Obituary: Actor Tim Curry, celebrated for his work in games, has passed at age

Bryant Francis,Senior Editor,GameDeveloper.com

August 26, 2026

2 Min ReadScreenshots via EA, Double Fine Entertainment

Tim Curry, a prolific actor whose performances in video games have been praised alongside his work in theater, film, and television—has passed away at age 80.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, news of Curry's passing came from his longtime friend and manager Marcia Hurwitz. Curry's final video game performance was in the 2009 BioWare game Dragon Age: Origins. Three years later in 2012, the actor suffered a stroke that would leave him with lasting health complications.

Though it was the 1982 film Annie that introduced Curry to audiences worldwide, it was his first film role, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, that set the stage not just for his status as a cult film star, but a voice actor and performer in the world of video games.

His first video game role was in the 1993 PC adventure title Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers from Sierra On-Line. For the next few years, many of his interactive roles would consist of reprising characters he played on animated shows like Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberries, taking on an original performance in InterPlay Entertainment's Sacrifice.

Later, in the mid-2000s he worked with developers Double Fine Entertainment, EA Los Angeles, and BioWare on a trio of performances that captured the essence of his over-the-top style.

In Double Fine's Brütal Legend, Curry played the demonic lord of evil, Doviculus, in a role that evoked his work both on The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the 1985 Ridley Scott film Legend. He played antagonist Erl Howe in BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, and his work on Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 rippled beyond the game industry and into the world of pop culture.

As documented by Vice in 2022, Curry's live-action performance as fictional Russian premiere Anatoly Cherdenko became a cultural touchpoint as a clip of him declaring his escape to "the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism" circulated on social media in the late 2010s.

The clip isn't even from a proper cinematic—it's an inserted clip that plays in the middle of gameplay.

Red Alert 3 cinematics writer Haris Orkin took credit for penning the line when speaking to Vice, saying he remembered Curry delivering it with "such conviction." "He seemed to believe what he was saying, as stupid as it was," Orkin said.

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About the Author

Bryant Francis

Senior Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Bryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' 4X strategy game Zephon, Iron Anchor Studios' Down With The Ship, and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.

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