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Udo Kier

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Udo Kier
Kier at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
Born
Udo Kierspe

(1944-10-14) 14 October 1944 (age 80)
Cologne, Germany
OccupationActor
Years active1966–present

Udo Kier (born Udo Kierspe; 14 October 1944) is a German actor who has appeared in over 200 films.[1][2]

Early life

Kier was born in Cologne, near the end of World War II. The hospital where he was born was bombed moments after his birth.[3] In his youth he worked as an altar boy [4] and cantor. He moved to the United Kingdom to learn the English language.[1]

Career

In 1966, Kier was cast in the lead role for the film Road to St. Tropez.[5][6] One of the most important films in his early career was Andy Warhol's Frankenstein in 1973. Another film, Blood for Dracula in 1974, was filmed by Paul Morrissey for Andy Warhol's studio and produced by Vittorio de Sica and Roman Polański, with Kier playing the lead roles of young doctor Frankenstein and young count Dracula. Kier has appeared in a number of other vampire movies, such as Die Einsteiger (1985), Blade (1998), Modern Vampires (1998), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Dracula 3000 and Bloodrayne (2006). In the 1980s Kier worked with Hungarian director Gábor Bódy and appeared in a number of his projects. Their most successful work together was Narcissus and Psyche in 1980.

He has worked with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walerian Borowczyk, and Dario Argento and has starred in many horror and vampire movies such as Flesh For Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974) (produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey), the horror classic Suspiria (1977), the vampire Hollywood blockbuster Blade (1998), and the independent film Shadow of the Vampire (2000), produced by Nicolas Cage.

He has appeared in all of Lars von Trier's movies since 1987's Epidemic (with the exceptions of The Idiots, The Boss of it All and Antichrist).

He made an appearance in cult movie My Own Private Idaho (1991) directed by Gus van Sant.[7] Well-known film appearances were in Ace Ventura:Pet Detective (1994) with Jim Carrey[8] as a billionaire, Ronald Camp, in Barb Wire with Pamela Anderson, as a NASA flight psychologist in Armageddon,[9][10] and as Ralphie in the film Johnny Mnemonic. He has also frequently worked with German director Christoph Schlingensief.

Kier also made an appearance in Madonna's 1992 book called Sex, as well as the video for her disco hit "Deeper and Deeper" from the album Erotica.[11] Kier appeared in Korn's music video "Make Me Bad", in Eve's music video "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and in the music video for "Die Schöne und das Biest" by defunct German band Rauhfaser.

He also starred as the psychic Yuri in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and its expansion, Yuri's Revenge, played the villainous Lorenzini in the 1996 film The Adventures of Pinocchio, and then later reprised his role in the 1999 sequel The New Adventures of Pinocchio. He also voiced Professor Pericles in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

A documentary on his life and career entitled ICH-UDO...der Schauspieler Udo Kier (ME-Udo...the actor Udo Kier) was filmed for ARTE, the French-German culture channel in Europe, and released in 2012.[12] 2013 the Documentary won the New York Festival "Finalist Certificate".[13]

Personal life

Kier moved to Palm Springs, California in 1991.[5][14][15]

Filmography

Film

Television

Animation

Video games

References

  1. ^ a b "Interview With An Icon: Udo Kier Discusses His Career And Latest Projects!". Iconvsicon.com. 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  2. ^ "Iron Sky: Interview with Udo Kier | Electric Sheep – Features, essays & interviews from the mavericks of the film world". Electricsheepmagazine.co.uk. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  3. ^ Role in "Epidemic" and DVD commentary from Lars von Trier
  4. ^ http://www.moviepilot.de/news/udo-kier-von-andy-warhol-zu-den-space-nazis-115142
  5. ^ a b ahillis at July 30, 2011 5:00 AM (2011-07-30). "GreenCine Daily: INTERVIEW: Udo Kier". Daily.greencine.com. Retrieved 2012-10-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Vatnsdal, Caelum (2011-01-04). "Udo Kier | Film | Random Roles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  7. ^ "Udo Kier – Actor | Film". DW.DE. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  8. ^ Mark Wyatt, Bert LaMarche. "Udo Kier – Movies". Filmsandtv.com. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  9. ^ "Armageddon Times, Movie Tickets, and Theaters – Zap2it". Movies.zap2it.com. 1998-07-01. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  10. ^ "Movies We Love: Armageddon". Film School Rejects. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  11. ^ Guilbert, Georges-Claude (2002). Madonna as Postmodern Myth. Jefferson: McFarland & Co. p. 69. ISBN 0-7864-1408-1.
  12. ^ "Network for European Documentary Professionals". reelisor. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  13. ^ "Piece #1 – ME – UDO / starring Udo Kier / a Western Road Movie". New York Festivals. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  14. ^ Seibold, Witney (2012-10-02). "I Die With Open Eyes: Udo Kier on Iron Sky". CraveOnline. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  15. ^ "Udo Kier | Actor | Hollywood". Palm Springs Life. Retrieved 2012-10-07.

Further Reading

  • Tons May. "The Other Face of Love: Udo Kier's Career in the Erotic Genre" in Jack Stevenson (ed), Fleshpot: Cinema's Sexual Myth Makers and Taboo Breakers. Manchester: Critical Vision/Headpress, 2002, pp. 141-58 and "Udo Speaks: An Interview with Udo Kier" in same volume, pp. 159-62.
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