Rutger Hauer obit

Rutger Hauer, ‘Blade Runner’ Co-Star, Dies at 75

He was not on the list.

Rutger Hauer, the versatile Dutch leading man of the ’70s who went on star in the 1982 “Blade Runner” as Roy Batty, died July 19 at his home in the Netherlands after a short illness. He was 75.

Hauer’s agent, Steve Kenis, confirmed the news and said that Hauer’s funeral was held Wednesday.

His most cherished performance came in a film that was a resounding flop on its original release. In 1982, he portrayed the murderous yet soulful Roy Batty, leader of a gang of outlaw replicants, opposite Harrison Ford in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi noir opus “Blade Runner.” The picture became a widely influential cult favorite, and Batty proved to be Hauer’s most indelible role.

More recently, he appeared in a pair of 2005 films: as Cardinal Roark in “Sin City,” and as the corporate villain who Bruce Wayne discovers is running the Wayne Corp. in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins.”

In “True Blood,” he played Niall Brigant, the king of the tribe from which the Stackhouse family is descended and the faerie grandfather to Sookie, Jason Stackhouse and Hunter Savoy. Hauer also recurred on ABC’s medieval musical comedy “Galavant” as Kingsley in 2015.

He was a natural at horror and vampire roles, starring as Van Helsing in Dario Argento’s “Dracula 3D,” and as the vampire Barlow in the 2004 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” along with Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher and Donald Sutherland.

Handsome, energetic and fluent in several languages, Hauer made his first mark in the late ‘60s in the Netherlands as the star of Paul Verhoeven’s medieval TV series “Floris.” He vaulted to the top ranks of Dutch stardom in 1973 opposite Monique van de Ven in Verhoeven’s sexually explosive drama “Turkish Delight,” which became a box-office smash and garnered an Oscar nod as best foreign film.

After three more Dutch features with Verhoeven that became art-house successes in the U.S., Hauer segued to a Hollywood career with a flashy role as a terrorist in the 1981 Sylvester Stallone thriller “Nighthawks.”

Hauer increasingly turned to action-oriented parts in the ‘80s: He toplined the big-budget fantasy “Ladyhawke” (1985), reteamed with fellow Hollywood transplant Verhoeven in the sword-and-armor epic “Flesh & Blood” (1985), starred as a psychotic killer in “The Hitcher” (1986), and took Steve McQueen’s shotgun-toting bounty hunter role in a modern reboot of the TV Western “Wanted: Dead or Alive” (1986).

His major artistic triumph came in Ermanno Olmi’s Italian production “The Legend of the Holy Drinker” (1988); his sensitive turn as a homeless drunk and petty criminal who finds redemption in Paris carried the feature, which collected the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

During the ‘90s, Hauer gravitated to more routine roles in American and international productions and played the vampire lord Lothos in the original film version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

He debuted as a small screen star as Nazi official Albert Speer in the 1982 telefilm adaptation of Speer’s book “Inside the Third Reich.” His most admired TV work came in projects that turned on World War II themes: He received Golden Globe nominations for his performances as the leader of a concentration camp revolt in “Escape From Sobibor” (1987) and an SS officer in the alternate-universe drama “Fatherland” (1994).

He was born Jan. 23, 1944, in Breukelen, the Netherlands, near Amsterdam. Though both his parents were acting teachers, he took a circuitous route to the craft. He ran away from home at 15 to join the Dutch merchant navy; after returning to Amsterdam in 1962 he briefly studied acting, but exited school again for a stint in the army.

Finally committing himself to the stage, he became a member of the touring experimental troupe Noorder Compagnie, in which he acted, directed and served as costume designer and translator for several years.

His major break came in 1969 when Verhoeven cast him in the title role of “Floris,” an Ivanhoe-like knight who becomes embroiled in court intrigue upon his return from the Crusades. The show proved wildly popular, and Hauer reprised the part in a 1975 revival of the series, “Floris von Rosemund.”

By that time, the steamy, affecting “Turkish Delight” had firmly established him as the Netherlands’ top B.O. attraction. He reunited with Verhoeven and his co-star van de Ven for the period drama “Katie Tippel” (1975); he renewed his collaboration with the director with the World War II saga “Soldier of Orange” (1977) and the bold contemporary drama “Spetters” (1980).

Hauer made an almost immediate and intense impression as Batty in his sophomore American feature “Blade Runner,” an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” He wrote his own dialog for the film’s climactic face-off with his adversary Ford. Though the film swiftly fell off screens, it remains a genre landmark today, in no small measure because of Hauer’s electrifying performance.

