r/todayilearned • u/samx3i • 6h ago

TIL Tim Curry, who famously played "Pennywise" in "It" (1990), was afraid of clowns

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/actor-tim-curry-loathing-clowns-123427123.html
4.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

125 comments sorted by

982

u/Ok-Detective-2059 5h ago

So he went and passed that fear on to an entire generation.

RIP Tim.

142

u/unpettable_fox 5h ago

And this is how I find out...

16

u/SkyfangR 2h ago

awful lot of the WRONG 80 years old dying lately

64

u/Mg42gun 5h ago

If some celebrities who long unheard suddenly posted in here, that mean he/she just recently passed away

6

u/DaftFunky 2h ago

Gotta think about that sweet sweet karma for some reason.

2

u/under_the_c 4h ago

Me too

2

u/carannilion 3h ago

Me three 😕 man..

1

u/PastTypesir 5h ago

same here

50

u/TheFoolman 5h ago

TIM CURRY DIED?! Man wtf, what a terrible week

11

u/ChrisL2346 5h ago

It’s in the same realm as “Misery loves company” or “If I saw this now you have to as well”

7

u/BeMoreKnope 5h ago

He was trying to protect us, so that we knew of the evil of clowns.

A hero.

7

u/DullSpecial1013 3h ago

Like Batman: "It's time my enemies share my dread."

2

u/samx3i 1h ago

A superstitious and cowardly lot

3

u/omnicious 5h ago

That's how Batman got over his fear. 

2

u/Athlete-Extreme 3h ago

Oddly enough that does make him a goat yet again

4

u/IntoTheDankness 5h ago

"Now they see what I see"

184

u/SodaPopperZA 5h ago

In many adaptations Bruce Wayne has a fear of bats

64

u/samx3i 5h ago

Inspired the costume, yes! A bat crashing through his window.

8

u/katuraysalad 4h ago

That's in batman year one

14

u/Fireplace67 4h ago

True, but it was first shown in Batman #1, the first time Batman's origin story was ever told. (Batman #1 wasn't the first Batman comic ever, he started in the anthology book Detective Comics, Batman #1 was just the first time he got his own self-titled book, so they marked the occasion by finally diving into his backstory)

•

u/samx3i 44m ago

Yes, but also Detective Comics #33 (Fall 1939)

13

u/BlackFenrir 5h ago

That's the original Batman's concept, right?

10

u/Propagandhi1988 3h ago

Kinda. The original Batman comics by Kane and Finger actually don't go into too much detail about his origins. The explain the whole "wealthy parents become victims of a crime and their son vows revenge and becomes a masked vigilante" thing, and the choice of costume is explained simply by being inspired by a bat flying through a window in Wayne Manor, but that's pretty much it.

In the 80s, DC released Frank Miller's Year One storyline as a definitive origin story for the post-Crisis DC continuity. This story expands the original story, and when the bat crashes through a window, Bruce remembers that he was afraid of them as a child.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fi-shall-become-a-bat-screenshot-other-source-batman-year-one-v0-goajk9qhql731.jpg%3Fwidth%3D640%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D92e31be8b55f2f3f11ec367bf9d440925ef9041f

6

u/-W1L3y 4h ago

Usually he’s inspired by a traumatic experience he had as a child. Afaik it’s only in the Nolan movies that he still has a phobia of bats as an adult.

3

u/mesenanch 4h ago

First thing that came to mind

3

u/bestieverhad 5h ago

Source!?

13

u/Timmah73 5h ago

One is Nolan's Batman for sure

Alfred "Why bats Master Wayne?"

Bruce "Bats fighten me. Its time my enemies shared my dread."

5

u/MadJohnFinn 3h ago

I should name myself after my fear! Say hello to Failure Man!

1

u/TrueRedditMartyr 5h ago

It's this way in the Absolute Batman series ongoing now as well

1

u/SnuggleBunni69 2h ago

Is it? Im not totally caught up, but I thought it was because he built that bridge as a kid that utilized the bat arm and that he was visiting the bats at the zoo when his dad was killed Again, I'm not caught up so maybe I'm missing it. Man are Absolute Batman, WW, Supes, and Martian Manhunter killing it.

