Rutger Hauer

Rutger Oelsen Hauer (23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor.

Hauer was born in Breukelen, in the Province of Utrecht, on 23 January 1944, while the Netherlands was under German occupation during World War II.

He subsequently returned to acting school and graduated in 1967.

Hauer had his first acting role at the age of 11, as Eurysakes in the play Ajax.

After graduating from the Academy for Theater and Dance, he became a stage actor with the Toneelgroep Noorder Compagnie.

Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series Floris and surged with his leading role in Turkish Delight (1973), which in 1999 was named the Best Dutch Film of the Century.

Hauer made his screen debut in 1969 when Paul Verhoeven cast him in the lead role of the television series Floris, a Dutch medieval action drama.

Hauer's career changed course when Verhoeven cast him in Turkish Delight (1973), which received an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film.

The film found box office favour abroad and at home, and Hauer looked to appear in more international films.

The role made him famous in his native country, and Hauer reprised his role for the 1975 German remake Floris von Rosemund.

Within two years, Hauer made his English-language debut in the British film The Wilby Conspiracy (1975).

Set in South Africa, the film was an action-drama with a focus on apartheid.

Hauer's 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.

After gaining international recognition with Soldier of Orange (1977) and Spetters (1980), he moved into American films such as Nighthawks (1981) and Blade Runner (1982), starring in the latter as self-aware replicant Roy Batty.

With his sights set on a long-term career in Hollywood, Hauer worked with an accent coach in the early 1980s to develop a convincing American accent.

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."

His parents were Teunke (née Mellema) and Arend Hauer, both actors who operated an acting school in nearby Amsterdam.

He had three sisters.

According to Hauer, his parents were more interested in their art than their children.

He did not have a close relationship with his father, and writer Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema later became a father figure to Hauer after they met during the filming of Soldier of Orange.

Hauer attended a Rudolf Steiner school, as his parents wanted him to develop his creativity.

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 due to his colourblindness.

Returning home, he 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, but left the service after a few months as he opposed the use of deadly weapons.

At the 1981 Netherlands Film Festival, Hauer received the Golden Calf for Best Actor for his overall body of work.

Hauer made his American debut in the Sylvester Stallone film Nighthawks (1981) as a psychopathic and cold-blooded terrorist named Wulfgar.

Unafraid of controversial roles, he portrayed Albert Speer in the 1982 American Broadcasting Company production Inside the Third Reich.

The same year, Hauer 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 delivered the famous tears in rain monologue.

His performance in Blade Runner led to roles in The Osterman Weekend (1983), Ladyhawke (1985), The Hitcher (1986), The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988), and Blind Fury (1989), among other films.

From the 1990s on, Hauer moved into low-budget films, and supporting roles in major films like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Sin City (2005), and The Rite (2011).

Hauer also became well known for his work in commercials.

In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.

Towards the end of his career, he made a return to Dutch cinema, and won the 2012 Rembrandt Award for Best Actor in recognition of his lead role in The Heineken Kidnapping (2011).

Hauer supported environmentalist causes and was a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

He also founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association, an AIDS awareness organization.

He was made a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2013.