Tag: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

In Memoriam: Tim Curry (1946-2026)

By: Jesse Striewski

2026 has been a brutal year for celebrities passing. From Home Alone mom Catherine O’Hara in January, to action superstar Chuck Norris two months later, to country music icon Dolly Parton, and now, beloved actor Tim Curry, there’s been no shortage of saying “goodbye” to the many faces we grew up with.

I tried my best to recall what my initial introduction to Curry would’ve been, and if I had to guess it would likely be either 1983’s Clue or 1985’s Legend, each strong possibilities that I caught on cable as a kid, and without a doubt two of his most memorable roles (I’d wager the more likely scenario would’ve been Legend, as films such as it and The Neverending Story were high on my radar at the time).

But one thing I’m sure of, I was there alongside my family (as so many others were in those days) when Stephen King’s IT first aired as a two-part miniseries back in November of 1990. Curry menaced the screen as the clown Pennywise, and created a lasting character that still thrives until this day. (Sorry but the later versions of this still don’t hold a candle to the original in my book.)

By that point, it truly seemed as though Curry was actually everywhere you looked in cinema. When 1992’s Home Alone 2: Lost in New York came out, I can distinctly remember being there watching, as it was one of the first post-hospital films I saw while still in a wheelchair shortly after the car accident I was in earlier that year. Curry’s role as the hotel concierge helped provide some much-needed laughs at an otherwise darker time in my life.

Then of course there was his film debut, 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show, something that no doubt resonated with me as an outcast during adolescence. Again, I have somewhat sentimental memories attached to this, watching it on Halloween one year alongside my very first ever, “real” girlfriend.

I can also recall going to see 1995’s Congo and 2001’s Scary Movie 2 on the big screen, two more films that in hindsight, Curry helped steal the show tremendously, the former of which may very well have been all but forgettable if not for his appearance in it. In more recent times, I found myself reading and reviewing his memoir Vagabond and getting to know and appreciate him on a much deeper level. (I did not recall him having a brief music career at one point either prior to reading.)

Of course, these are all simply my memories of him alone, and hardly even scratches the surface on Curry’s decades-long career.

Grieving for someone you may not have known on a personal level can be a foreign concept to some. But when that person played a very real role in your formative years – as I think this very tribute to Tim Curry just confirmed he very well did for me personally – then it’s easy to mourn as though we did know them in some small sort of way. I’m just one of many who will miss him dearly, and if you’ve read this far, I can only assume that you are as well. Farewell Mr. Curry.

Interview with Actor Michael C. Maronna By Jesse Striewski

Chances are if you grew up in the ’90s, you’ll remember Michael C. Maronna as “Big Pete” on Nickelodeon’s oddball hit, The Adventures of Pete & Pete. He also played Kevin McCallister’s (Macaulay Culkin) older brother Jeff in the first two Home Alone films. After appearing in a few more films (including 2002’s Slackers – which we’ll get back to shortly), Maronna moved to a more behind-the-scenes role as electrician, where he has worked on such films as Be Kind Rewind (2008), and Men in Black 3 (2012), as well as a host of TV shows. He also currently hosts a podcast, The Adventures of Danny and Mike, with former Pete & Pete co-star Danny Tamberelli (which can be found at dannyandmike.com, as well as on various podcast apps).

Recently, Maronna allowed me to graciously pick his brain (just a bit). One of the first things I wanted to ask him was if he actually knew at the time what a unique pop culture phenomenon he was involved with during Pete & Pete’s original run. He tells me; “I’m not sure I realized I was involved with such a thing at the time, I was just busy soaking up new music, books, films, photography, etc. I didn’t have cable TV growing up – we only got it after Pete & Pete went into series production. So we used to go down the block on Sunday nights to my sister’s friend’s house to watch the first 60-second episodes air in between a couple of other Nickelodeon shows.”

I of course wanted to know what it was like filming the original Home Alone, too. He explains; “I remember Chicago and the vast amounts of snow in the winter, eating lots of deep-dish pizza, mostly hanging out with Angela Goethals (who played Linnie), and playing video games a bunch. I took a library book out of the Chicago Public Library about the American Civil War and I still have it somewhere!”

As far as how he views the film today, Maronna says; “I haven’t watched Home Alone in a very long time. My son is 4 years old, so he’s just a little too young for it still. Probably the next time I watch it will be with him, though. It was a confluence of good factors (script, direction, actors, style) that added up to a good (if violent) family Christmas film.”

I was also curious how he felt about it’s 1992 sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, as well as it’s subsequent sequels, to which he says; “Lost in New York is a different movie, about the city being a character in the film. It’s more of an homage to ’80s NYC movies like After Hours or Big, with the Home Alone structure overlaid onto that. I haven’t seen any of the other sequels.”

If you’ve ever seen the film Slackers, you know Maronna has one, er… ‘standout’ scene to say the least (I won’t go any further into detail, just watch the film if you haven’t already!) that I had to ask him about. He informs me; “Dewey Nicks directed Slackers, and the sock scene was his idea. Basically I think he was trying to come up with something outrageous, and I said ‘yes’ to it. A guy approached me at the wrap party saying, “A lot of people have mistaken me for you,” and identified himself as the penis puppeteer, a.k.a. the ‘stunt’ performer!”

And of course I had to ask just how he made the transition to electrician. He explains; “I was always interested in the technical aspects of film production and spent my whole life on sets, whether film, TV show, or commercials. I have worked in the theater as well and have family in the stage business but it didn’t hold the same allure for me. On Pete & Pete, production was on location and shot on 16mm film, as opposed to a television show shot on videotape in a studio. This afforded me a lot of opportunities to get to know the process and the equipment and to ask the crew a lot of questions. After the first season of half-hour episodes, the grips gave me a tool belt with some tools as a wrap gift. It was very sweet. A couple of seasons later, I just kept asking questions of the gaffer and eventually he offered me a job after the show ended. My first proper electric job was on a film called Six Ways To Sunday. I auditioned for the lead role and ended up driving the electric truck for it. A lot of crew from Pete & Pete worked on the job so it was a nice transition. The pandemic shutdown put a lot of shows on hold for a few months but I’ve been back to work for a while. Currently I’m working on Dickinson season 3, starring Toby Huss (Artie the Strongest Man in the World of Pete & Pete fame and many other great roles).”

You can follow Maronna on various social media platforms, and don’t forget to check out his podcast with former Pete & Pete co-star Danny Tamberelli!