Euro International Films
Udo Kier, the German character actor who oozed sex and radiated menace in equal parts across 200+ films, died Sunday. His partner, the artist Delbert McBride, confirmed his passing at age 81 to Variety.
Stephen Israel, a producer on the 2021 film “Swan Song,” a rare starring role for Kier directed by Todd Stephens that generated Oscar buzz, wrote on Facebook, “The world has lost an icon, and I lost a dear friend. Godspeed Udo: until we meet again. I’ll bring the Pinot Grigio. Chilled.”
Kier had the distinction of working with some of the greatest minds in film of the 20th century, among them Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, Dario Argento, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his serial collaborator Lars von Trier.
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He was also proud that Madonna requested him to pose with her in her 1992 book “Sex,” in which he appeared with the pop icon clad in a tux, a group of male strippers at their command. He had a flashy speaking role in her ’70s-themed 1993 music video for “Deeper and Deeper.”
Kier was so ubiquitous — and his presence in a film could be so effectively dark — that an entire experimental short film was created by Jan Soldat in 2023 that edits together more than 50 death scenes across his career.
Along with “Swan Song,” one of Kier’s most recent films is this year’s “The Secret Agent,” which is Brazil’s submission for Best International Feature Film for the 2026 Oscars, just another example of his tireless work ethic.
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