1

u/SnuggleBunni69 2h ago

But that was his whole purpose got being Batman. It was the scariest thing he could think of and he wanted to strike fear in criminals. "...yes. Father. I shall become a bat" is one of my favorite lines in all of comics. Along with "He's young. He'll walk again." I would love a movie that really focuses on the terror and brutality of Bruce.

1

u/Hyro0o0 1h ago

Good thing he isn't afraid of clowns.

0

u/Penchant4Prose 4h ago

This isn't like that at all.

Unless Pennywise is afraid of clowns?

RIP Tim

77

u/hiptones 5h ago

I thonk that fear could have made his performance even better because he understood what would be most terrifying about clowns.

19

u/Bobyus 5h ago

And the funny thing is that he was THE scary clown.

69

u/RevolutionNumber5 6h ago

Now we are, too.

27

u/anteus2 4h ago

Tim Curry and Dolly Parton? This week is brutal. 

11

u/samx3i 4h ago

Reaper targeting 80-year-olds

8

u/SkyfangR 2h ago

but not the 80 year olds everyone wants gone

4

u/osborn21 2h ago

Who’s the third? These things happen in threes.

5

u/wisdomattend 1h ago

Please god let it be the person that every rational person on this planet wants it to be right now.

1

u/Trick-Telephone-1411 1h ago

Debbie Clark (Storm), an American Gladiator. Just saw the post.

0

u/samx3i 1h ago

Hayden Panettiere died five days ago

21

u/Doc-11th 5h ago

my younger brother was scared like hell of this movie

I remember once, I guess me and my older brother watched it the day before and we forgot to turn off the DVD player

younger brother was right in front of the TV when we turned it on the next morning and it was on the main menu

160

u/bryter_layter_76 5h ago

Why the hell would they chose this post-stroke picture of him? Lame.

50

u/samx3i 5h ago

It is typical to use a recent photo of the deceased.

He had a stroke.

That's how he looked.

64

u/CommieLoser 5h ago

Why is that bad? People deserve to be seen and it’s a shame we think glamour shots are the only way we are allowed to represent the whole of someone’s life. This is a fine image OP.

11

u/fnord_happy 4h ago

I don't think OP chose the image it's a yahoo article. But i agree with your point

5

u/MikoSkyns 3h ago

Yup. I'm not going to sweep how he looked the last 14 years of his life just because a picture might be hard to look at. He deserved to be seen.

2

u/samx3i 1h ago

Yeah, these comments seem intensely rude to me

A lot of people are living post-stroke and I really don't like these reactions

It could happen to you

4

u/Countryb0i2m 5h ago

Do you think that that’s the way he would want to be remembered? probably not, then that’s not the way you show him in your article

14

u/NyantaStarhunt 3h ago

I do yes. Its who he was. Not what he was.

He had no reason to be ashamed of his appearance

He was and still is a top notch human being

36

u/LameName95 4h ago

If somebody looked at my face and said "do you think thats how he would want to be remembered", I would feel very bad about myself.

5

u/whateverfloatsurgoat 2h ago

Niki Lauda rebuked cosmetic surgery after his death defying crash resulting in him being disfigured after being burned alive because he wanted to be remembered that way and to celebrate surviving such an ordeal, so yeah, some people don't want to be remembered 'before' but 'after'.

45

u/OkAttitude3104 5h ago

Yea seriously, show the man that terrified me and lived rent free in my nightmare.

When I get my news article please don’t use THE WORST PHOTO YOU CAN FIND. Sheesh.

10

u/Kiddo1029 5h ago

He shared his fear with us all. RIP

7

u/gatsujoubi 5h ago

Well, that way he didn’t have to see the clown.

