Frankfurt (Germany), 24 Nov. (LaPresse) – German actor Udo Kier has died. Kier passed away on Sunday in his adopted home of Palm Springs, California, at the age of 81, as confirmed by his partner, artist Delbert McBride, according to German media reports. Udo Kier was born on 14 October 1944 in Cologne. Raised in modest circumstances, he moved to London at the age of 19, where he worked as a waiter and then also in Rome. In the late 1960s, Kier entered the film industry. Appearing in over 250 film and television productions, he worked with world-renowned directors such as Andy Warhol, Lars von Trier, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog. Kier's collaboration with legendary director Fassbinder was particularly close. They made five films together, including “Lili Marleen” and “Berlin Alexanderplatz”. He also worked extensively with Danish director von Trier, with whom he made films such as “Dogville” and “Melancholia”. The actor achieved success in the United States in the early 1990s with his role as a gay client in Gus Van Sant's “The Beautiful and Damned”.
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