Cologne-born Udo Kier is probably the most famous supporting actor in Hollywood. Today, October 14th, he celebrates his 80th birthday.
Udo Kier (80) has certainly never been bored in his strange and impressive career. To date, the man with the unfathomably piercing eyes has appeared in almost 250 films of a wide variety of genres, as well as over 100 episodes in television series and countless jobs as a voice actor. If people interested him, he would occasionally appear in music videos, such as those for Madonna (66) or the metal band Korn.
Self-taught with extraordinary charisma
The German Hollywood star with the Rhenish accent is considered the grand master of strangeness – and as a much-booked supporting actor, he always manages to give films a special touch with his extraordinary presence. Kier has starred in so many films that it’s almost impossible not to have seen him on the big screen, whether in horror-trash classics like Witches Tormented to Blood (1969) or masterpieces like Gus van Sants (72) Road movie “My Private Idaho” (1991) or shrill science fiction comedies like “Iron Sky” (2012). The man has even been spotted in the “Tatort” and on “Polizeiruf 110”.
Udo Kier has experienced so many crazy things and met interesting people during his long career that he often comes across as a living anecdote machine in interviews. He has a few favorite stories that he likes to pull out of his hat again and again to show how many incredible coincidences marked his path to Hollywood stardom.
A career full of happy coincidences
This almost came to an abrupt end shortly after his birth on October 14, 1944 in Cologne-Mülheim, when Allied air units bombed the city and he and his mother were buried in the rubble of the hospital.
His discovery as an actor also had something to do with the war. Since he was unable to attend secondary school during his poverty-stricken childhood, he moved to London in 1963 to learn English and make a living as a dishwasher. As he reported in, among other things, he was approached in the middle of the street one day and, without any acting experience, was immediately given the lead gigolo role in Michael Sarne’s (84) “Road to St. Tropez” (1966).
A few years and strange films later, another coincidence opened his first doors to the USA when the person sitting next to him on the plane turned out to be Andy Warhol’s (1929-1987) right-hand man Paul Morrissey (86). He was so impressed by the charismatic drifter that he wrote down his phone number in his passport and called him immediately upon his return to New York. His offer: a small role in his next feature film project, “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein.” When Kier asked what role it was, the answer was: “Frankenstein.”
Warhol Dracula with a German accent
Impressed by Udo’s strange beauty, his naive, profound German accent and his intense performance in the cult underground trash film, Morrissey also used the strange Cologne native as the main actor in his next project “Andy Warhol’s Dracula” (1974).
Back in Europe, Kier used his first fame for further coups, made headlines with his leading role in the French sado-maso scandal film “The Story of O” (1975) and then appeared in several films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder until the early 1980s ( 1945-1982) – whom, according to legend, he met as a teenager in a Cologne dive bar and later met again by chance.
Final breakthrough with “My Private Idaho”
After several films with star director Lars von Trier (68) and strange roles in Christoph Schlingensief’s (1960-2010) cinematic madness projects such as “The German Chainsaw Massacre”, his portrayal of the eccentric German suitor Hans Klein in Gus van Sant’s “My Private” in 1991 caused a stir Idaho”, alongside the very young young stars Keanu Reeves (60) and River Phoenix (1970-1993), for Kier’s final breakthrough in Hollywood. After the film’s premiere, he simply stayed in the USA to really get started.
This was followed by productions with major directors such as Steven Spielberg (77), in whose science fiction series “seaQuest DSV” he appeared, as well as larger roles in blockbusters such as “Ace Ventura – An Animal Detective” alongside comedy superstar Jim Carrey (62). He mixed things up between his numerous engagements in his new home, in which he was seen alongside superstars such as Nicole Kidman (57), Wesley Snipes (62), Bruce Willis (69), Christoph Waltz (68) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (77). continues to appear in large and small productions by European directors such as Wim Wenders (79), Lars von Trier, Fatih Akin (51) and Christoph Schlingensief.
Eccentric early work “Swan Song”
After many supporting roles, Udo Kier was once again able to demonstrate his skills as a complex character actor in a leading role in Todd Stephens’ film drama “Swan Song” in 2021. The role gave him his greatest success to date and he liked it straight away: in the work he embodies a former star hairdresser who, after receiving an unexpected inheritance, flees his retirement home to go on one last eccentric journey.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
