RIP Udo Kier
I’m happy I got to see Udo Kier on the big screen twice last month in Vienna.
In Cigarette Burns (John Carpenter, 2006) at Filmmuseum, part of the John Carpenter Retrospective, and The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2025) at the Viennale.
I attended a conference titled Intensive Care Cinema at the 2019 edition of Berlin Critics’ Week where Udo Kier was one of the speakers. I remember sharing highlights from it on Twitter, but I now can’t find any of it online because of the dumpster fire version it is now.
Whilst I can’t remember the details I shared, I do remember our eyes met for a split moment in the hallway as everyone was leaving and found myself lost into his deep blue eyes for a few seconds. The talk can be watched here.
This was his only tweet:
I love how he ends an interview for Palms Springs Life:
“So there you have it,” Kier says on cue. “I talked to you just the length of a movie: one hour, 20 minutes.” He sends me off with a warm hug, not a neck bite. “Now I am going to have my coffee and go to the thrift shops.”
Watch Udo Kier’s Criterion Closet Picks where he shares anecdotes about a few of the films he acted in:
I always hear myself say “UDO!” out loud or to myself whenever he appears in a film.
One hoped he could live forever.
RIP Udo Kier (October 14, 1944 - November 23, 2025)