Udo Kier, German Actor Who Appeared in ‘My Own Private Idaho,’ ‘Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein,’ Dies at 81

Udo Kier, a German actor and cult icon who collaborated with everyone from Andy Warhol to Lars von Trier to Madonna, died on Sunday morning, according to his partner, artist Delbert McBride. He was 81.

Among the more than 200 films in his expansive body of work, Kier’s breakout collaborations with Warhol are among his most celebrated. Kier starred in the titular roles in both 1973’s “Flesh for Frankenstein” and 1974’s “Blood for Dracula.” Both directed by Paul Morrissey and produced by Warhol, the films are subversive, sultry reimaginings of the classic Hollywood monsters, with Kier bringing a haunting yet comically inept spin on the title characters.

That pair of films made Kier famous, and he spent the next two decades working through Europe and collaborating with legendary writer-director Rainer Werner Fassbinder on films like “The Stationmaster’s Wife,” “The Third Generation” and “Lili Marleen.” Then, at the Berlin Film Festival, Kier met future two-time Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant, who Kier credits with securing him an American work permit and a SAG card.

In 1991, Van Sant widely introduced Kier to American audiences with his coming-of-age drama “My Own Private Idaho,” loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.” Kier appeared in a supporting role alongside stars River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.

Around the same time, Kier began his lifelong collaboration with von Trier. Starting in the late ’80s with “Epidemic,” Kier appeared in the 1991 film “Europa” before appearing in several episodes of von Trier’s long-running horror-thriller series “The Kingdom” through the ’90s and aughts. Their other film collaborations include “Breaking the Waves,” “Dancer in the Dark,” “Dogville,” “Melancholia” and “Nymphomaniac: Vol. II.”

The 1990s also saw Kier in several supporting roles in major Hollywood productions, such as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “Armageddon” and “Blade.” He also appeared in Madonna’s book “Sex” in 1992, and made appearances in her music videos for “Erotica” and “Deeper and Deeper” from her album “Erotica.”

Most recently, Kier appeared in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s awards darling “The Secret Agent.” The film earned star Wagner Moura the honor for best actor at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Born Udo Kierspe in Cologne, Germany, in a hospital that was being bombed by Allied Forces, he moved to London at 18 after meeting Fassbinder in a bar.

“I liked the attention, so I became an actor,” he told Variety‘s Peter Debruge in a 2024 interview. After working between Europe and the U.S. for many decades, Kier settled in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, where he lived in a former mid-century library and cultivated interests in art, architecture and collecting. He was a fixture at the Palm Springs Film Festival, where he warmly received accolades from fans.