Udo Kier | |
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Kier at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
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Born |
Udo Kierspe 14 October 1944 Cologne, Germany |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1966–present |
Udo Kier (born Udo Kierspe; 14 October 1944) is a German actor who has appeared in over 200 films.
Kier was born in Cologne, near the end of World War II. The hospital where he was born was bombed moments after his birth. In his youth he worked as an altar boy and cantor. He moved to the United Kingdom to learn the English language.
In 1966, Kier was cast in the lead role for the film Road to St. Tropez. An early starring role in Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (1973) led to a string of art-house, low-budget, and mainstream horror films, including a number of vampire-themed pictures Die Einsteiger (1985), Blade (1998), Modern Vampires (1998), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Dracula 3000 and Bloodrayne (2005). He has also become notorious for his work with cult directors, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walerian Borowczyk, Gus Van Zant, Christoph Schlingensief, and Dario Argento (whose classic Suspiria (1977) he was featured in). 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).