Photo: Getty Images
Actor Udo Kier, who was credited with more than 250 film roles, including Blood for Dracula and My Own Private Idaho, has died at the age of 81, his partner, Delbert McBride, confirmed to Variety.
Photographer Michael Childers, a longtime friend of Kier, confirmed that he died at Eisenhower Hospital in Palm Springs, California, in a post shared on his Facebook account.
“Breaking my heart, a sad goodbye to my great friend Udo Keir… RIP,” Childers wrote.
Kier's cause of death hasn't yet been determined publicly. The German actor gained notoriety in the 1970s, appearing in Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula, both of which were produced by artist and cultural icon Andy Warhol.
Kier went on to appear in films such as The Stationmaster's Wife, The Third Generation and Lili Marleen in the late 1970s and early 1980s and formed a long-running partnership with Danish director Lars von Trier, beginning with Epidemic and continuing with Europa, The Kingdom, Breaking the Waves, Dogville and Melancholia. Kier's breakthrough role in American cinema came in My Own Private Ohio, appearing alongside River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, in 1991.
Kier later had notable roles in the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Armageddon and Blade and was featured in Madonna's 1992 book Sex and her music videos for 'Erotica' and 'Deeper and Deeper,' as well as Korn's music video for 'Make Me Bad.'