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Rutger Hauer

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Rutger Hauer
Hauer in 2018
Born
Rutger Oelsen Hauer

(1944-01-23)23 January 1944
Breukelen,Utrecht,Netherlands
Died19 July 2019(2019-07-19)(aged 75)
Beetsterzwaag,Friesland,Netherlands
OccupationActor
Years active1969–2019
Spouses
  • Heidi Merz
    ​
    (divorced)​
  • Ineke ten Cate
    ​
    (m.1985)​
ChildrenAyesha Hauer
ParentArend Hauer(father)

Rutger Oelsen Hauer(bornDutch:[ˈrʏtxərˈulsə(n)ˈɦʌuər];23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a film 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.[1][2]

Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television seriesFlorisand surged with his leading role inTurkish Delight(1973), which in 1999 was named the Best Dutch Film of the Century.[1]After gaining international recognition withSoldier of Orange(1977) andSpetters(1980), he moved into American films such asNighthawks(1981) andBlade Runner(1982), starring in the latter as self-awarereplicantRoy Batty.[3]His performance inBlade Runnerled to roles inThe Osterman Weekend(1983),Ladyhawke(1985),The Hitcher(1986),The Legend of the Holy Drinker(1988), andBlind Fury(1989), among other films.

From the 1990s on, Hauer moved into low-budget films, and supporting roles in major films likeBuffy the Vampire Slayer(1992),Confessions of a Dangerous Mind(2002),Batman Begins(2005),Sin City(2005), andThe Rite(2011).[4]Hauer also became well known for his work in commercials. Towards the end of his career, he made a return to Dutch cinema, and won the 2012Rembrandt Awardfor Best Actor in recognition of his lead role inThe Heineken Kidnapping(2011).

Hauer supported environmentalist causes and was a member of theSea Shepherd Conservation Society.He also founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association, anAIDSawareness organization. He was made a knight in theOrder of the Netherlands Lionin 2013.[5]

Early life

[edit]

Hauer was born inBreukelen,in theProvince of Utrecht,on 23 January 1944,[6]while the Netherlands was underGerman occupationduringWorld War II.[7]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. "[8]His parents were Teunke (néeMellema) andArend Hauer,both actors who operated an acting school in nearbyAmsterdam.[9]He had three sisters.[10]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 Roelfzemalater became a father figure to Hauer after they met during the filming ofSoldier of Orange.[2]

Hauer attended aRudolf Steiner school,as his parents wanted him to develop his creativity.[11]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 acaptaindue to hiscolourblindness.[12]Returning home, he worked odd jobs while finishing his high school diploma at night. He then entered theAcademy for Theater and Dancein Amsterdam for acting classes, but soon dropped out to join theRoyal Netherlands Army.He received training as acombat medic,[13]but left the service after a few months as he opposed the use of deadly weapons.[12]He subsequently returned to acting school and graduated in 1967.[8]

Career

[edit]

Early works

[edit]
Hauer inFloris,1969

Hauer had his first acting role at the age of 11, asEurysakesin the playAjax.[12]After graduating from the Academy for Theater and Dance, he became a stage actor with theToneelgroep Noorder Compagnie[nl].[2]Hauer made his screen debut in 1969 whenPaul Verhoevencast him in the lead role of the television seriesFloris,a Dutch medieval action drama.[14]The role made him famous in his native country,[15]and Hauer reprised his role for the 1975 German remakeFloris von Rosemund.[16][17]

Hauer's career changed course when Verhoeven cast him inTurkish Delight(1973), which received an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film.[14][17][18]The film found box office favour abroad and at home, and Hauer looked to appear in more international films.[19]Within two years, Hauer made his English-language debut in the British filmThe Wilby Conspiracy(1975).[20][14]Set in South 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).[13][17]These two films paired Hauer with fellow Dutch actorJeroen Krabbé.[21]At the 1981Netherlands Film Festival,Hauer received theGolden Calf for Best Actorfor his overall body of work.[22]

American breakthrough

[edit]

Hauer made his American debut in theSylvester StallonefilmNighthawks(1981) as a psychopathic and cold-blooded terrorist named Wulfgar.[14]With his sights set on a long-term career in Hollywood, Hauer worked with anaccent coachin the early 1980s to develop a convincing American accent.[23]Unafraid of controversial roles,[2]he portrayedAlbert Speerin the 1982American Broadcasting CompanyproductionInside the Third Reich.[24]The same year, Hauer appeared in arguably his most famous and acclaimed role as the eccentric and violent but sympatheticantiheroRoy BattyinRidley Scott's 1982 science fiction thrillerBlade Runner,in which he delivered the famoustears in rain monologue.[25]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".[26]He went on to play the adventurer courtingTheresa RussellinEureka(1983),[27]investigative reporter oppositeJohn HurtinThe Osterman Weekend(1983),[28]hardened mercenary Martin inFlesh & Blood(1985), and knight paired withMichelle PfeifferinLadyhawke(1985).[28]

