Then, if you cast your mind back, Mother Teresa died just five days later on September 5.
Now, ordinarily, there should have been a lot of attention given to her passing, but the world was so caught up in the loss of the People’s Princess that Mother Teresa got a bit lost in the noise.
Fast forward 29 years, and two big names in the industry died on the same day.
First there was Dolly Parton, followed closely by Tim Curry.
I think, in the popularity stakes, Dolly is much bigger news, but both were fabulous in their own right.
Again, we have a situation where the death of Tim Curry could easily have been swept under the carpet, but he had a massive impact on the entertainment industry and changed people’s mindsets.
First Dolly.
Interestingly enough, I had just watched a 20-minute interview with her on Netflix and I thought she was in amazing form, so I was as shocked as the rest of the world when she died.
Universally loved and quite simply a class act. There are a couple of great quotes from her that I love.
The first one is, “It costs a lot to look this cheap,” and the other is about her razor-sharp business acumen: “I look like a woman, but I think like a man.”
That woman had boundless energy, grit, determination and talent by the bucketload. She also knew how to make money. A lot of it.
Her self-deprecating humour meant that she automatically got everyone onside.
The other thing about her was her level of intelligence. But I guess her one standout quality was that, although she was a major star, she lived a very private life.
She was happily married to her husband, Carl Dean, for 58 years and nine months, until his death on March 3 last year. It broke her heart, yet she continued to perform, write and just be brilliant Dolly.
She was a philanthropist to the end, and I’m sure that, in the coming weeks, we will learn about more of the good things she did for those less fortunate.
It’s another situation where we are about to see just how deeply loved she was, and she deserves every accolade that comes her way.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show forever changed a generation. Tim Curry starred as Frank-N-Furter and strutted around the stage in stilettos, fishnets and a ton of makeup.
It was one of those movies that broke boundaries, challenged the norms of society and gave a voice and a place to people who might not ordinarily have fitted in.
I once performed as Janet in a dinner theatre restaurant, in a bra and petticoat (clearly, I had no shame), but one of my most vivid Rocky Horror memories is being at a nightclub in Tokoroa when Time Warp came on.
My knees had always been problematic and dislocated at rather inopportune moments.
This was one of them. When it came to the part where we had to put our knees in tight and do the pelvic thrust, both my knees dislocated and I crashed to the floor in a most ungainly manner.
I’ve since had an operation to relocate both kneecaps, but I think Time Warp will just be left in the annals of Nicky Rennie history.
Tim Curry was a gifted actor and baritone with an impressive track record of fabulous roles that could sometimes be a bit scary, but having the intestinal fortitude to challenge society’s norms should not be overlooked.
So, the world will be a little less sparkly now that Dolly has gone.
She was a force of nature, but amid the noise around her passing, I hope Tim Curry also gets some of the attention he deserves.
But in the words of Dolly, thank you, lovely lady, I will always love you.
Rhinestones and all.
Whanganui-based Nicky Rennie returned to her home town in 2018 while celebrating three decades in broadcasting. She has written a column for the Whanganui Chronicle since 2021.