On August 25th, 2026, the world lost an incredible performer. Notable for his film roles in Clue,Muppet Treasuren Island It, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, as well as countless voice-over roles in film, TV, and audiobooks, Mr Curry had an incredible onstage personality and a versitile, commanding voice that landed itself well to slimy villains, megalomaniacal tyrants, and delicate fey characters.
If you’re familiar with his work, you probably won’t be surprised that Curry was a classically trained stage actor with equally impressive credits onstage. He originated the role of Mozart in Amedeus, played Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirate King to great acclaim, and won numerous theater awards on both sides of the Atlantic.
For a while, I’ve wanted to honor this great performer, but I couldn’t find a way to do it on this platform. That is until I found this:
This was a 1978 British TV mini series about the life of Shakespeare, with Mr Curry as the title character. This is why I will provide a series of summaries of these episodes and discuss how Mr Curry adds to the mythos and historiography of Shakespeare
Episode 1: Dead Shepherd
We’re all dying, for poets it just comes earlier
Christopher Marlowe
We begin with Hamnet, no not Shakespeare’s ill-fated son, but Hamnet Sadler, Shakespeare’s friend from Stratford (and his son’s godfather). The fish-out-of water from Stratford has come to pass along messages (and a roasted chicken) to Shakespeare. As he delivers it, Shakespeare boasts about his success as an actor, performing in Doctor Faustus and winning the acclaim of both his fellow actors and the public. The problem is… this tale is a lie; Shakespeare is just a horse valet for the theater, while the brash and flamboyant Christopher Marlowe (Ian McShane), is the greatest playwright in London…for now.
Dead shepherd, now I see thy saw of might;
Whoever loved, that loved not at first sight?
William Shakespeare- As You Like It
The title refers to how Shakespeare falls in love with theater at first sight, and how London immediately falls in love with his talents.
Tim Curry on Playing Shakespeare
He’s a kind of ambitious country boy who learns fast” driven by the intense, fast-paced survival energy of the Elizabethan age.
Curry’s Shakespeare is full of energy and bravado. This is best demonstrated in the scene where he gets out of a cart full of straw, jumps up to the rafters of the Globe, jumps onstage, recites Faustus, and sings! He has a fiery energy and you can see how this Shakespeare is a man of ambitious energy, yet still possessed of an idealistic soul.
Ian McShane by contrast, is witty and world-weary with a dangerous edge. He has fallen out of love with theater; more interested in court intrigue. This leads him to spy for the Queen like an Elizabethan James Bond. Unlike Bond however, Marlowe is brutally murdered by agents from his own government! While all the London theater mourns his loss, his death also sets the stage for Shakespeare’s meteoric rise as the premier poet of England.
I’ll continue reviewing each subsequent episode on this page and also my podcast. Stay tuned!
Period Documents
Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 22v
View online bibliographic record
Web
King Edward Grammar School History: https://www.kes.net/about-us/history-of-the-school/
Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust- The Second Best Bed: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/second-best-bed/
Coffin Archive.org- The Evolution of the English Shroud: From Single Sheet To Draw-Strings and Sleeves: http://www.archive.coffinworks.org/uncategorised/the-evolution-of-the-english-shroud-from-single-sheet-to-draw-strings-and-sleeves/
The Shakespearean Student 