Skip to main content
Home
Published on filmportal.de (https://www.filmportal.de)

Udo Kier

Weitere Namen
Udo Kierspe (Geburtsname)
Date of Birth
10/14/1944 - 12:00
Geburtsort
Köln
Biography

Udo Kier was born in Cologne on October 14th 1944. After completing an apprenticeship as a mechanic, he began working in the assembly line at Ford. After a short while, Kier relocated to London, where he took language classes and was offered his first film role. While "The Road to St. Tropez" marked his screen debut, Kier was also in demand as a male model and was featured in numerous magazine spreads.

Also among his earliest film appearances was a role in the European exploitation flick "Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält" – also known as "Mark of the Devil" –, which at that time shocked audiences with explicit depictions of violence. Kier himself soon became a true cosmopolitan, living wherever his talents were wanted. After making the acquaintance of Factory filmmaker Paul Morrissey, he was cast in the titular roles of "Frankenstein" and Dracula", and the two Warhol productions gained him prominence in the underground and arthouse cinema.

Other Euro-productions followed, among them "L'histoire d'O" ("The Story of O", 1975) and Dario Argento's gory cult thriller "Suspiria" (1977). But In 1977, Kier shot a film in Germany: "Bolwieser" ("The Stationmaster's Wife") was his first collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Kier not only acted in the film, but also served as assistant director. He later returned to work on several other Fassbinder films, notably "Lola" and "Lili Marleen".

By then, Kier was already an industrious actor, shifting effortlessly – and at times with visible joy – between highbrow auteur films and trashy genre fare. 1986 "Egomania" saw him working for the first time with director-provocateur Christoph Schlingensief, and Kier would become a steady presence in the artist's subsequent films.

He forged an even more important creative partnership with Danish director Lars von Trier: Starting with "Epidemic", Kier appeared in nearly all of von Trier's films, leaving indelible impressions with his turns in "Europa", the acclaimed TV-series "The Kingdom", and the musical / melodrama "Dancer in the Dark".

In the early 1990s, mainly thanks to his performance in Gus van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho", Kier also had his breakthrough in the US. From then on, the charismatic actor was in high demand in Hollywood, taking supporting roles in blockbusters like "Armageddon" and "Blade" Kier while also keeping himself busy with juicy parts in numerous B- and C-productions of the horror and science-fiction variety.

Despite his successful movie career, Udo Kier always remained a true renaissance man: He worked on books, gave lectures and generally has shown interest in all forms of art. Among his latest acting endeavours in the German-speaking areas are the children TV-programme "4 gegen z" and the history spoof "Tell".

Kier continued to switch between straight B movies, ambitious arthous films and popular entertainment: He played the villain in Uwe Boll's speculative Video Game adaptation "Far Cry", had a self-effacing cameo in Til Schweiger's "1 1/2 Ritter - Auf der Suche nach der hinreißenden Herzelinde" ("1 1/2 Knights"), embodied a mean chauffeur in Oskar Roehler's "Lulu & Jimi" and also appeared in Fatih Akin's comedy "Soul Kitchen" and Dani Levy's "Das Leben ist zu lang" ("Life is Too Long").

2011 saw the release of seven films featuring Kier, including "Pariser Platz – Berlin", "Der Himmel hat vier Ecken" ("The Sky Has Four Corners"), Lars von Trier's acclaimed doomsday epic "Melancholia" and the drama  "UFO in Her Eyes". Moreover, he played the role of Pope Innozenz VIII in the TV series "Borgia".

One of his more bizarre screen characters appeared in the science-fiction spoof "Iron Sky", which premiered at the 2012 Berlin IFF. Kier plays a Nazi who fled to the Moon in 1945 and now plans to invade Earth with his minions. Also in 2012, he had an uncredited cameo as a witch hunter in Rob Zombie's horror film "Lords of Salem" (US/UK/CND). Following his small but memorable turn as a waiter in Lars von Trier's  "Nymphomaniac" (DK/D/F/B/S 2013), he played the head of a psychiatric ward in the horror comedy "The Editor" (CND 2014). Also he voiced the villain Mr. Toad in the animated TV series "Beware the Batman" (2013/14).

Kier himself became the subject of the documentary "Arteholic", in which director Hermann Vaske portrays the eccentric cult actor and art lover.

