Did you know acclaimed British actor Tim Curry had Dickens connections? I had forgotten it myself, until friend of the blog Sean Phillips reminded me on Facebook that Curry played Bill Sikes in the 1982 TV movie version of Oliver Twist. Entertainment writer Jessica Sager ranks it his 14th best performance, saying he played the role “so deliciously, you almost had to root for him.” Curry also voiced Scrooge in the 1997 animated film version of A Christmas Carol.
A Tim Curry Facebook fan page shares this quote from the actor, from a March 22, 1982, Christian Science Monitor interview: “I first read Dickens when I was seven, then went back and ploughed through the lot between the ages of 8 and 12. They’re all thumping good stories. I identified with Oliver, not with Bill Sikes of course. But I also felt terribly sorry for the villains because I was aware that they had so little chance to be different in those times. The book is really a sociological document, there are still lots of Fagins and Sikeses around.”
Curry passed away on Tuesday, August 25, at the age of 80.
(Image courtesy of IMDb.)
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