<\/p>\n
Udo Kier, the German actor whose icy gaze and strange, scene-stealing screen presence made him a favorite of filmmakers including Andy Warhol, Gus Van Sant and Lars von Trier, has died at 81.<\/p>\n
His partner, artist Delbert McBride, told Variety that Kier died on Sunday in Palm Springs, California.<\/p>\n
A longtime arthouse favorite, Kier also had an unlikely run as a character actor in Hollywood blockbusters including \u201cAce Ventura: Pet Detective\u201d with Jim Carrey.<\/p>\n
The most recent of Kier\u2019s more than 200 credits in a nearly 60-year career was this year\u2019s Brazilian political thriller \u201cThe Secret Agent,\u201d which could vie for Oscars and other major awards in the coming season.<\/p>\n
Kier had his breakout as the star of two films produced by Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey: 1973\u2019s \u201cFlesh for Frankenstein\u201d and 1974\u2019s \u201cBlood for Dracula.\u201d<\/p>\n
German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder put Kier in several films later in the decade, including \u201cThe Stationmaster\u2019s Wife\u201d and \u201cThe Third Generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kier was introduced to many American moviegoers through Van Sant\u2019s 1991 film \u201cMy Own Private Idaho,\u201d starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Madonna, a fan of that film, invited Kier to appear in photos for her 1992 culture-shaking book \u201cSex,\u201d and in the video for her song \u201cDeeper and Deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kier credited Van Sant with getting him a U.S. work permit and a Screen Actors Guild card.<\/p>\n
Those documents allowed him to bring his arresting presence to several Hollywood films of the 1990s, including \u201cArmageddon,\u201d \u201cBlade,\u201d \u201cBarb Wire\u201d and \u201cJohnny Mnemonic.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was a constant collaborator with von Trier, starring in the Danish director\u2019s television series \u201cThe Kingdom\u201d and appearing in the films \u201cDancer in the Dark,\u201d \u201cDogville\u201d and \u201cMelancholia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kier was born Udo Kierspe in Cologne, Germany, in 1944, as Allied forces bombed the city during World War II.<\/p>\n
He moved at age 18 to London, where he was discovered at a coffee bar by singer and future filmmaker Michael Sarne.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked the attention, so I became an actor,\u201d Kier told Variety last year.<\/p>\n
People noticing him for his striking presence and approaching him became a lifelong pattern.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never asked a director, \u2018I would like to work with you,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kier had lived in the Palm Springs area since the early 1990s, and was a regular and frequent party host at its annual film festival.<\/p>\n
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