German actor Udo Kier, a movie veteran whose numerous physique of labor spanned from Lars von Trier tragedies to “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and “Blade,” has died. He was 81.
A ubiquitous avant-garde movie star, Kier died Sunday morning, his associate, Delbert McBride, confirmed to Selection. McBride didn’t present a explanation for dying.
By the point of his dying, Kier had racked up greater than 200 movie and tv credit, most notably his collaborations with Von Trier. They labored collectively intermittently over a number of many years, beginning with 1987’s “Epidemic” and final collaborating on Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” in 2013. Kier, additionally in movies “Dancer within the Darkish” (starring Björk), “Melancholia” and “Breaking the Waves” amongst others, aided Von Trier in his explorations into the bleakest of human feelings.
Along with Von Trier, Kier starred in movies from numerous different famed European filmmakers together with Werner Herzog, Dario Argento and childhood buddy Rainer Werner Fassbinder over the course of his profession.
Kier, recognized for his his imposing presence and piercing blue eyes, usually performed offbeat and menacing characters in art-house movies, together with a determined, virgin-seeking Depend Dracula in 1974’s “Blood for Dracula” (“Andy Warhol’s Dracula”) directed by Paul Morrissey. A 12 months prior, the artists collaborated on 1973’s “Flesh for Frankenstein.” Kier was usually forged as supernatural, showing in “Blade” and “Shadow of the Vampire” alongside Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich, amongst different horror films.
Practically 30 years after his breakout position within the 1966 brief movie “Street to Saint Tropez,” the Cologne-born Kier notably starred in Gus Van Sant’s 1991 characteristic “My Personal Non-public Idaho,” sharing the display screen with a younger Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix. The movie has grow to be a cult traditional, incomes reward for its depiction of intercourse and queerness. The characteristic was one in all 25 movies chosen for inclusion within the Nationwide Movie Registry of the Library of Congress in 2024.
Although finest recognized for his arthouse roles, Kier additionally appeared in quite a few mainstream works together with “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “Downsizing” and “Armageddon.” His most up-to-date movie credit embody “Swan Track,” “Bacurau” and “The Secret Agent,” Brazil’s worldwide characteristic movie entry for the 2026 Academy Awards.
Kier additionally starred in scores of TV initiatives together with Von Trier’s tv movie “Medea,” horror miniseries “The Kingdom,” and reveals “Scooby-Doo! Thriller Included,” “Pitch Good: Bumper in Berlin” and “Hunters.”
Exterior tv and movie, Kier appeared in music movies for Madonna (“Deeper and Deeper,” “Erotica”), the Goo Goo Dolls, Supertramp and Korn, amongst different artists. He additionally lent his voice to a handful of video video games together with “Name of Obligation: WWII” and was set to collaborate with Hideo Kojima on his upcoming “OD.”
Kier was born Oct. 14, 1944, in a hospital that was being bombed by Allied forces throughout World Struggle II, in line with Selection. Kier’s father left earlier than his start and the actor was raised by his mom. In his teenage years, Kier sparked a friendship with Fassbinder.
Within the mid-’60s, Kier moved to London to check English however was as a substitute found and forged in “Street to Saint Tropez.” He later met Morrissey, who was carefully related to Warhol on the time, laying the muse for his decades-long movie profession.
Kier lived in Palm Springs, the place he was a daily on the annual Palm Springs Worldwide Movie Competition.
