Kier collaborated with some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers across his sixdecade career, from Lars Von Trier to Wim Wenders and Guy Maddin. Udo Kier, German star of My Own Private Idaho and Melancholia, dies at 81 Kier collaborated with some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers across his sixdecade career, from Lars Von Trier to Wim Wenders and Guy Maddin. By Ryan Coleman :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RyanColemanauthorphoto0081ce8f0254478080f35972c433877b.jpg) Ryan Coleman Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

Kier collaborated with some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers across his six-decade career, from Lars Von Trier to Wim Wenders and Guy Maddin.

Udo Kier, German star of My Own Private Idaho and Melancholia, dies at 81

Kier collaborated with some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers across his six-decade career, from Lars Von Trier to Wim Wenders and Guy Maddin.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on November 23, 2025 9:36 p.m. ET

Udo Kier in Beverly Hills in March 2005. Credit:

J. Vespa/WireImage

Udo Kier, the German star of some of the most acclaimed arthouse films of the past half-century, has died at the age of 81.

Kier's partner, the artist Delbert McBride, confirmed to *Variety *that Kier died Sunday morning.

Across six decades and roles in more than 200 films and television series, Kier became an icon of the audacious, the experimental, and the avant-garde. The actor collaborated with and even acted as a muse to some of the most esteemed filmmakers of his generation. Kier starred in six films and a TV series by the Danish provocateur Lars Von Trier, including the 2000 musical tragedy *Dancer in the Dark*, which won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.**

Udo Kier in 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' (1994). Warner Brothers

Born in Cologne on the eve of the German Instrument of Surrender, Kier described having a "horrible childhood" in Germany, with a father "already married with three children" and a mother struggling to raise him in poverty. He revealed in 2002 that he "went to work in a factory" to fulfill his sole "intention — to get out of that misery I was born into."

Kier moved to London at 18, learned English, and kicked off his career with a leading role in the 1966 short film *Road to Saint Tropez*. In less than a decade, Kier would land a role in one of his signature films, the 1973 shocker *Flesh for Frankenstein *from legendary underground filmmaker Paul Morrissey and costarring Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro.**

The end of the decade would herald the onset of his first imperial period as an in demand star of international renown. Kier starred in the first half of legendary Hungarian auteur Miklos Jancsó's historical epic *Magyar Rapszódia*, or *Hungarian Rhapsody*, in 1979. That same year he appeared in *The Third Generation*, his first of several collaborations with German pioneer Rainer Werner Fassbinder, in whose masterpiece, 14-part miniseries *Berlin Alexanderplatz* he'd star the following year.

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How 'Swan Song' star Udo Kier became a leading man after 50 years in the business

Kier never settled for work of one style, in one genre, or hailing from one country. He worked widely across Europe, North America, and even South America as he progressed from aspiring star to reliable supporting player to cult icon.

He appeared in uncredited roles in a handful of projects that showcase the breadth and depth of his chameleonic talents: Dario Argento's giallo staple *Suspiria; *Fassbinder's "BRD Trilogy" closer *Lola*; in music videos for Madonna ("Deeper and Deeper") and Eve ("Let Me Blow Ya Mind," featuring Gwen Stefani); and as the Witchhunter in Rob Zombie's cerebral horror film *Lords of Salem*.**

Udo Kier in 2021's 'Swan Song'. Chris Stephens/Magnolia Pictures

Though he clung largely to the odd, the edgy, the small-scale and the micro-budget, Kier never shied away from mainstream fare. In recent years, he appeared as Klaus, a German record producer in the *Pitch Perfect *universe TV riff *Bumper in Berlin*. He also appeared in Alexander Payne's 2017's sci-fi comedy *Downsizing*, three films by Gus Van Sant (*My Own Private Idaho*, *Even Cowgirls Get the Blues*, and *Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot*), and the recent star vehicle *Swan Song*, which co-starred Jennifer Coolidge and Linda Evans.

As recently as this month, Kier re-established his eminence with a pair of memorable roles in two films from Brazilian luminary Kleber Mendonça Filho, both of which brought him back to Cannes; Kier appeared as the ruthless commander of a brigade of bounty hunters in 2019's *Bacurau *and the Jewish tailor, Hans, figuratively and literally scarred by his experience in WWII in this year's *The Secret Agent*.

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