911 dispatch audio has revealed fresh insight into Tim Curry's death on August 25, with an ambulance responding to a call around 11:23 p.m. at his address in North Hollywood.
The dispatchers named the incident an "ambulance death investigation" in the audio, and the Los Angeles Fire Department later confirmed that "a death investigation report was completed". He was declared dead at the scene, and while no foul play was suspected, Tim's cause of death is yet to be revealed.
Tim's health plight
© Getty ImagesThe iconic actor had battled several health issues since he suffered a major stroke in 2012, leaving him paralyzed on the left side and unable to walk.
"I still can't walk, which is why I'm in this silly chair, and that's very limiting," he told the audience at a special 50th anniversary screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 2025. "So, I won't be singing, and I won't be dancing very soon. I still have real problems with my left leg."
© Getty ImagesIn October of that year, he told The Guardian that on top of mobility and short-term memory issues, he was living with an aneurysm in his abdomen that could rupture at any time.
Tim was a theater giant before becoming a Hollywood staple thanks to roles in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Charlie's Angels, Peter Pan & the Pirates, It, Muppet Treasure Island and Clue. After his stroke, the actor largely stuck to voice acting due to his memory issues.
Inside his terrifying stroke
He detailed the terrifying experience of suffering a stroke in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning in 2025, sharing that he was getting a massage at the time and did not notice any symptoms.
"The guy who was giving me a massage said, 'I'm worried about you, I think we should call a doctor.' I felt fine; I had no symptoms that I was aware of, but clearly he had noticed some," Tim recalled.
© Getty Images"I was extremely nervous because I didn't know what was going on. They didn't know I'd had a stroke and I didn't know either…I knew that a lot of people didn't survive a stroke, and that [my father] was an exception, and so I was scared."
Tim spent a month recovering in hospital, and had to learn how to speak again. "That was very weird. I hated not being able to speak because I speak a lot. I have to be told to shut up a lot. I love words, I love to communicate," he explained.
Saying goodbye
© Getty ImagesDespite his health issues, Tim shared that he was no longer afraid of death in his 2025 memoir, Vagabond. "I had been very scared when I did not know what was happening to me, because I had no sense of whether tremendous pain was forthcoming," the Tony nominee wrote.
"But if death comes for me peacefully and I fade gently from light into dark oblivion, why would I be afraid of it? Sometimes, I rather think it would be a comfort."
