Legendary German actor Udo Kier has died at the age of 81. The news was confirmed by Kier’s partner Delbert McBride via Variety.
With hundreds of film and TV credits spanning decades, Kier rose to fame in horror films like Mark of the Devil, Flesh for Frankenstein, and Blood for Dracula in the ’70s. His breakthrough Hollywood role came in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho, and he’d go on to appear in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Johnny Mnemonic, Armageddon, and Madonna music videos.
In recent years, Kier was one of the actors set to appear in Hideo Kojima’s upcoming horror game OD. Game director Hideo Kojima wrote online that new scenes featuring the actor were scheduled to be filmed in 2026, and that he’d kept in touch with him regularly.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Kojima said in a social media post. “It all happened far too suddenly. 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. 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.”
I’m at a loss for words. It all happened far too suddenly.
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. When we met in… pic.twitter.com/aRpP1i38CE— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 24, 2025
Kier was well-known for playing the iconic Command & Conquer antagonist Yuri in the live-action cutscenes for Red Alert 2 and its expansion, Yuri’s Revenge. He’d also lend his distinctive voice to characters in the games Call of Duty: WWII and Martha is Dead.
