Tim Curry's Rocky Road to Fame

Ever since 1975's The Rocky Horror Picture Show — where he camped it up as "sweet transvestite" Dr. Frank-n-Furter — Tim Curry has been a comedic big-screen staple. Look at all the fun stuff he's done in Home Alone 2, Charlie's Angels, Scary Movie 2 and The Wild Thornberrys (opening Dec. 20). Sadly, though, TV success has proved more elusive.

The 56-year-old Brit had a recurring role on Showtime's defunct Rude Awakening and now headlines the WB's struggling Family Affair remake. But his optimistic 'tude hasn't been dampened. "When I'm done, I'm done," Curry tells TV Guide Online. "I move on and I'm looking for passages new. I don't really dwell on stuff much. I just always feel absurdly lucky to be doing it at all."

Despite Family Affair's low ratings, Curry says he's "having a ball." As he recalls: "I turned [the role] down three times. Eric Idle and I used to have this greeting whenever we saw each other, which was, 'Butlers and villains!' Which is all they let you play in Hollywood if you're English. So I wasn't desperately keen to play another butler because I'd already done Clue."

"I didn't get it," he continues, "until [producer] Gavin Palone said, 'It's a fairy tale, you idiot.' Once I got that, I sort of got its possibilities, and it's been great fun."