Rutger Hauer

Rutger Oelsen Hauer (Dutch: [ˈrɵtxər ˈulsə(n) ˈɦʌuər]; 23 January 1944 – 19

Rutger Hauer
July 2019)[1] was a Dutch actor, writer, and environmentalist. He acted in both
Dutch and English-language TV series and films.

His career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series Floris,
and surged with the hugely successful Turkish Delight in 1973. After rising to
international stardom with Soldier of Orange in 1977, he moved into American
films such as Nighthawks, as an international terrorist, and Blade Runner, as
existentially aware android Roy Batty. That acclaimed performance bought
leading roles in titles such as The Osterman Weekend, Ladyhawke, Flesh+Blood,
The Hitcher, Escape from Sobibor (for which he won a Golden Globe Award for
Best Supporting Actor), Blind Fury, The Blood of Heroes and Wedlock. In the
1990s he began to move into prominent supporting roles in films including Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Sin City, Batman Begins
and The Rite, with occasional starring roles such as Hobo with a Shotgun.[1]

Hauer founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association, an AIDS awareness

Hauer in March 2018
organization.
Born Rutger Oelsen Hauer
23 January 1944
Breukelen,
Contents Netherlands
Early life Died 19 July 2019
Career (aged 75)
Honours Beetsterzwaag,
Netherlands
Other
Personal life Occupation Actor · writer ·
Death
environmentalist

Filmography Years active 1969–2019

Discography Spouse(s) Heidi Merz (divorced)
References Ineke ten Cate
(m. 1985)
External links
Children 1
Website rutgerhauer.org (htt
Early life p://rutgerhauer.org/)

Hauer was born on 23 January 1944 in Breukelen,[2] while the Netherlands was
under German occupation during World War II.[3] He stated in a 1981 interview, "I was born in the middle of the war, and I think
for that reason I have deep roots in pacifism. Violence frightens me."[4] His parents were Teunke (née Mellema) and Arend
Hauer, both actors who operated an acting school in nearby Amsterdam.[5] He had three sisters,[6] one older and two younger.
Hauer attended a Rudolf Steiner school, as his parents wanted him to develop his creativity.[7] At the age of 15, he left school to
join the Dutch Merchant Navy. He spent a year travelling the world aboard a freighter, but was unable to become a captain as he
was colour blind.[8] Returning home, Hauer worked odd jobs while finishing his high school diploma at night. He then entered
the Academy for Theater and Dance in Amsterdam for acting classes, but soon dropped out to join the Royal Netherlands Army.
He received training as a combat medic,[9] but left the service after a few months as he opposed the use of deadly weapons.[8] He
subsequently returned to acting school and graduated in 1967.[4]

Career
Hauer had his first acting role at the age of 11, as Eurysakes in the play Ajax.[8]
During his time at the Academy for Theater and Dance, Hauer joined an
experimental troupe, with which he remained for five years before Paul
Verhoeven cast him in the lead role of the 1969 television series Floris, a Dutch
medieval action drama. The role made him famous in his native country,[10] and
Hauer reprised his role for the 1975 German remake Floris von Rosemund.
Hauer's career changed course when Verhoeven cast him in Turkish Delight
(1973). The film found box office favour abroad and at home, and Hauer looked
to appear in more international films.[11] Within two years, Hauer made his
English-language debut in the British film The Wilby Conspiracy (1975).[12] Set
in South Africa, the film was an action-drama with a focus on apartheid. Hauer's
Rutger Hauer as Floris, 1969 supporting role, however, was barely noticed in Hollywood, and he returned to
Dutch films for several years. During this period, he made Katie Tippel (1975)
and worked again with Verhoeven on Soldier of Orange (1977), and Spetters
(1980). These two films paired Hauer with fellow Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbé.

