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When The Rocky Horror Picture Show came out in 1975, based on the musical production The Rocky Horror Show, people didn’t know what to think of it and reception was low. However, over the years Rocky Horror has become a massive cult hit on both the stage and screen, thanks in part to creator Richard O’Brien and the incredible cast – including the legendary Tim Curry.
It quickly became a midnight movie phenomenon with audience participation and talk backs at the cinema, with shadow casts even performing alongside the film at some showings. Rocky Horror became the longest-running theatrical release in history and is nearing its fiftieth anniversary in 2025.
With nearly a half-century since the film premiered, here’s what the cast has been up to since.
7 Tim Curry
Few men have been able to leave their stamp on the world while looking good wearing high-heels and fishnets in a musical, but Tim Curry did it with style and with the sultry voice he is known for. After Rocky Horror and his performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Curry became a massive hit, starring in numerous stage productions, films, television series, video games, and audiobooks.
He not only dazzled audiences with his singing abilities and comedic work in Rocky Horror, but brought his talents to the musical Spamalot on Broadway as King Arthur, the role of Rooster in the 1982 film Annie, Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, and even as a pipe organ in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – to name just a few.
Some of Curry’s other famous projects are Legend, Clue, the television miniseries It (portraying the demonic clown Pennywise), and his voice work as Nigel Thornberry in the Nickelodeon animated show The Wild Thornberrys. However, Curry unfortunately suffered a major stroke in 2012, leaving him in a wheelchair and with limited mobility and ability to speak – vastly impacting his acting career.
But Curry has managed to overcome his struggles, often attending fan conventions and lending his voice to numerous animated projects. He even returned to musicals in 2016 for the Fox musical adaptation of Rocky Horror, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, but this time he played the Narrator/Criminologist.
6 Richard O’Brien
O’Brien is not just the co-writer and composer for The Rocky Horror Show and the film adaptation, he also brought to life the character Riff Raff on both the stage and in the film. With a background in theater, O’Brien continued to appear in and write musicals, including T. Zee and the Lost Race and The Stripper. He also had minor roles in films like Flash Gordon, Ever After, and Dungeons & Dragons.
In 1981, he reunited with Rocky Horror co-creator, Jim Sharman, for a musical follow-up film to The Rocky Horror Picture Show titled Shock Treatment, while also playing the role of Dr. Cosmo McKinley.
O’Brien has even popped up in one of the most beloved kids shows, Phineas and Ferb, voicing the father of the family.
5 Susan Sarandon
One of the more recognizable and acclaimed actors in Rocky Horror, Susan Sarandon’s career really started to take off around the time the film premiered as she played the part of Janet Weiss. She quickly gained attention for her talent, getting her first Academy Award nomination in 1981 for the film Atlantic City. She was then nominated for an Academy Award for her performances in Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Client, and won the major award in 1995 for her role of Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking.
Outside of her numerous acclaimed and cult favorite films, Sarandon is known for her activism and political outspokenness – she even became one of the eight women to carry the Olympic flag in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony. Her next big project in the works is the superhero film, Blue Beetle, which is set to premiere in August 2023.
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4 Barry Bostwick
The Brad to Susan Sarandon’s Janet, Barry Bostwick is another Rocky Horror alum whose kept relatively busy over the years. Shortly after Rocky Horror, he won a Tony Award for his role in the musical, The Robber Bridegroom, in 1977.
Through most of his early career, he starred in miniseries, cameoed in TV episodes, provided his voice for a few animated projects, and landed roles in more cult films like 1982’s Megaforce. Many, however, will recognize Bostwick from his main role as Mayor Randall Winston in the series Spin City, which ran for six seasons on ABC. He loves talking about his experiences with Rocky Horror and some of his favorite hobbies with fans at conventions all over the country.
3 Meat Loaf
It might be shocking to look back at The Rocky Horror Picture Show and see rock star Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) playing the motorcyclist Eddie, but the singer actually had a background in musical theater before making it big in the world of rock ‘n’ roll, with the musical Hair, More Than You Deserve, As You Like It, and in the L.A. Roxy cast of Rocky Horror – as both Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott (leading him to obtain the role of Eddie in the film).
Meat Loaf released his debut album, Bat Out of Hell, in 1977, and the rest was history. He quickly became one of the best-selling musicians in history and continued to have guest roles in numerous series and films, even releasing an autobiography in 1999 titled To Hell and Back: An Autobiography.
His two worlds, musical theater and rock ‘n’ roll, collided in 2017 with the Bat Out of Hell: The Musical, based on his Bat out of Hell trilogy and inspired by Peter Pan.
Sadly, Meat Loaf passed away on January 20, 2022, reportedly due to COVID-19 complications.
2 Patricia Quinn
While she may not have had as wide of a career as others from Rocky Horror, Patricia Quinn has championed the musical film ever since it’s premiere, including starring in the 1981 followup film, Shock Treatment, as Dr. Nation McKinley.
Not only is her performance as Magenta in Rocky Horror legendary, but so are her lips! While Richard O’Brien sings the title song of the film, it’s actually Quinn’s red lips that are the iconic symbol of the opening and the film’s legacy.
She’s attended conventions, productions, and served as an honorary Master of Ceremonies over the years, for Rocky Horror. Outside her dedication to the musical, she had minor roles in a few miniseries and films, including Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem.
1 Nell Campbell
Another Rocky Horror alum who has a love for meeting fans at conventions and also starred in the followup film, Shock Treatment (as Nurse Ansalong), Nell Campbell (Little Nell) tap-danced her way into our hearts as the eccentric Columbia after playing the role in the original cast.
After the film’s success, she landed a recording contract, releasing a collection of singles, debuting with “Stilettos and Lipstick” and “Do the Swim”. She managed a career alongside singing, with many stage productions, including the musical Nine, obtained a few small roles in film and television, and even opened a nightclub called Nell’s in Manhattan (though it closed in 2004) and opened two restaurants called The Kiosk and E&O.
