John Curry born 9 September 1949 (d. 1994)John Curry was a British figure skater who won the Olympic and World Championships in 1976. He was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating.
Curry was born in Birmingham, England. As a child, Curry wanted to become a dancer, but his father disapproved of dance as an activity for boys, so instead at the age of 7 he began to take figure skating lessons. For the first several years, Curry's involvement with skating was rather casual. Curry's father died when he was 16; he then moved to London to study with Arnold Gerschwiler, who coached him to his first British title in 1971. In 1972, Curry found an American sponsor who enabled him to study in the United States with Gus Lussi and Carlo Fassi. Fassi coached him to European, World, and Olympic titles in 1976.
Curry was the flag bearer at the 1976 Winter Olympics for Great Britain. He also was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1976. He was awarded the OBE.
As an amateur competitor, Curry was noted for his ballet-like posture and extension, and his superb body control. Along with Canadian skater Toller Cranston, Curry was responsible for bringing the artistic and presentation aspects of men's figure skating to a new level. At the peak of his competitive career, Curry was also accomplished both at compulsory figures and the athletic (jumping) aspects of free skating.Following the 1976 World Championships, Curry turned professional and founded a touring skating company along the same lines as a traditional dance company. Besides choreographing routines for the company himself, Curry commissioned works from such noted dance choreographers as Peter Martins and Twyla Tharp.
Curry was reportedly a difficult person to get along with, and a dispute with the business managers of his company forced it to suspend operations in the mid-1980s. After that, Curry performed only rarely in public.
Although it was a potentially career-destroying move, Curry came out publicly as a gay man before the 1976 Winter Olympics, becoming one of the very few elite athletes to come out while still competing. Throughout his career, he consistently spoke candidly about his sexual orientation.
Curry's Broadway theatre credits include Icedancing (1978) as a performer and director and the 1980 revival of Brigadoon as an actor.
In 1987, Curry was diagnosed with HIV. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1991. Prior to his death, he spoke openly to the press about both his disease and his sexual orientation and supported AIDS benefits with his skating. He spent the last years of his life with his mother. He died of an AIDS-related heart attack on on 15 April 1994 in Binton. He was just 44 years old.