Also in the next years Kier could be seen in a series of very different productions: He belonged to the ensemble of Guy Maddin's experimental mystery drama "The Forbidden Room" (CN 2015) and played a therapist in the coming-of-age tragicomedy "Coconut Hero" (DE/CN 2015). In the conspiracy thriller "Courier X" (US 2016), which is based on real events, he has a leading role as sn ex-Stasi agent and CIA informer, in Alexander Payne's futuristic satire "Downsizing" (US/NO 2017) he played his signature role as a highly eccentric bon vivant.  

Kier showed his dark side in Craig S. Zahler's much acclaimed exploitation film "Brawl in Cell Block 99" (2017), as the diabolical henchman of a mafioso. Under Zahler's direction he also played a supporting role as a criminal businessman in the gangster film "Dragged Across Concrete" (2018). Dark and mysterious characters remained Kier's speciality: David Schalko cast him in his series adaptation "M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder" ("M - A City Hunts a Murderer", 2019) as a manic, mysterious children's photographer; the Czech Second World War drama "The Painted Bird" (2019) shows him as a psychotic, brutal miller. For his role in this film, which celebrated its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Kier received much praise from critics. 

After that he appeared again in some more or less obscure productions. For example, in the horror film "Skin Walker" (BE/LU 2019) and as a Bulgarian mobster in the thriller "Last Moment of Clarity" (2020). He had a leading role alongside Linda Evans and Martha Cooloidge in the melancholy comedy and character study "Swan Song" (US 2021), as an eccentric hairdresser who  sets out (on foot) to style the hair of a deceased woman for the last time in a small town. 

 In 2022, he was seen in Nicolette Krebitz' "A E I O U - Das schnelle Alphabet der Liebe" (DE/FR) as a good friend of the main character (Sophie Rois) and in the American series "Hunters" as Adolf Hitler.

Udo Kier lives in the USA and Europe.