Olmi’s “The Legend of the Holy Drinker” brought him possibly the best notices of his career, but it failed to attract great attention beyond art-house audiences, and Hauer soon became a familiar and prolific supporting player in a variety of genre pictures, several of which went direct to home video. He shot seven features in 2001 alone.
He was active in social causes as an outspoken sponsor of the environmental organization Greenpeace and the founder the Starfish Association, a non-profit devoted to AIDS awareness.
He is survived by his second wife of 50 years, Ineke ten Cate, and a daughter, actress Aysha Hauer, from his marriage to Heidi Merz.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1969      Monsieur Hawarden                       Deleted scenes

1973      Rumplestiltskin The King               Original title: Repelsteeltje

1973      Turkish Delight Eric Vonk             Original title: Turks Fruit

1974      Cold Blood [nl]   Cris         Original title: Das Amulett des Todes

1974      Hard to Remember [nl] Rick        Original title: Pusteblume

1974      The Wilby Conspiracy     Blane    

1975      Katie Tippel        Hugo     Original title: Keetje Tippel

1975      The Year of the Cancer   Pierre    Original title: Het jaar van de kreeft

1976      Max Havelaar     Duclari

1977      Soldier of Orange             Erik Lanshof        Original title: Soldaat van Oranje

1978      Pastorale 1943 August Schultz  

1978      Woman Between Wolf and Dog Adriaan                Original title: Femme entre chien et loup

1978      Mysteries [nl]    Johan Nagel        Alternate title: Evil Mysteries

1979      The Bank Robbery [nl]    John Ryder          Original title: Es begann bei Tiffany

1979      Grijpstra & De Gier          Rinus de Gier    

1980      Spetters               Gerrit Witkamp                

1981      Nighthawks        Wulfgar                Hollywood debut film

1981      Chanel Solitaire                 Étienne Balsan  

1982      Blade Runner     Roy Batty             Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor

1983      The Osterman Weekend               John Tanner      

1984      A Breed Apart    Jim Malden        

1984      Eureka Claude Maillot Van Horn              

1984      Terror in the Aisles          Wulfgar                Archival footage

1985      Ladyhawke         Captain Etienne Navarre              

1985      Flesh & Blood    Martin

1986      The Hitcher         John Ryder         

1987      Wanted: Dead or Alive   Nick Randall      

1988      The Legend of the Holy Drinker Andreas Kartak O

1989      Desert Law          Tom Burton       

1989      Blind Fury            Nick Parker        

1989      As Long as It's Love          John Knott           Original title: In una notte di chiaro di luna

1989      The Blood of Heroes       Sallow  

1989      Bloodhounds of Broadway           The Brain            

1991      Wedlock               Frank Warren    

1991      Past Midnight    Ben Jordan         

1992      Beyond Justice Tom Burton       

1992      Split Second       Harley Stone     

1992      Buffy the Vampire Slayer              Lothos  

1993      Arctic Blue           Ben Corbett       

1994      Surviving the Game         Thomas Burns   

1994      Nostradamus     The Mystic Monk             

1994      The Beans of Egypt, Maine           Reuben Bean    

1995      Blood of the Innocent    Dr. Lem               

1995      Mr. Stitch            Doctor Rue Wakeman   

1996      Crossworlds        A.T.        Direct-to-DVD

1996      Mariette in Ecstasy          Chaplain              

1996      Precious Find     Armond Crille   

1997      Knockin' on Heaven's Door           Curtiz   

1997      Troubled Waters              Captain Britanov              

1997      Blast      Leo        

1997      Omega Doom    Omega Doom   

1997      The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon    John Thornton  

1997      Bleeders              Dr. Marlowe      

1997      Deathline             John Anderson Wade    

1998      Bone Daddy        William H. Palmer           

1999      Simon Magus     Count Albrecht, the Squire          

1999      New World Disorder       David Marx        

1999      Tactical Assault Captain John "Doc" Holiday         Direct-to-DVD

2000      Lying in Wait      Keith Miller        

2000      Partners in Crime             Gene Reardon  

2000      Wilder   Dr. Sam Dennis Charney               

2001      Jungle Juice        Jean-Luc              

2001      The Room            Harry     Short film; also co-director

2001      The Last Words of Dutch Schultz                Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer      Voice

Short film

2001      Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal          Copilot MacIntosh           Direct-to-DVD

