Actor Rutger Hauer, 75 had died following a brief illness his long-time agent Steve Kenis said.
Rutger Hauer Hollywood badass is famously known for his role in the 1982 science fiction classic “Blade Runner” where he battled Harrison Ford.
Rutger excelled playing the bad-guy roles. His character in the Blade Runner was the murderous replicant Roy Batty, a movie directed by Ridley Scott.
According to the BBC, the actor’s funeral was held last Wednesday.
In the “Blade Runner,” Hauer’s character gave a now-famous speech during a face-off with Harrison Ford.
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe,” he is seen telling Ford. “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in [the] rain. Time to die.”
Hauer had acted right up to his death. He was mainly known for the vampire and horror roles he played. He starred as Van Helsing in Dracula 3D, as Vampire Barlow in Salem’s lot – a TV adaption of Stephen King’s novel.
Next, he was cast in a popular horror movie “The Hitcher” where he was portrayed as a sadistic hitchhiker. Then, through the 80s and 90s, he had knocked off several movies that included playing a role in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Sin City” and “Batman Begins.”
Though, later in his acting career he seamlessly switches between movies and television which saw him score a role in the HBO-vampire drama “True Blood.”
He was born on 23 January 1944 in Breukelen, near Amsterdam Netherlands.
As a young man, he briefly joined the Dutch merchant navy but returned to Amsterdam in 1962. Then, he studied acting for a while before heading out to join the army. He later returned to acting and in 1969, got his major break when he was cast as the main actor in a TV series Floris.
He went on to work with director Paul Verhoeven, who cast him in the movies “Soldier of Orange” and “Turkish Delight.” It is reported that Verhoeven had considered him for the lead role in the “RoboCop” movie before Peter Weller snagged up the character.
Accolades from actors and filmmakers have been pouring in since the announcement of his death.
Guillermo del Toro, director of the movie “Shape of Water,” took to his twitter where he said actor Rutger Hauer had brought “truth, power, and beauty to his films.”
“RIP the great Rutger Hauer, an intense, deep, genuine and magnetic actor that brought truth, power, and beauty to his films,” he tweeted.
“My personal favorites: Flesh + Blood, Eureka, The Hitcher, Blade Runner, Ladyhawke and Blind Fury.”
Robert Patrick, co-star of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, tweeted his condolences:
And British producer and author Jonathan Sothcott praised Hauer’s acting prowess: “RIP #RutgerHauer one of cinema’s finest villains,” he said. “One of those great actors who made rubbish watchable. A real one off.”
