docking Bay 93, CC BY 2.0

Peter Hinwood: Rocky

The strangest exit of the lot. He walked away from acting altogether and became an antiques dealer, living between London and Tangier.

Photo: Franco Folini, CC BY-SA 2.0

Christopher Biggins: Ralph

The groom in the opening wedding scene became a fixture of British television, winning I'm a Celebrity in 2007. He is 77.

Photo: RHL Images, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Flop That Never Closed

It emptied cinemas in 1975. Then midnight audiences adopted it, and it has played somewhere ever since, the longest theatrical run in film history.

Photo: Mark James Miller, CC BY-SA 3.0
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