Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple have all attracted fans to murder mysteries.
For me, it was Tim Curry.
Granted, at age 9, I didn't know that Curry, who died Aug. 25 at 80, was already a hero for misfits and outsiders, a role he'd play for decades to come − or that he'd be the key cog of so many cult classics, from "Legend" to "Muppet Treasure Island." And in 1985, I was too young to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" – though later I would obviously love the English actor's glorious performance in that, too. Yet watching his utterly joyful role in the comedy whodunit "Clue" on the big screen sparked a lifetime of fandom for yours truly.
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Based on the popular board game, "Clue" stars Curry as Wadsworth, the butler at a remote mansion on a stormy night in the 1950s where six colorful characters and blackmail victims are invited to a party. When a dead body turns up, they have to figure out the culprit among them.
The movie is great as an adult, with its double entendres and skillful acting. (All hail Madeline Kahn.) As a kid, though, Curry is a living, breathing cartoon character, running around with the clever savviness of Bugs Bunny and absolute kinetic energy of the Tazmanian Devil. Amid pratfalls and slapstick high jinks, Curry conducts his costars in a symphony of chaos, and rattles off zinger after zinger while also conveying the plot and ultimately the denouement in his machine-gun line readings.
Curry wrote in his 2025 memoir "Vagabond" that he went to the nurse when he experienced incredibly high blood pressure while filming some of the most energetic scenes. "Muppet Treasure Island" and "Home Alone 2" came along later to entertain the next generation of young cinephiles, but throughout his career, Curry brought both passion and a seriousness to his work, and made it look effortless from a movie theater seat.
But he loved it, though. I first interviewed Curry in a swanky New York hotel room in 2002. What was supposed to be a 15-minute chat about "The Wild Thornberrys Movie" turned into him holding court for the better part of an hour, brandishing that sly grin as I peppered him with questions about "Rocky Horror," Meat Loaf and his younger days in musical theater.
I also had the pleasure of chatting with him twice over Zoom last year, for his book and a 40th-anniversary "Clue" cast reunion, and while the physical effects of his 2012 stroke were evident, his humor and storytelling moxie were sharp as ever. Being someone who pestered his parents into seeing all three alternate "Clue" endings back in the day, I had to ask him about the never-released fourth one. "I killed everybody," Curry said, with a proud sparkle in his eye.
When it comes to his legacy, there's no real mystery to this whodunit: It was Tim Curry, on our screens forevermore, with an inimitable flair and grace.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The overlooked Tim Curry role that made me a lifelong fan
