Actor Udo Kier attends the 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Film, January 10, 2014 in Palm Springs, California. VIVIEN KILLILEA / GETTY IMAGES / AFP
German actor Udo Kier, whose offbeat charisma made him a cult figure in both arthouse and Hollywood cinema, has died at 81 in California, US magazine Variety reported on Monday, November 24. With a career spanning more than half a century, Kier appeared in hundreds of films – often stealing scenes with his unmistakable presence.
Kier first rose to fame in the 1970s with cult portrayals of Frankenstein and Dracula, working alongside Andy Warhol and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. His pale features and theatrical intensity quickly set him apart in the independent and underground film world.
Kier once claimed to have eaten only salad leaves and water for a week in a bid to rapidly lose 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) for the Dracula role, spending time in a wheelchair due to weakness. He also appeared in several films directed by Danish director Lars von Trier, including Manderlay, which tells the fictional story of a 1930s Alabama plantation that still practiced slavery, as well as 2013 erotic art film Nymphomaniac.
But Kier was equally at home in mainstream cinema, appearing in a string of Hollywood titles including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Armageddon and Blade, often playing stylish villains, oddballs or otherworldly figures.
