Udo Kier, the German actor whose piercing gaze and magnetic presence made him a fixture in both art house cinema and Hollywood blockbusters, died Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, at Eisenhower Health hospital in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 81 years old.
His partner, Delbert McBride, confirmed the death. Longtime friend and photographer Michael Childers announced the news publicly, noting that Kier died at the hospital near his home in Palm Springs, California.
Born Udo Kierspe in Cologne, Germany, on Oct. 14, 1944, Kier’s life began amid the chaos of World War II. Just hours after his birth, the hospital was bombed during an Allied raid, and he and his mother had to be rescued from the ruins. He grew up in poverty in postwar Germany without his father, raised by his mother, a seamstress.
At age 18, Kier moved to London to learn English, where he was discovered in a coffee shop. The chance encounter launched a career that would span nearly 60 years and encompass reports of over 200 film and television credits. His first role came in the 1966 short film “Road to Saint Tropez,” marking the beginning of an extraordinarily diverse acting journey.
Kier’s breakthrough arrived through another serendipitous meeting when he sat next to director Paul Morrissey on a plane. The encounter led to starring roles in two films produced by Andy Warhol: “Flesh for Frankenstein” in 1973 and “Blood for Dracula” in 1974. For the latter, Kier underwent an extreme transformation, explaining in a past interview that he “starved myself and only ate leaves and drank water” to achieve the gaunt appearance of a vampire desperate for virgins’ blood.
Throughout his career, Kier maintained close collaborations with several acclaimed directors. He worked extensively with German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, appearing in “The Third Generation,” “Lili Marllen,” and “Lola,” as well as the acclaimed 14-part 1980 miniseries “Berlin Alexanderplatz.”
His partnership with Danish director Lars von Trier proved particularly fruitful, spanning multiple decades and including “Europa,” “Breaking the Waves,” “Dancer in the Dark,” “Dogville,” “Manderlay,” and “Melancholia,” along with the horror miniseries “The Kingdom.”
Director Gus Van Sant brought Kier to American audiences with the 1991 film “My Own Private Idaho,” where he portrayed the benefactor Hans alongside Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. Van Sant helped Kier secure his U.S. work permit and Screen Actors Guild card, enabling him to work in Hollywood. The two later reunited for “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” in 1993 and “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” in 2018.
Madonna, impressed by his performance in “My Own Private Idaho,” invited Kier to appear in her controversial 1992 coffee table book “Sex” and subsequently cast him in her music videos for “Erotica” and “Deeper and Deeper.” He also appeared in music videos for Korn and Eve alongside Gwen Stefani.
Despite his art house credentials, Kier seamlessly transitioned between independent cinema and mainstream Hollywood productions. His commercial film appearances included “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” in 1994 with Jim Carrey, “Blade” in 1998, and “Armageddon” in 1998. This versatility allowed him to work across genres and budgets, bringing his distinctive presence to vastly different types of projects.
Kier often played villains and unsettling characters, a choice he defended strategically. He once noted that “if you play small or guest parts in movies, it is better to be evil and scare people than be the guy who works in the post office and goes home to his wife and children. Audiences will remember you more.”
Later in his career, Kier took on the leading role in Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song” in 2021, portraying a retired hairdresser who escapes from a care home to style the hair and makeup of a deceased former client. The performance showcased his ability to carry a film with both humor and pathos.
His final film role was in “The Secret Agent,” released in 2025, where he played a Jewish tailor. The Brazilian political thriller has generated awards season buzz and represents a fitting conclusion to a career defined by bold choices and memorable performances across international cinema.
Throughout his decades-long career, Kier maintained that much of his success came from chance encounters rather than aggressive pursuit of roles. He never actively sought out directors, instead allowing opportunities to find him through the connections and impressions he made along the way. This approach led to an eclectic body of work that defied easy categorization, spanning horror films, art house experiments, Hollywood blockbusters, and everything in between.
Kier had made Palm Springs his home since the early 1990s and became a fixture at the annual film festival there, frequently hosting parties and celebrating cinema with fellow artists and admirers.