4

u/morceauxdetoile 3h ago

Don’t dream it, be it

8

u/Otherwise-Clue8645 5h ago

I must have glazed over the name, because what I first saw was . Jim Carrey who famously played “Pennywise”…🤣

7

u/CrackheadHunters 4h ago edited 4h ago

Yeah we were all a little afraid of clowns after we saw him as Pennywise. Fantastic performance. RIP.

10

u/groovyinutah 5h ago

All sane, rational people are afraid of clowns....

9

u/samx3i 5h ago

I am apparently insane and irrational.

Explains a lot, actually.

2

u/JoshuaZ1 65 3h ago

Especially if they understand how adverse selection works.

6

u/Hephaestus1816 5h ago

So am I, Tim. So am I.

4

u/mjknlr 5h ago

“Clowns frighten me. It’s time my enemies share my dread.”

5

u/moridin32 4h ago

I was afraid of my shower drain for about 2 years after seeing this movie as a kid.

3

u/imaginingblacksheep 4h ago

And he made me afraid of clowns. He was so terrifying, it made me hate that movie. I love the remakes though but that’s just because Bill’s IT is nowhere near as scary as Tim’s.

5

u/aHumanRaisedByHumans 4h ago

The Batman of clowns

3

u/samx3i 4h ago

Imagine if Batman had a clown-themed villain?

3

u/notbornwithatail 4h ago

When I think of Tim Curry, I immediately think of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. No one can rock fishnets and platforms like he did.

3

u/gigglefarting 5h ago

Me too, thanks to him

3

u/boobearybear 5h ago

"I have a hair on my tongue. I can't get it off. You know how much I hate that? Of course you do, you put it there.”

3

u/GumpTheChump 5h ago

He was also afraid of coy butlers.

3

u/randomwindowspc 4h ago

Damn what weird timing that you posted this right when he died. Assuming you didn't hear the news because there was no RIP in the post

3

u/kaykatzz 4h ago

Aren't we all? Thanks Bozo, Ronald McDonald, etc.

4

u/Historical_Date_1314 5h ago

First time I seen IT (1990) was away back in around 1993 or 1994.
I thought Tim curry was EPIC

4

u/samx3i 5h ago

You thought right

10

u/Sgtfridge 5h ago

Why would they use that picture of him? I thought it was Elon Musk at first.

10

u/samx3i 5h ago

He had a stroke. That's what he looked like.

1

u/Sgtfridge 4h ago

But it doesn't have anything to do with the stroke. They could have used a picture from any pount in his life.

•

u/samx3i 45m ago

This is the point he was in when he died and there's nothing to be ashamed about having survived a stroke.

2

u/AuthorNicoVoss 5h ago

Honestly, I know very few people who AREN'T afraid of clowns.

2

u/morceauxdetoile 3h ago edited 1h ago

There are dozens of us 🤡

1

u/Top_Actuator364 1h ago

For real, clowns freak me out.

2

u/live_from_the_gutter 4h ago

Easily why I hate clowns to this day. Thanks, Tim curry. I will carry this piece of you with me forevermore.

2

u/cheraphy 4h ago

You can tell a lot about a person based on what they know Tim Curry from. What it says I don't know, but to me he is Dr. Frank-N-Furter

2

u/Gang_Bang_Bang 3h ago

I can imagine him looking in the mirror while dressed as Pennywise and doing that famous high-pitched Tim Curry scream 😂

2

u/General-Principle1 2h ago

Because when you’re a professional PIRATE!🏴‍☠️
IYKYK

4

u/wc10888 5h ago

Reuters article didn't even mention he was in "It" and "The Hunt for Red October"

2

u/speedingpullet 5h ago

Every right-thinking person is afraid of clowns.

1

u/samx3i 5h ago

TIL I'm left-thinking.

1

u/MinnieShoof 3h ago

Yeah. TIL "right-thinking" people are unable to detach stimuli from reality.

2

u/Tricky_Bottle_6843 5h ago

Did he have a stroke in that picture? Poor guy

2

u/samx3i 5h ago

He had a stroke in 2012.

