Udo Kier, the German actor known for his haunting performances in over 200 films, has died at the age of 81. His partner, Delbert McBride, confirmed to Variety that Kier died on Sunday morning in a hospital in Palm Springs, California. The cause of death has not been disclosed.
Born Udo Kierspe in 1944, Kier's life began in turmoil when the hospital where he was born was bombed just hours after his birth. He was rescued from the rubble alongside his mother. Growing up in post-war Germany, he described his childhood as 'horrible' and worked in a factory as a teenager to escape poverty. At 16, he befriended the future director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in a Cologne bar, setting the stage for a prolific career.
Kier's breakout role came in the 1970 horror film Mark of the Devil. His striking features and piercing stare led him to be typecast as villains, monsters, and creepy characters, including vampires and Nazis. He once said, 'I like horror films because if you play small or guest parts in movies, it is better to be evil and scare people ... Audiences will remember you more.'
Throughout his career, Kier worked with iconic directors including Fassbinder, Gus Van Sant, and Lars von Trier. Van Sant cast him in My Own Private Idaho (1991), his first American role, while von Trier collaborated with him on multiple films from Epidemic to Nymphomaniac: Vol. II. He also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Blade, and Armageddon, and starred in Madonna's music videos for 'Erotica' and 'Deeper and Deeper'.
His final film, The Secret Agent, a political thriller about a Jewish Holocaust survivor caught in the Brazilian military dictatorship, has not yet been released. Kier will also appear posthumously in the upcoming horror video game OD by Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele. Reflecting on his vast filmography, he once estimated that '100 movies are bad, 50 movies you can see with a glass of wine and 50 movies are good.'