He appeared inThe Hitcher(1986), in which he played a mysterious hitchhiker tormenting a lone motorist and murdering anyone in his way.[13]He received the 1987Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actorfor his role in the television filmEscape from Sobibor.[29]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.[30]Also in 1987, Hauer starred as Nick Randall inWanted: Dead or Aliveas the descendant of the character played bySteve McQueenin the television series of the same name.[28]

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.[31]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 Manningduring his research for the role.[32]Hauer returned to science fiction in 1989 withThe Blood of Heroes,in which he played a gladiator in a post-apocalyptic world.[33]

Commercials and later roles

[edit]

By the 1990s, Hauer was well known for his humorousGuinness commercials[13]as well as his screen roles, which had increasingly involved low-budget films,[2]such asSplit Second(1992);The Beans of Egypt, Maine(1994);Omega Doom(1996) andNew World Disorder(1999). In 1992, he appeared in the horror-comedy filmBuffy the Vampire Slayeras the main antagonist vampire Lothos.[28]He also appeared in theKylie Minoguemusic video "On a Night Like This"(2000).[34]During this time, Hauer acted in several British, Canadian and American television productions, includingAmelia Earhart: The Final Flight(1994) as Earhart's navigatorFred Noonan,[35]Fatherland(1994),[36]Hostile Waters(1997),[37]The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon(1997),Merlin(1998),[38]The 10th Kingdom(2000),[39]Smallville(2003),[40]Alias(2003),[40]andSalem's Lot(2004).[41]

Hauer played an assassin inConfessions of a Dangerous Mind(2003), a villainous cardinal with influential power inSin City(2005) and a devious corporate executive runningWayne EnterprisesinBatman Begins(2005).[17]Also in 2005, he playedthe title roleinPatrick Lussier's filmDracula III: Legacy.Seven years later, he portrayed the vampire hunterAbraham Van HelsinginDario Argento'sDracula 3D.[42]Hauer hosted the British reality television documentaryShock Treatmentin 2005, and featured inGoal II: Living the Dream(2007) asReal Madridcoach Rudi Van der Merwe. He also recordedvoice-oversfor the British advertising campaign for the Danish butter brandLurpak.[43][44]

Hauer at theOdesa International Film Festival,2010

In 2008, Hauer received theGolden Calf Culture Prizefor his contributions to Dutch cinema.[22][45]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].[46]In 2009, his role in avant-garde filmmakerCyrus Frisch'sDazzlereceived 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 fictitiousGrindhousetrailerHobo with a Shotgun(2011).[47]Hauer played Freddie Heineken inThe Heineken Kidnapping(2011), for which he received the 2012Rembrandt Awardfor Best Actor.[48]Also in 2011, Hauer appeared in the supernatural horror filmThe Riteas an undertaker named Istvan, the protagonist's father.[49]

From 2013 to 2014, Hauer featured asNiall BrigantinHBO'sTrue Blood.[17]In 2015, he starred as Ravn inThe Last Kingdomand as Kingsley inGalavant.[17]In 2016, he joined the film jury forShortCutz Amsterdam,an annualfilm festivalpromoting short films inAmsterdam.[50][51]Hauer voiced the role of Daniel Lazarski in the 2017 video gameObserver,set in post-apocalypticPoland.Lazarski is a member of a special elite police unit that can hack into minds and interact with memories within.[52]Hauer also provided the voice ofXehanortin the 2019 video gameKingdom Hearts III,replacing the lateLeonard Nimoyand was himself replaced byChristopher Lloydfollowing his death.[53]

Personal life

[edit]

Hauer was married twice.[54]Hauer and his first wife, Heidi Merz, produced Hauer's only child, Ayesha Hauer (born 1966). An actress, she gave birth to Hauer's grandson in 1987.[55]Hauer was with his second wife, Ineke ten Cate, from 1968, and they married in a private ceremony on 22 November 1985.[56]Cate was the daughter of Laurens ten Cate, the editor-in-chief of the Friesland-based newspaperLeeuwarder Courant.[56]Although born inUtrecht,Hauer had strong links toFriesland.[57]He once stated in an interview with theAlgemeen Dagbladthat he "needed to feel the Frisian clay under [his] feet".[57][58]Hauer was anenvironmentalist.[59]He supported theSea Shepherd Conservation Societyand was a member of its board of advisors.[57]He also established anAIDSawareness organization called the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association.[60]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.[61]Proceeds from the book go to the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association.[62]Hauer died on 19 July 2019 at his residence in the Netherlands, age 75.[53]

Filmography

[edit]
Main article:Rutger Hauer filmography

Discography

[edit]

References

[edit]
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  3. ^Ebiri, Bilge (25 July 2019)."Even Now, Rutger Hauer's Performance in 'Blade Runner' Is a Marvel - With his combination of menace and anguish, he created an unforgettable character that made the movie the classic it remains today".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 25 July 2019.Retrieved25 July2019.
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