Filmography
2024/2025
The Secret Agent
  • Cast
2025
Bad Painter
  • Participation
2022
Staging Death
  • Cast
2021/2022
A E I O U - Das schnelle Alphabet der Liebe
  • Cast
2018-2020
Schlingensief - In das Schweigen hineinschreien
  • Participation
2018/2019
M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
  • Cast
2017/2018
Meine Tochter - Figlia mia
  • Cast
2015-2018
Iron Sky - The Coming Race
  • Cast
2015
Zero
  • Cast
2014/2015
Coconut Hero
  • Cast
2015
Get Well Soon: It's Love
  • Cast
2013/2014
Arteholic
  • Participation
2012/2013
Nymph()maniac 1
  • Cast
2012/2013
Nymph()maniac 2
  • Cast
2013
Heather's Dream
  • Cast
2010/2011
UFO In Her Eyes
  • Cast
2010/2011
Der Himmel hat vier Ecken
  • Cast
2010-2012
Iron Sky
  • Cast
2010/2011
90 Minuten – Das Berlin Projekt
  • Cast
2010/2011
Melancholia
  • Cast
2008-2010
House of Boys
  • Cast
2009/2010
Das Leben ist zu lang
  • Cast
2008/2009
Platt gemacht
  • Cast
2008/2009
Soul Kitchen
  • Cast
2009
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
  • Cast
2007-2009
Lulu & Jimi
  • Cast
2008
1 1/2 Ritter - Auf der Suche nach der hinreißenden Herzelinde
  • Cast
2007/2008
Far Cry
  • Cast
2006/2007
Tell
  • Cast
2006
Mit anderen Augen
  • Cast
2004/2005
BloodRayne
  • Cast
2005/2006
Kreuzzug in Jeans
  • Cast
2004/2005
Manderlay
  • Cast
2004
Modigliani
  • Cast
2003/2004
Jargo
  • Cast
2003
Tor zum Himmel
  • Cast
2002/2003
Dogville
  • Cast
2000-2002
Auf Herz und Nieren
  • Cast
2001/2002
Pigs Will Fly
  • Cast
2000/2001
Die Männer ihrer Majestät
  • Cast
2000/2001
Die neuen Abenteuer von Pinocchio
  • Cast
2000/2001
Unbesiegbar
  • Cast
1999/2000
Dancer In the Dark
  • Cast
1999
History Is Made at Night
  • Cast
1998/1999
Nina Hagen = Punk + Glory
  • Participation
1997/1998
Die Diebin
  • Cast
1998
Eis - wenn die Welt erfriert
  • Cast
1998
Nina - Vom Kinderzimmer ins Bordell
  • Cast
1996/1997
Die 120 Tage von Bottrop
  • Cast
1996/1997
Prinz Eisenherz
  • Cast
1996/1997
Am Ende der Gewalt
  • Cast
1996/1997
Hospital der Geister [Teil 2]
  • Cast
1996
Das Mädchen mit der Puppe
  • Cast
1995/1996
Die Legende von Pinocchio
  • Cast
1993-1996
Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky
  • Cast
1995/1996
Lea
  • Cast
1994/1995
United Trash
  • Cast
1994/1995
Nur über meine Leiche
  • Cast
1994/1995
Schmetterling im Dunkeln
  • Participation
1995
Unter Druck
  • Cast
1994/1995
Ausgestorben
  • Cast
1994
In Liebe und Tod
  • Cast
1994
Rotwang muß weg!
  • Cast
1993/1994
Hospital der Geister [Teil 1]
  • Cast
1994
Der unbekannte Deserteur
  • Cast
1993
Plötzlich und unerwartet
  • Cast
1993
Three Shake-a-Leg Steps to Heaven
  • Cast
1992
Terror 2000 - Intensivstation Deutschland
  • Cast
1992
Tod eines Weltstars. Portrait Udo Kier
  • Participation
1990
Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker
  • Cast
  • Assistant director
1990
Europa
  • Cast
1988/1989
100 Jahre Adolf Hitler. Die letzte Stunde im Führerbunker
  • Cast
1987/1988
Mutters Maske
  • Cast
1988
Tanz auf dem Seil
  • Cast
1986
Die Schlacht der Idioten
  • Cast
1986
Egomania - Insel ohne Hoffnung
  • Cast
1984-1986
Kir Royal. 4. Adieu Claire
  • Cast
1983
Ein König ohne Reich
  • Cast
1985/1986
Am nächsten Morgen kehrte der Minister nicht an seinen Arbeitsplatz zurück
  • Cast
1984/1985
Der Unbesiegbare
  • Cast
1984/1985
Im Schatten des Zweifels
  • Cast
1985
Die Einsteiger
  • Cast
1984/1985
Verführung: Die grausame Frau
  • Cast
1976-1984
The Last Trip to Harrisburg
  • Cast
  • Director
  • Screenplay
1983/1984
Hur und heilig
  • Cast
1983
Pankow '95
  • Cast
1982/1983
Die wilden Fünfziger
  • Cast
1976/1983
Bolwieser [Kinofassung]
  • Cast
  • Assistant director
1982/1983
Die Insel der blutigen Plantage
  • Cast
1982
Sportliche Schatten
  • Cast
1981
Lola
  • Cast
  • Set design
1981
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes
  • Cast
1979/1980
Mein Traum vom Traum des Franz Biberkopf von Alfred Döblin – Ein Epilog
  • Cast
1980
Lili Marleen
  • Cast
1979/1980
Merke - einen Schwur kann man amputieren
  • Cast
1979/1980
Berlin Alexanderplatz (14 Teile)
  • Cast
1979/1980
Lulu
  • Cast
1978/1979
Die dritte Generation
  • Cast
1978/1979
Victor
  • Cast
1978
Das fünfte Gebot
  • Cast
1976/1977
Bolwieser
  • Cast
  • Assistant director
1977
Belcanto oder Darf eine Nutte schluchzen?
  • Cast
1976
Erinnerung an die Leidenschaft
  • Cast
1975/1976
Goldflocken
  • Cast
1974/1975
Der letzte Schrei
  • Cast
1972/1973
Pan
  • Cast
1973
Olifant
  • Cast
1972
Kassensturz um Mitternacht
  • Cast
1973
Schattenreiter
  • Cast
1972
The Salzburg Connection
  • Cast
1969/1970
Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält
  • Cast
1968
Schamlos
  • Cast
Source-URL: https://www.filmportal.de/en/person/udo-kier_efc121b073bf6c3fe03053d50b3736f2