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Udo Kier

Birthplace: Cologne

Born: 1944-10-14

Died: 2025-11-23

Occupations recorded in source

actor; film actor; film director; musician; stage actor; television actor; voice actor

Biography from Wikipedia

Udo Kierspe (14 October 1944 – 23 November 2025), known professionally as Udo Kier, was a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor who often portrayed eccentric and deviant figures, he appeared in more than 200 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas.

Kier made his breakthrough playing the title characters in the cult films Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974), both directed by Paul Morrissey, which established him as an icon of the horror film genre. He became a staple figure in both mainstream genre film and art house circles, described by one obituary as a "cult icon". He collaborated with notable filmmakers, such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Werner Herzog, Walerian Borowczyk, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dario Argento, Guy Maddin, Wim Wenders, and Rob Zombie.

He received several international accolades, including a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, for his elegiac performance in Swan Song (2021). Openly gay throughout his career, he received a Special Teddy Award at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival for his contribution to queer cinema.

Sources & attribution

Wikidata · revision
Wikidata contributors · CC0

Wikipedia · revision 1378850135
Wikipedia contributors; original introduction, prose paragraphs; HTML formatting removed · CC BY-SA 4.0

Films in Cinema Hound

Acting

Frequent collaborators

Shared films in this catalogue.

Catalogue credits: Wikidata and Open Media Database. Sources & licences.