Udo Kier, German actor of My Own Private Idaho and Flesh for Frankenstein, dies at 81
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Udo Kier, the German actor who appeared in more than 200 films and collaborated with filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Alexander Payne, Werner Herzog, and Lars von Trier, has died at the age of 81. His death was confirmed by Kier’s husband, Delbert McBride.
Kier starred in two films by Paul Morrissey—Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974)—with Warhol serving as producer. Both films were bold reinterpretations of Hollywood’s classic monsters, and Kier brought a humorous edge to the characters.
These two films brought Kier to fame, and throughout the decade he collaborated in Europe with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in films such as The Stationmaster’s Wife, The Third Generation, and Lili Marleen. Kier later met Gus Van Sant at the Berlin Film Festival, which led to his becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
In 1991, Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho—a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV—introduced Kier to American audiences. He appeared in the film opposite River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.
Around the same time, he began working with von Trier, appearing in Epidemic and Europa, and later in several episodes of The Kingdom throughout the 1990s and 2000s. His other collaborations with von Trier include Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac: Vol. II.
During the 1990s, Kier also appeared in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Armageddon, Blade, and in Madonna’s music videos for Erotica and Deeper and Deeper. Kier’s final film was The Secret Agent, which earned Wagner Moura the Best Actor Award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Born as Udo Kierspe in Cologne, Germany, Kier came into the world in a hospital under Allied bombardment. Last year, he told Variety: “I loved the attention, so I became an actor.”
On his official Twitter account, he posted only one final message:
“Films should not be released on Netflix. Place yourself within the darkness of a theatre and surrender to the artist’s vision.”
