Today we woke up in Europe to the sad news that Udo Kier, the celebrated German actor who conquered Hollywood with his irresistible blue eyes, has died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 81, his partner, artist Delbert McBride, told Variety.
Udo Kier (born Udo Kierspe in 1944 in Cologne, Germany) began his acting career at a young age after moving to London when he came of age, where he would later be discovered by celebrated artist Andy Warlhol, who signed him to revamp the Dracula and Frankenstein monster myths in Blood for Dracula (1973) and Flesh for Frankenstein (1974), respectively. This launched his career and put him under the orders of some of the most famous filmmakers of the time, such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Gus Van Sant, and in particular, Lars Von Trier, for whom he became a sort of fetish actor, in a collaboration that lasted for decades.
Although most of his career has been in film and television, Kier recently appeared in Kojima Productions' video game OD, in a role that has not yet been made public. OD is still in production, and director Hideo Kojima's emotional message on social media does not clarify whether all the shots were filmed with the actor. Kojima and Kier were friends, and the Japanese director describes him as follows: "Udo was not just an actor. He was a true icon of his time. We have lost a great icon. There will never be another like him."
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During our coverage of the San Diego Comic-Con Malaga we also had the opportunity to talk to another actor well known to Kojima, Norman Reedus, and in our interview with him he recalled his previous work with Udo Kier and his relationship with OD. He referred to him in these terms: "Udo is one of the most interesting people I think I've ever met".
May he rest in peace.