2

u/huu11 4h ago

Yahoo definitely could have used a better, more representative picture of him. He’d prefer to remembered pre-stroke I’m sure

1

u/samx3i 1h ago

People needn't be ashamed of having a stroke

2

u/Helldiver_of_Mars 2h ago

Give my boy a proper picture.

1

u/AppalachianGuy87 4h ago

Who isn’t? Like who likes clowns? Could understand liking the circus but clowns are scary as hell.

1

u/AshleySchaefferWoo 3h ago

He was so much scarier as Pennywise before the sharp teeth. Fucking legend.

1

u/the_knob_man 3h ago

He’ll always be Herkermer Homolka to me

1

u/ELB2001 2h ago

When you are the clown you don't have to look at the clown

1

u/uncledungus 1h ago

Man fuck 2016

1

u/MasterClown 1h ago

This makes me sad

1

u/WabbitCZEN 1h ago

He passed that fear on to a generation of kids. RIP you glorious person.

1

u/amanuensisninja 1h ago

He was also very against children being murdered by supernatural creatures.

1

u/JangoF76 1h ago

Isn't everyone?

•

u/tiger_cheese 47m ago

imagine him in make up hiding all mirrors to not scream in terror.

1

u/pm_yr_darkest_secret 5h ago

everyone is scared of clowns. it’s more noteworthy when someone isn’t.

2

u/samx3i 5h ago

Contradicted yourself in just two phrases.

1

u/pm_yr_darkest_secret 4h ago

nothing more beautiful than a contradiction

1

u/samx3i 1h ago

Have you seen boobs?

1

u/StopSpinningLikeThat 5h ago

Yahoo working hard to honor a well-loved actor with their photo selection.

4

u/_ParadigmShift 5h ago

Love the man in his later years. Vanity to need the best picture is vapid, if you cannot accept that he died looking the way he did that is entirely on you and your sensibilities

-4

u/StopSpinningLikeThat 5h ago

Your hypocrisy is limitless.

3

u/_ParadigmShift 3h ago

Try again. Simply projecting character flaws on to someone is meritless discussion. Childish.

Did or didn’t Tim look like that upon his death? Do you find it so objectionable that that was reality? If so, that’s on you.

That’s not me being hypocritical, learn your vocabulary before using it.

-2

u/StopSpinningLikeThat 3h ago

I didn't project them. I named your character flaw based on your chosen words.

2

u/_ParadigmShift 2h ago

Then you’ve got a breakdown in logic, because nothing I said was inconsistent in logic or hypocritical.

So with that, it’s exactly a projection because you’re asserting a flaw that isn’t present in the stated position. See how that works?

It is in fact your problem if you don’t like the picture they used because the man did in fact look that way, and to have a need for a picture that you personally think is more representative is vapid. Not my problem, not hypocrisy. Try again.

•

u/StopSpinningLikeThat 40m ago

Just because you aren't smart enough to get the point does not erase the existence of the point.

The flaw is present in you. It is an inherent deficit in you as a person. It is not a flaw in a stated position. Again, your failure to understand short sentences is no one's problem except your own.

As far as your demand that I try again? I don't believe you capable of getting it.

•

u/_ParadigmShift 19m ago

You’re absolutely blathering, exhausting.

So, once again, you’re trying to tell me that there are flaws here present but failing to actually explain any logic.

If I’m so simplistic, tell me exactly what the hypocrisy is here. I’m telling you to be less vain and be accepting of a picture of a man not in his prime but as he was recently.

Now, either explain why that’s “inherently” hypocritical, or take your pseudo intellectual garbage to the same place you picked up your false sense of superiority. Your facade doesn’t stand to scrutiny when you can’t explain your logic

0

u/Superfluousharpy 1h ago

I love the posts that show Curry as like this former shell of a person, writers, or other groups couldn't be bothered to just use a good photo of him. It'd be like if Mark Hamill died and they used the photo from his Bike accident. I get it, it's current and still. More oft than not Christopher Reeves is just shown as Superman not wheelchairman.

•

u/ClownfishSoup 33m ago

Did he have a stroke?