The cause of death for incomparable character actor Tim Curry (Legend, Clue) at the age of 80 has been revealed one week after his passing.
According to documents from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health obtained by PEOPLE, the comedy and musical icon died from coronary artery disease. His past stroke, which left him debilitated, and his bout with kidney cancer were also listed as contributing factors but not direct causes. Curry passed away at his Los Angeles home on August 25. In September 2025, he discussed his ongoing health battles stemming from his 2012 stroke that forced him to withdraw from the screen.
“I still can’t walk, which is why I’m in this silly chair, and that’s very limiting. So I won’t be singing and I won’t be dancing very soon. I still have real problems with my left leg,” he said at a 50th anniversary screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
“I was having a massage at the time and I didn’t even actually notice anything, but the guy who was doing the massage said, ‘I’m worried about you, I want to call an ambulance.’ And he did, and I said, ‘That’s so silly,’” he remembered.
Curry became an icon through his transformative work on the 1975 cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show, but he continued to ingratiate himself with audiences well into the ’80s and ’90s with roles in Annie, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Clue, Muppet Treasure Island, It, and Congo, as well as countless voice roles in children’s television.