Tim Curry died on August 25, 2026, which left many audiences looking back at the incredible body of work he left behind. He may have been best known for some of the big movies of his career, like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Home Alone 2,” and “The Hunt For Red October,” but he also worked on a sprawling list of TV shows.
Curry delivered some memorable performances on the small screen, and his incredible vocal range made him a truly unique voice actor. He could add guttural depth to his voice, which helped add new dimensions to certain characters, whether that was Palpatine/Darth Sidious in Cartoon Network’s “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” or Lord Dragaunus in ABC’s “Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series.”
Despite having so many different live-action and animated roles to choose from, we’ve narrowed them down to look at Curry’s five best TV shows.
5. Young Justice
Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. Animation
You’d be forgiven for not knowing that Tim Curry was part of “Young Justice,” one of the best superhero cartoons of all time, because his role is more understated compared to the vast numbers of supervillains, cosmic despots, and alien armadas. No, instead he plays G. Gordon Godfrey, a xenophobic news broadcaster who despises superheroes and pushes anti-Justice League propaganda at any opportunity. He snarls every line with absolute delight.
He’s introduced in Season 2, and Curry delivers a smarmy, toxic atmosphere whenever Godfrey’s on screen. It’s not hard to imagine the pompous journalist existing in real life. One of the best moments sees Godfrey interviewing an alien ambassador over their presence on Earth. Viewers can almost feel the spit spraying as he growls, “I don’t know what you’d call that on your world, Ambassador, but on planet Earth we call it a bald-faced lie!”Â
Sadly, Curry voiced Godfrey only in Season 2, as he stepped away from performing in 2012 after he had a stroke. But Curry left an impact on the show by making Godfrey feel like a vital part of the world, so it’s unsurprising that “Young Justice” still kept the character in Seasons 3 and 4.
4. Tales From the Crypt
Tim Curry didn’t just stick to voice work for his TV work, he also pulled off an impressive acting feat in the horror anthology TV show “Tales From the Crypt.” He appears in the Season 5 episode “Death of Some Salesman,” where he pulls triple duty to play three separate roles as the Barrett family. It’s a true testament to his abilities that each one of them feels like their own character — with the help of some prosthetics.
The story mainly follows conman Judd Campbell (Ed Begley Jr.), whose scheme involves convincing grieving family members to put down payments on a funeral benefits package that will never materialize. However, he chooses the wrong marks when he picks on the Brackett family, with Ma, Pa, and daughter Winona Brackett all played by Curry in his most chameleon-like performance.
The episode’s only major crime is that it’s only 28 minutes long, when most horror fans would likely lap up an entire movie of Curry playing three roles. He completely disappears as the family, and it’s a supreme pleasure watching him con a conman in a grisly tale. It’s a bloody treat, literally.
3. Criminal Minds
Tim Curry’s role on “Criminal Minds” is absolutely terrifying. He plays Billy Flynn in the Season 5 finale and Season 6 premiere, a serial murderer and rapist who enjoys the psychological torture of his crimes just as much as the physical pleasure he gets out of it. Not only does he sexually assault women in their own homes, he usually forces their children to watch the disgusting crime take place from a closet. Flynn is one of the most terrifying killers that the FBI team has ever dealt with, which is saying something since “Criminal Minds” has been on the air since 2005 and has been renewed for its 20th season.
Curry’s own persona is partly why he’s so terrifying, as most audiences will know his campy performances from movies like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Sure, he played one of the most terrifying horror villains — but more on that later. There’s no redeeming quality to Flynn whatsoever, no quirky persona that makes him enjoyable to watch as a villain. He’s a black hole of a human being, and it’s utterly terrifying.
But that’s precisely why he’s on the list, because it proves just how varied Curry’s performances could be when he wanted to flex his acting chops.
2. The Wild Thornberrys
Yes, Tim Curry really was in one of the all-time best Nickelodeon shows — he played Nigel Thornberry, the father of the family who roams the world to make wildlife documentaries. It mainly revolves around Eliza Thornberry (Lacey Chabert), who can actually speak to animals, which is handy since she has a pet chimpanzee called Donnie (Tom Kane). But Curry’s over-the-top vocal performance as Nigel was instantly ingrained into viewers’ minds, largely because of the way he shouted “Smashing!” at any given opportunity.
His delivery gave birth to a million memes and reaction GIFs of Nigel, all because Curry leans in to a heightened British aristocrat stereotype. But considering this is a globetrotting show about a girl who can talk to animals while getting into dangerous hijinks, it makes sense that Curry needed to go big with Nigel’s presence. Clearly, he impressed the producers because he appeared in all 91 episodes of “The Wild Thornberrys.”
When speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2002, Curry revealed that the show was originally set to be focused solely around Nigel before the writers decided to give him a family. He also said that the character’s large mustache is where he got the inspiration for his voice, explaining, “He looks a bit like one of those World War II English fighter pilots, so his voice is a bit like those guys. He was the last gasp of the British Empire.”
1. It
The two-part 1990 “It” miniseries often gets mistaken for a movie, and for good reason! The ABC show adapted the infamous Stephen King novel with ambition and scares galore, creating another defining role of Tim Curry’s career — the demon clown Pennywise. He takes a gleeful approach to psychologically torturing the Loser’s Club, and Curry has an absolute blast chewing on the scenery (and his victims).
Aside from his iconic introduction in the sewer with young Georgie (Tony Dakota), a standout moment from Curry’s villain is when he attacks Eddie Kaspbrak (Adam Faraizl) in the shower. It’s hard not to feel the sheer dread when his hands emerge through the drain before he bursts through the shower floor to intimidate the young boy. While it’s terrifying watching his face transform into the fanged, red-eyed version of Pennywise, it’s Curry’s inimitable voice that makes the scene so powerful.
The actor dips his voice into the deeper, gravelly tones on certain words and phrases, making him ooze a sinister, unsettling atmosphere. “It won’t do any good to run, girly boy.” Yikes. Sure, the miniseries does maybe go a little too wild with the fight against Pennywise in his giant, monstrous spider form, but this is one of Tim Curry’s best performances, period.
