Udo Kier died on November 23, 2025 at the age of 81. Kier starred in video games like Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Call of Duty: WWII and Kojima Productions’ upcoming horror game OD. Kier appeared in over 200 movies and worked with creatives such as Werner Herzog, Andy Warhol and Lars von Trier.
Kier’s partner, artist Delbert McBride, reported his death to Variety magazine. No cause of death has been announced. Kier died at Eisenhower Health Hospital in Palm Springs, California. He also starred in Command & Conquer: Yuri’s Revenge. He also voiced Erich in the first-person story-driven horror game, Martha is Dead which came out in 2022.
Hideo Kojima’s Tribute to Udo Kier
Hideo Kojima paid tribute to Udo Kier on X (formerly Twitter). “I’m at a loss for words. It all happened far too suddenly,” Kojima said, “Because of the strike, we weren’t able to shoot ‘OD’ for a long time, and we were forced to reschedule to next year. Even during that time, Udo and I exchanged emails frequently. We stayed in close contact.”
The post continued, “When we met in Milan at the end of September, he told me how much he was looking forward to the shoot starting up again next year. He was full of energy then too, making me laugh with his usual ‘Udo-isms.’”
Kojima expressed disbelief, and said, “Udo wasn’t just an actor. He was truly an ‘icon’ of his time. We’ve lost a great ‘icon.’ There will never be another like him.” The post concluded, “Udo, rest in peace. I will never forget you.”
Udo Kier’s Life and Legacy
Kier, a German actor, also had roles in movies based on video games such as 2008’s Far Cry and 2005’s BloodRayne. He was also in movies like Blade, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Johnny Mnemonic. Tributes for the actor came from other celebrities such as photographer Michael Childers and director Rian Johnson.
Kier’s career spanned nearly 60 years. His most recent movie role was a Portuguese neo-noir historical political film titled The Secret Agent, released in May 2025. Kier was born Udo Kierspe in 1944 at a hospital in Cologne (also spelled Köln), Germany. Shortly before his birth, the hospital Kier was born in was bombed, burying him and his mother underneath the rubble. Both survived, and Kier later moved to London to study English, where a director discovered him and gave him his first major acting role.
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