Sad decline of Home Alone star left speechless and wheelchair-bound after grim incident

After defeating a duo of burglars in Home Alone, mischief-maker Kevin McCallister had a new enemy to take on in the sequel: pompous, vengeful caretaker, Mr Hector.

But three decades on from the Christmas classic, actor Tim Curry, who played the cruel concierge at the Plaza Hotel in New York, is the one who needs taking care of. The 77-year-old’s life was derailed after a major health scare just over a decade ago, sentencing him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Tim seems to be another actor fallen prey to the mysterious Home Alone curse. Many of the heroes of the film have been sucked into a flood of struggles during their lives – from drug battles, assault charges and mid-life death.

READ MORE: Real-life 'Home Alone' incidents – from machete attack to case that changed the law

Stay up to date with latest showbiz news, here.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, as with more than 240 TV and film credits since the swinging sixties, chances are that Tim has put a smile on your with his performances. Rewind to 1975 and you might just remember the actor as the cross-dressing scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

In the years that followed, Tim enjoyed a busy career with a string of minor Hollywood film roles, before largely taking the leap to voice acting in the late 1980s – a caveat being his role as Pennywise the Clown in the 1990 TV series of IT.

And in 1992, he landed his most iconic role as the antagonist to Macaulay Culkin in the festive flick, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The resident caretaker, Mr Hector, tries to chase down Kevin McCallister after he accused him of stealing a credit card to pay for a room at his hotel.

But in 2012, disaster struck for the once-iconic villain. Tim suffered a life-altering stroke which led to the actor stepping off stage while he attempted to recover.

With fluidity of movement and the ability to deliver a line essential for an actor, Tim was suddenly left immobile and speechless. But after years of gruelling physical and speech therapy near his Los Angeles home, he was slowly but surely on the mend.

Despite losing the ability to walk, something that Tim never let go of was his sense of humour. Three years into recovery, his agent, Marcia Hurtwitz, said in a statement: “He absolutely can speak and is recovering at this time and in great humour.”

The same year, in 2015, Tim uttered a similar sentiment first-hand and said that keeping his sense of humour was “absolutely vital”. He told Los Angeles Magazine: “It’s not tough to maintain. It is just part of my DNA.”

Now, although bound to his trusty wheelchair, Tim has continued immersing himself in his artistic passions and has been back on the silver screen. In 2020, Tim revised his role as the cross-dressing doctor for a 'Livestream Theatre' version of the Rocky Horror Show.

And in October, Tim was spotted attending CreepieCon 2023 by a fan who cosplayed his very character, Pennywise, from IT.