2001      Flying Virus         Ezekial

2002      The God's Bankers           Cardinale Marcinkus       Original title: I banchieri di Dio

2002      Scorcher              President Nelson             

2002      Warrior Angels Grekkor               

2002      Confessions of a Dangerous Mind             Keeler  

2004      In the Shadow of the Cobra [nl] Gallo     

2004      Tempesta [de]   Van Beuningen

2004      Never Enough    Sebastian             Original title: Camera ascunsa

2005      Sin City Cardinal Roark  

2005      Batman Begins William Earle     

2005      Dracula III: Legacy            Count Dracula    Direct-to-DVD

2005      Mirror Wars       Mysterious Man               Original title: Zerkalnie voyni: Otrazhenie pervoye

2006      The Hunt for Eagle One General Frank Lewis        Direct-to-DVD

2006      Minotaur             Cyrnan

2006      Mentor                 Sanford Pollard

2006      The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point        General Frank Lewis       

2007      Goal II: Living the Dream               Rudi Van Der Merwe     

2007      Moving McAllister            McAllister           

2007      Dead Tone          Detective John Criton    

2008      Spoon   Victor Spoon     

2008      Magic Flute Diaries          Dr. Richard Nagel            

2008      Bride Flight         Old Frank            

2009      Barbarossa          Federico Barbarossa       

2009      Tonight at Noon                Diego van der Haagen   

2010      Happiness Runs                 Insley   

2011      Hobo with a Shotgun      Hobo    

2011      The Mill and the Cross    Peter Bruegel    

2011      The Rite                Istvan Kovak      

2011      Black Butterflies               Abraham Jonker              

2011      Alle for én           Niemeyer           

2011      The Heineken Kidnapping [nl]     Alfred Heineken              

2011      The Cardboard Village (Il Villaggio di Cartone)      The sacristan (il sacrestano)        

2011      The Reverend    Withstander       Direct-to-DVD

2012      Dracula 3D          Abraham Van Helsing    

2012      Agent Ranjid rettet die Welt [de]               Freek van Dyk   

2013      Real Playing Game           Steve Battier     

2013      Il Futuro (The Future)     Maciste               

2014      Unity     Narrator (voice)                Voice, Documentary

2014      2047 - Sights of Death    Colonel Asimov

2015      The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power     King Zakour         Direct-to-DVD

2015      Michiel de Ruyter       Maarten Tromp               

2015      The Letters         Benjamin Praggh             

2016      Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich Oskar Halminski               

2017      Drawing Home Carl Rungius      

2017      Gangsterdam     Dolph   

2017      Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets         President of the World State Federation              

2017      24 Hours to Live                Frank    

2018      Corbin Nash        Stranger              

2018      Samson                Manoah              

2018      The Sisters Brothers        Commodore      

2019      Viy 2: Journey to China Ambassador       Posthumous release

2019      Mariette in Ecstasy          Chaplain               Posthumous release

2019      Tonight at Noon                Diego    Posthumous release

2020      The Sonata          Richard Marlowe              Posthumous release

TBA        Emperor               John the Constant            Post-production, posthumous release

TBA        Break     Ray         Post-production, posthumous release

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1969      Floris     Floris van Rosemond

1969      Pathfinders         Pieter van Paarsen           Episode: "Sitting Ducks"

1973      Waaldrecht         Rogier de Jonge Episode: "Taxi, Meneer?"

1975      Cyrano de Bergerac         De Valvert           Television recording

1975      Floris von Rosemund      Floris    

1978      Heilige Jeanne   Dunois Television recording of Saint Joan

1979      Duel in de diepte              John van der Velde          4 episodes

1982      Inside the Third Reich     Albert Speer       Television film

1987      Escape from Sobibor       Lieutenant Aleksandr 'Sasha' Pechersky Television film

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film

1989      The Edge              Sheriff Abel         Television film

1990      Late Night with David Letterman               Himself                 1 episode

1990      The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson             Himself                 1 episode

1991      The Law of the Desert    Tom Burton        3 episodes

1993      Blind Side            Jake Shell             Television film

1993      Voyage Morgan Norvell                 Television film

1994      Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight Fred Noonan      Television film

1994      Fatherland          SS-Sturmbannführer Xavier March            Television film

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film

1997      Lexx       Bog        Episode: "Eating Pattern"

1997      Hostile Waters Capt. Britanov    Television film

1997      The Ruby Ring    Patrick Collins    Television film

1998      Merlin   King Vortigern   2 episodes

2000      The 10th Kingdom           Huntsman           7 episodes

2003      Alias       Anthony Geiger                Episode: "Phase One"

2003      Smallville             Morgan Edge     2 episodes

2004      Salem's Lot         Kurt Barlow        2 episodes

2005      The Poseidon Adventure              Bishop August Schmidt Television film

2007      Starting Over      Peter Rossen      Television film

2008      The Prince of Motor City               William Hamilton             Pilot

2012      Métal Hurlant Chronicles              Kern       Episode: "Pledge of Anya"

2012      Michelangelo - Il cuore e la pietra             Michelangelo     Television film

2013      Flight of the Storks          Sanderson           Episode: "Part Two: Fall in Hell"

2013–2014          True Blood          Niall Brigant        6 episodes

2014      Wilfred Dr. Grummons Episode: "Answers"

2014      Francesco            Padre di Francesco          Television film

2015      Galavant              Kingsley                3 episodes

2015      The Last Kingdom             Ravn      Episode: #1.1

2017      Mata Hari            Stolbakken          3 episodes

2017–2019          Porters Tillman 7 episodes

2018      Channel Zero: Butcher's Block     Joseph Peach     6 episodes