Hauer made his American debut in the Sylvester Stallone film Nighthawks
(1981) as a psychopathic and cold-blooded terrorist named Wulfgar. The
following year, he appeared in arguably his most famous and acclaimed role as
the eccentric and violent but sympathetic antihero Roy Batty in Ridley Scott's
1982 science fiction thriller Blade Runner, in which he improvised the famous
tears in rain monologue.[13] For this performance, Hauer was nominated for a
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. He went on to play the adventurer
courting Theresa Russell in Eureka (1983), the investigative reporter opposite
John Hurt in The Osterman Weekend (1983), the hardened Landsknecht
mercenary Martin in Flesh & Blood (1985), and the knight paired with Michelle Rutger Hauer in Escape from
Sobibor, 1987
Pfeiffer in Ladyhawke (1985).

He appeared in The Hitcher (1986), in which he played a mysterious hitchhiker

tormenting a lone motorist and murdering anyone in his way. At the height of Hauer's fame, he was set to be cast as RoboCop
though the role went to Peter Weller. That same year, Hauer starred as Nick Randall in Wanted: Dead or Alive as the descendant
of the character played by Steve McQueen in the television series of the same name. In The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1989),
Hauer showed a more soulful side. Phillip Noyce also attempted to capitalize, with far less success, on Hauer's spiritual qualities
in the martial arts action adventure Blind Fury (1989). Hauer returned to science fiction with The Blood of Heroes (1990), in
which he played a former champion in a post-apocalyptic world.

By the 1990s, Hauer was well known for his humorous Guinness commercials as well as his screen roles, which had increasingly
involved low-budget films such as Split Second, Omega Doom, the film adaptation of The Beans of Egypt Maine (retitled
Forbidden Choices) and New World Disorder. In 1992, he appeared in the horror-comedy film, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", in
 which he played the main antagonist vampire, Lothos. He also appeared in the
Kylie Minogue music video "On a Night Like This". In the late 1980s and
1990s, as well as in 2000, Hauer acted in several British and American television
productions, including Inside the Third Reich, Escape from Sobibor (for which
he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor), Fatherland,
Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight as Amelia Earhart's navigator Noonan, Hostile
Waters, Merlin, The 10th Kingdom, Smallville, Alias, and Salem's Lot. In 1999,
Hauer was awarded the Dutch "Best Actor of the Century Rembrandt
Award".[14]

Hauer played an assassin in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2003), a

villainous cardinal with influential power in Sin City (2005) and a devious
Hauer at the Odesa International corporate executive running Wayne Enterprises in Batman Begins (2005). He
Film Festival, 2010
also played the title role in the 2005 movie Dracula III: Legacy. He also hosted
the British reality television documentary Shock Treatment in 2005. He starred in
Goal II: Living the Dream as Real Madrid coach Rudi Van der Merwe.

In 2007 he recorded the voice-overs for the UK advertising campaign for Lurpak butter. In 2009, his role in avant-garde
filmmaker Cyrus Frisch's Dazzle, received positive reviews. The film was praised in Dutch press as "the most relevant Dutch film
of the year". The same year, Hauer starred in the title role of Barbarossa, an Italian film directed by Renzo Martinelli. In April
2010, he was cast in the live action adaptation of the short and fictitious Grindhouse trailer Hobo With a Shotgun (2011).[15] In
March 2011, it was announced that Hauer would play vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing in legendary horror director Dario
Argento's Dracula 3D.[16]

In 2015 Hauer starred as Ravn in The Last Kingdom.

Hauer starred as Niall Brigant in season 6 of HBO's True Blood. In 2017, Hauer voiced the role of Daniel Lazarski in the video
game Observer, set in a post-apocalyptic Poland, created by Bloober Team. Lazarski is a member of a special elite police unit that
can hack into minds and interact with memories within.[17]

In 2019, Hauer provided the voice of Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts III, replacing the late Leonard Nimoy.

