I feared this loss for some time now, because the stroke which limited his capacities was 14 years ago. I'm going to keep this brief. One thing we owe as a debt to every British subject and resident of the Commonwealth realms is the preservation of our English language, and how this heritage is the root of some of the greatest human stories ever told. Between the King James Bible and William Shakespeare, every entertainer who keeps our language and our greatest playwright's work alive is worth honoring. On the stage, Curry was a three-time Tony Award nominee, and a Laurence Olivier Award nominee for his turn as The Pirate King in the West End production of The Pirates of Penzance (1982). He was also a mainstay of American film and television. He stars in the film adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Hunt For Red October (1990) and acted in numerous films for children, starring in Home Alone 2, and FernGully, to take two examples.
From what I could see, he was prolific as a performer of audiobooks, performing Journey To The Center of The Earth, and A Christmas Carol. Each winter that I taught, my students experienced Curry's reading of A Christmas Carol. One big lesson from that work is that virtue is not found in rule-following for its own sake, but a generosity of spirit that meets every human being, and their need is transformed by another's free gift of the self.
Of his talents he freely gave to so many of us, in order to tell so many great stories. We now offer him our prayers, in order that he may enjoy both abundant life, and freedom from the suffering he endured here.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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