In the makeup chair with Tim Curry during production of It, 1990.
‘90s kids were absolutely terrified at the start of the decade when Tim Curry put on the face paint to play Pennywise the Clown in ABC’s miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s It. The two-part, four hour miniseries wasn’t just freaky, it also introduced an entire generation of young people to the devilish delights of Curry.
There were a lot of great actors and off the wall performers considered to play Pennywise (Roddy McDowall, Alice Cooper and Malcolm McDowell were just some of the names tossed around) but it was Curry who was chosen thanks to his horrifying take on a clown. He explained:
I just let it happen. Clowns are your worst fear realized. I think I scared a lot of children.