Honours
Hauer was made a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2013.[18]

Other
In 2016, Hauer joined the film jury for ShortCutz Amsterdam, an annual film festival promoting short films in
Amsterdam.[19][20]

Personal life
Hauer was an environmentalist.[21] Hauer also established an AIDS awareness organization called the Rutger Hauer Starfish
Association.[22]

Hauer married his second wife, Ineke ten Cate, in 1985 (they had been together since 1968). He had one child with his first wife
Heidi Merz, actress Aysha Hauer (born 1966), who made him a grandfather in 1987.[23]
In April 2007, he published his autobiography All Those Moments: Stories of Heroes, Villains, Replicants, and Blade Runners
(co-written with Patrick Quinlan), in which he discussed many of his movie roles.[24] Proceeds from the book go to the Rutger
Hauer Starfish Association.[25]

Death
Hauer died on 19 July 2019 at his home in Beetsterzwaag, the Netherlands, following an unspecified illness.[26][27]

Filmography
The filmography of Rutger Hauer gives an overview of all his performances as an actor in films, television films, and television
series from 1969 to 2019, and also in upcoming films.

Discography
Lost in the New Real by Arjen Anthony Lucassen (2012) – Narrator/Voight Kampff, lyrics.

References
1. "Rutger Hauer" (https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fccff0b). British Film Institute. Retrieved 27 January
2019.
2. Rutger Hauer: Bescheiden wereldster – Privé | Het laatste Privé nieuws leest u op Prive.nl van De Telegraaf
[prive] (http://www.telegraaf.nl/prive/5449151/__Rutger_Hauer__Bescheiden_wereldster__.html). Telegraaf.nl (30
November 2009). Retrieved on 2012-12-28.
3. De Boerderij van Rutger Hauer te Beetsterzwaag (http://www.50plusser.nl/?page=vandaag&p=foto&photo_id=52
193), 50plusser.nl; accessed 17 January 2018.‹See Tfd›(in Dutch)
4. Staff (23 April 1981). "Rutger Hauer Out of Character" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=198
10423&id=a8AqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-WcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4824,4379089&hl=en). Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Associated Press. p. 6E.
5. Genzlinger, Neil (24 July 2019). "Rutger Hauer, a Memorable Villain in 'Blade Runner,' Dies at 75" (https://www.ny
times.com/2019/07/24/movies/rutger-hauer-dead.html). The New York Times.
6. Fox-Leonard, Boudicca (11 March 2019). "Rutger Hauer: I feel lucky I'm not that famous" (https://www.telegraph.
co.uk/men/thinking-man/rutger-hauer-feel-lucky-not-famous/). The Telegraph.
7. Meier, Simone (24 July 2019). "«Blade Runner»-Star Rutger Hauer ist tot – sein letztes grosses watson-
Interview" (https://www.watson.ch/interview/film/964909270-so-erlebte-rutger-hauer-1962-die-schweiz-tagsueber-
hassten-sie-messer-nachts-voegelten-alle-durcheinander). Watson.
8. Veenhof, Herman (22 January 2019). "Ook 75: Rutger Hauer werd een boegbeeld" (https://www.nd.nl/nieuws/ned
erland/ook-75-rutger-hauer-werd-een-boegbeeld.3257757.lynkx). Nederlands Dagblad (in Dutch).
9. Pulver, Andrew (24 July 2019). "Rutger Hauer, star of Blade Runner, dies aged 75" (https://www.theguardian.co
m/film/2019/jul/24/rutger-hauer-star-of-blade-runner-dies-aged-75). The Guardian.
10. Andreeva, Nellie (26 September 2014). "Rutger Hauer Joins ABC Fairytale Comedy 'Galavant' " (http://deadline.c
om/2014/09/rutger-hauer-cast-galavant-abc-842069). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
11. Thomas, Bob (7 February 1987). "Hauer Works Hard to Play a Nice Guy" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?
nid=1314&dat=19870207&id=lEQjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ce8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5312,3642653&hl=en). The
Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. p. C2.
12. "Rutger Hauer" (http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/rutger-hauer-57290815/). Hollywood.com. Retrieved
