Rutger Oelsen Hauer (Dutch:[ˈrʏtxərˈulsə(n)ˈɦʌuər]; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
Hauer was born inBreukelen, in theProvince of Utrecht, on 23 January 1944,[2] while the Netherlands was underGerman occupation duringWorld 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 inpacifism. Violence frightens me."[4] His parents were Teunke (née Mellema) andArend Hauer, both actors who operated an acting school in nearbyAmsterdam.[5] He had three sisters.[6] 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 writerErik Hazelhoff Roelfzema later became a father figure to Hauer after they met during the filming ofSoldier of Orange.[7]
Hauer attended aRudolf Steiner school, as his parents wanted him to develop his creativity.[8] At the age of 15, he left school to join the Dutchmerchant navy. He spent a year travelling the world aboard a freighter, but was unable to become acaptain due to hiscolourblindness.[9] Returning home, he worked in odd jobs while finishing his high school diploma at night. He then entered theAcademy for Theater and Dance in Amsterdam for acting classes, but soon dropped out to join theRoyal Netherlands Army. He received training as acombat medic,[10] but left the service after a few months as he opposed the use of deadly weapons.[9] He subsequently returned to acting school and graduated in 1967.[4]
Hauer had his first acting role at the age of 11, asEurysakes in the playAjax.[9] After graduating from the Academy for Theater and Dance, he became a stage actor with theToneelgroep Noorder Compagnie [nl].[7] Hauer made his screen debut in 1969 whenPaul Verhoeven cast him in the lead role of the television seriesFloris, a Dutch medieval action drama.[11] The role made him famous in his native country,[12] and Hauer reprised his role for the 1975 German remakeFloris von Rosemund.[13][14]
Hauer's career changed course when Verhoeven cast him inTurkish Delight (1973), which received an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film.[11][14][15] The film found box office favour abroad and at home, and Hauer looked to appear in more international films.[16] Within two years, Hauer made his English-language debut in the British filmThe Wilby Conspiracy (1975).[17][11] Set inSouth Africa, the film was an action-drama with a focus onapartheid. Hauer's supporting role, however, was barely noticed in Hollywood, and he returned to Dutch films for several years. During this period, he madeKatie Tippel (1975) and worked again with Verhoeven onSoldier of Orange (1977), andSpetters (1980).[10][14] These two films paired Hauer with fellow Dutch actorJeroen Krabbé.[18] At the 1981Netherlands Film Festival, Hauer received theGolden Calf for Best Actor for his overall body of work.[19]
Hauer made his American debut in theSylvester Stallone filmNighthawks (1981) as a psychopathic, cold-blooded terrorist named Wulfgar.[11] With his sights set on a long-term career in Hollywood, Hauer worked with anaccent coach in the early 1980s to develop a convincing American accent.[20] Unafraid of controversial roles,[7] he portrayed the German architect and Nazi ministerAlbert Speer in the 1982American Broadcasting Company productionInside the Third Reich.[21] The same year, Hauer appeared in arguably his most famous and acclaimed role as the eccentric and violent but sympatheticantiheroRoy Batty inRidley Scott's 1982 science fiction thrillerBlade Runner, in which he delivered the famoustears in rain monologue.[22] Hauer composed parts of the monologue the evening prior to filming, "cutting away swathes of the original script before adding the speech's poignant final line".[23] He went on to play the adventurer courtingTheresa Russell inEureka (1983),[24] an investigative reporter oppositeJohn Hurt inThe Osterman Weekend (1983),[25] the hardened mercenary Martin inFlesh & Blood (1985), and a knight paired withMichelle Pfeiffer inLadyhawke (1985).[25]
He appeared inThe Hitcher (1986) as the titular mysterious hitchhiker tormenting a lone motorist, murdering anyone in his way.[10] He received the 1987Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the television filmEscape from Sobibor.[26] At the height of Hauer's fame, he was set to be cast asRoboCop (1987), but Verhoeven, the film's director, considered his frame as too large to move comfortably in the character's suit.[27] Also in 1987, Hauer starred as Nick Randall inWanted: Dead or Alive as the descendant of the character played bySteve McQueen in the television series of the same name.[25]
In 1988, he played a homeless man inErmanno Olmi'sThe Legend of the Holy Drinker. This performance won Hauer the Best Actor award at the 1989Seattle International Film Festival.[28] Hauer was chosen to portray a blind martial artist superhero inPhillip Noyce's action filmBlind Fury (1989). He initially struggled with the implausibility of the character, but learned to "unfocus my eyes, to react to smells and sounds" after meeting with blind judo practitionerLynn Manning during his research for the role.[29] Hauer returned to science fiction in 1989 withThe Blood of Heroes, in which he played a gladiator in a post-apocalyptic world.[30]
In 2008, Hauer received theGolden Calf Culture Prize for his contributions to Dutch cinema.[19][42] The award recognised his work as an actor as well as his efforts to aid the development of young filmmakers and actors, through initiatives such as theRutger Hauer Film Factory [nl].[43] In 2009, his role in avant-garde filmmakerCyrus Frisch'sDazzle received positive reviews; it was described in Dutch press as "the most relevant Dutch film of the year". The same year, Hauer starred in the title role ofBarbarossa, an Italian film directed byRenzo Martinelli. In April 2010, he was cast in the live action adaptation of the short and fictitiousGrindhouse trailerHobo with a Shotgun (2011).[44] Hauer played Freddie Heineken inThe Heineken Kidnapping (2011), for which he received the 2012Rembrandt Award for Best Actor.[45] Also in 2011, Hauer appeared in the supernatural horror filmThe Rite as an undertaker named Istvan, the protagonist's father.[46]
Hauer was married twice.[51] Hauer and his first wife, Heidi Merz, had one child.[52] Hauer was in a relationship with his second wife, Ineke ten Cate, from 1968. They married in a private ceremony on 22 November 1985.[53]
Although born inUtrecht, Hauer had strong links toFriesland.[54] He once stated in an interview with theAlgemeen Dagblad that he "needed to feel the Frisian clay under [his] feet".[54][55] Hauer was anenvironmentalist.[56] He supported theSea Shepherd Conservation Society and was a member of its board of advisors.[54] He also established anAIDS awareness organization called the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association.[57] In April 2007, he published his autobiography,All Those Moments: Stories of Heroes, Villains, Replicants, and Blade Runners (co-written withPatrick Quinlan), in which he discussed many of his acting roles.[58][59]
Hauer died frompancreatic cancer on 19 July 2019 at his residence in the Netherlands, age 75.[50][60]
^Rutger Hauer and Patrick Quinlan.All those moments: stories of heroes, villains, replicants, and Blade Runners, New York, NY: HarperEntertainment, 2007.ISBN0-06-113389-2.
.jpg)
