Vagabond
by Tim Curry
Grand Central Publishing, October 2025
Tim Curry, inimitable force of the stage and screen, rock singer, prolific voice-over master, and renowned secretive, has released a memoir entitled Vagabond that is sure to make his legion of fans simply “shiver with antici . . . SAY IT . . . pation.”
(Curry sprinkles in several of these classic Rocky Horror Picture Show Easter eggs throughout.)
As memoirs go, Vagabond is not a straightforward autobiography per se, nor does it tell of a single, wildly unique experience. Bookended with chapters that deal with his childhood and his current struggle living with the aftermath of a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed, the vast proportion is cut into (primarily) project-focused sections where Curry expounds on his time wandering like a vagabond from creative endeavor to creative endeavor and thus from one locale to another. Curry curates his subject matter carefully, and the result feels somewhat redacted, which Curry warns prospective readers about up front:
This will not be a master class. I have stories to impart, not explicit lessons to teach. . . . Nor will this be a juicy Hollywood tell-all. Not because my moral compass won’t allow it, or because I haven’t had the ample run-ins with juicy celebrities–but simply because I find such books immensely dull and highly susceptible to gathering dust. I also won’t be dishing out lurid details of my love affairs. . . . I have loved and been loved and I hope you have, too. But I’m not interested in your romances. And specifics about my affairs of the heart are–respectfully–none of your fucking business.
(To be fair, one would not be amiss to think: “I don’t expect you to be interested in me. I’m not the one writing a fucking memoir.”)
With a witty command of language that is clearly his own, Curry recounts how life and work brought him to villages along England’s coastline, to Birmingham, Marrakesh, London, Los Angeles, New York, Glasgow, and a litany of other vagabond stops. He muses over his rock shows and stage performances and dives into many of his roles: The Player in Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Pennywise in It, The Devil in Legend, Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, and, of course, his career-launching endeavor, Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He introduces us, at times in passing and at times in detail, to a who’s who cadre of celebrities he’s bumped into along the way: Susan Sarandon, Sylvester Stallone, Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, and Cher, to namedrop just a few. One of the most interesting of these encounters came during Curry’s gap year as a nineteen-year-old hitching through the French Riviera with his friend Richard:
One day, we spotted Pablo Picasso eating lunch at a café along the route, and Richard practically ran back to the boat to grab his sketchbook so he could start creating his own rendering of Picasso. Noticing our interest, Picasso beckoned us over, turned the page over in Richard’s sketchbook, did a silly little sketch of his own on the back, and then signed it. As he handed it to Richard he smiled and said, “Just in case you want to stay a bit longer in Cannes,” meaning he intended us to sell it and make a bit of extra cash.
Vagabond is artfully written, erudite and snarky and teasingly highbrow, as any follower of Tim Curry would expect. There is some question whether one who is not familiar with Curry’s oeuvre will enjoy working their way through its 264 pages. That will depend on one’s interest in film, stage, and popular lifestyle going back to the late 60s. There are certainly enough references to those times, people, and places to please any culture vulture. Fans of Tim Curry, be they rabid or simply Rocky-centric, are bound to be captivated by his exploits and will love the skillful way he beats his life into this narrative bouquet. (If you caught that, Vagabond is a definite must-read for you.)
All that said, Vagabond will probably leave most readers, fan or not, wanting a tad bit more. Throughout his career, Curry has been famously private, refusing to allow the public a glimpse into his romantic life or even an acknowledgement of his sexual orientation. And as promised, he has culled any reference to that out of Vagabond, which gives the memoir a “don’t get too close” feel. Also as promised, Curry dishes no dirt on the dish-worthy, which might leave readers digging between the lines, wondering if there wasn’t more to some of these stories or these people.
In the end, however, Curry is a consummate entertainer, and Vagabond certainly entertains, even though he does insist on keeping his distance.
Jim Abbiati is a writer, book reviewer, and IT professional living in Mystic, Connecticut. He’s the author of Fell’s Hollow, The NORTAV Method for Writers, and has an MFA in Creative Writing from National University