24 August 2015.
13. "BBC Two - Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction - Rutger Hauer" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/
programmes/profiles/1NZrTvN4jK47KzPY7YH6b37/rutger-hauer). Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
14. "Turks Fruit 1973" (http://www.rutgerhauer.org/plots/turks.php). Rutgerhauer.org. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
15. Alex Billington. "Rutger Hauer Starring in a Full 'Hobo With a Shotgun' Movie" (http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/0
4/18/rutger-hauer-starring-in-a-full-hobo-with-a-shotgun-movie).
16. Clark Collis. "Rutger Hauer confirms he will play Van Helsing in Dario Argento's 'Dracula 3D' – EXCLUSIVE" (htt
p://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/03/04/rutger-hauer-dracula-batman-hobo). Entertainment Weekly.
17. Chalk, Andy (20 July 2017). "A new Observer trailer reveals Rutger Hauer as a Blade Runner-like 'neural
detective' - PC Gamer" (https://www.pcgamer.com/a-new-observer-trailer-reveals-rutger-hauer-as-a-blade-runner
-like-neural-detective/). PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
18. ‹See Tfd›(in Dutch) "Acteur Rutger Hauer krijgt lintje (http://nos.nl/artikel/548833-acteur-rutger-hauer-krijgt-lintje.ht
ml)", NOS, 2013. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
19. "Shortcutz Amsterdam Annual Awards" (http://hollandsefilm.nl/shortcutz-amsterdam-annual-awards/).
hollandsefilm.nl. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
20. "Rutger Hauer en Jan Harlan treden toe tot Shortcutz Amsterdam juryteam" (https://www.filmfestival.nl/profs_nl/ni
euws/nieuws-maart-2016/rutger-hauer-en-jan-harlan-treden-toe-tot-shortcutz-jury/). filmfestival.nl. 6 March 2016.
Retrieved 26 August 2016.
21. Howell, Peter (21 March 2011). "Rutger Hauer prefers to shoot quips, not guns" (https://www.thestar.com/entertai
nment/movies/2011/03/21/rutger_hauer_prefers_to_shoot_quips_not_guns.html). Toronto Star. Retrieved
23 August 2015.
22. Rutger Hauer Starfish Association (http://www.rutgerhauer.org/starfish). Accessed 2008-05-30.
23. "Acteur - Ayesha Hauer" (http://www.filmgek.nl/default.asp?section=acteur&r=acteur&fid=11419). Filmgek.nl. 14
December 1987. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
24. Rutger Hauer and Patrick Quinlan. All those moments: stories of heroes, villains, replicants, and Blade Runners,
New York, NY: HarperEntertainment, 2007. ISBN 0-06-113389-2.
25. Todd Leopold. " 'Blade Runner' actor on 'strange profession' " (http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/1
2/rutger.hauer/index.html). CNN.com. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
26. "Official statement by the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association" (http://www.rutgerhauer.org/rutgerhauer.org/index.p
hp). Retrieved 25 July 2019.
27. Morris, Chris (24 July 2019). "Rutger Hauer, 'Blade Runner' Co-Star, Dies at 75" (https://web.archive.org/web/201
90724170338/https://variety.com/2019/film/obituaries-people-news/rutger-hauer-dead-dies-blade-runner-co-star-
1203278050/). Variety. Archived from the original (https://variety.com/2019/film/news/rutger-hauer-dead-dies-blad
e-runner-co-star-1203278050) on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.

External links
Official website (http://www.rutgerhauer.org)
Rutger Hauer (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000442/) on IMDb
Rutger Hauer (https://www.allmovie.com/artist/p31015) at AllMovie
Rutger Hauer (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=rutgerhauer.htm) at Box Office Mojo
Rutger Hauer (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rutger_hauer) at Rotten Tomatoes
Rutger Hauer (http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/14/rutger-hauer) at Virtual History

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