Rutger Hauer
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1944-01-23
Day of Death
2019-07-19 (75 years old)
Place of Birth
Breukelen, Utrecht, Netherlands
Rutger Hauer
Biography
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (January 23, 1944 – July 19, 2019) was a Dutch film actor. He was well known for his roles in Flesh + Blood, Blind Fury, Blade Runner, The Hitcher, Nighthawks, Sin City, Ladyhawke, The Blood of Heroes and Batman Begins.
Hauer was born in Breukelen, Netherlands, to drama teachers Arend and Teunke, and grew up in Amsterdam. Since his parents were very occupied with their careers, he and his three sisters (one older, two younger) were raised mostly by nannies. At the age of 15, Hauer ran off to sea and spent a year scrubbing decks aboard a freighter. Returning home, he worked as an electrician and a carpenter for three years while attending acting classes at night school. He went on to join an experimental troupe, with which he remained for five years before he was cast in the lead role in the very successful 1969 television series Floris, a Dutch Ivanhoe-like medieval action drama. The role made him famous in his native country.
Hauer's career changed course when director Paul Verhoeven cast him as the lead in Turkish Delight (1973) (based on the Jan Wolkers book of the same name). The movie found box-office favour abroad as well as at home, and within two years, its star was invited to make his English-language debut in the British film The Wilby Conspiracy (1975). Set in South Africa and starring Michael Caine and Sidney Poitier, the film was an action melodrama with a focus on apartheid. Hauer's supporting role, however, was barely noticed in Hollywood, and he returned to Dutch films for several years. Hauer made his American debut in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Nighthawks (1981), cast as a psychopathic and cold-blooded terrorist named "Wolfgar" (after a character in the Old English poem Beowulf). The following year, he appeared in arguably his most famous and acclaimed role as the eccentric, violent, yet sympathetic replicant Roy Batty in Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi thriller, Blade Runner.
Hauer was a dedicated environmentalist. He fought for the release of Greenpeace's co-founder, Paul Watson, who was convicted in 1994 for sinking a Norwegian whaling vessel. Hauer has also established an AIDS awareness foundation called the Rutger Hauer Starfish Foundation. He married his second wife, Ineke, in 1985 (they had been together since 1968); and he has one child, actress Aysha Hauer, who was born in 1966 and who made him a grandfather in 1988. In April 2007, he published his autobiography All Those Moments: Stories of Heroes, Villains, Replicants, and Blade Runners (co-written with Patrick Quinlan) where he discussed many of his movie roles. Proceeds of the book go to Hauer's Starfish Foundation.
Known For
Acting
Tonight at Noon
as Diego
Starfish Tango
as Self
Isip the Warrior
as Catholic Priest
(2024)
Like Tears in Rain
as Self (archive footage)
(2021)
Albert Speer und der Traum von Hollywood
as Himself (archive footage)
(2020)
Break
as Ray
(2019)
Iron Mask
as English Ambassador
(2018)
Samson
as Manoah
(2018)
The Sisters Brothers
as The Commodore
(2018)
The Sonata
as Richard Marlowe
(2018)
Corbin Nash
as Stranger
(2017)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
as President of the World State Federation
(2017)
24 Hours to Live
as Frank
(2017)
Gangsterdam
as Dolph
(2017)
The Broken Key
as Professor Moonlight
(2017)
Uncle Howard
as Self (archive footage)
(2017)
Drawing Home
as Carl Rungius
(2016)
Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich
as Oskar Halminski
(2016)
Wax - We Are The X
as Aron Mulder
(2016)
The Worlds of Philip K. Dick
as Self - Actor
(2016)
(2015)
The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power
as King Zakour
(2015)
(2015)
Unity
as Narrator (voice)
(2015)
Admiral
as Maarten Tromp
(2015)
Behind the White Glasses
as Self
(2015)
Clones
as Dr. Richards
(2014)
The Letters
as Benjamin Praagh
(2014)
2047: Sights of Death
as Colonel Asimov
(2014)
Francesco
as Padre di Francesco
(2013)
The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy
as Self (archive footage)
(2013)
The Future
as Maciste
(2013)
Real Playing Game
as Steve Batier
(2012)
Dracula 3D
as Abraham van Helsing
(2012)
Agent Ranjid Saves the World
as Freek van Dyk
(2011)
The Rite
as Istvan Kovak
(2011)
The Reverend
as The Withstander
(2011)
The Heineken Kidnapping
as Alfred Heineken
(2011)
Hobo with a Shotgun
as Hobo
(2011)
The 5th Execution
as Khant
(2011)
The Mill and the Cross
as Peter Bruegel
(2011)
Black Butterflies
as Abraham Jonker
(2011)
All for One
as Niemeyer
(2011)
Spoon
as Victor Spoon
(2011)
Portable Life
as Antonio
(2011)
(2011)
(2011)
The Cardboard Village
as Sacristan
(2010)
Happiness Runs
as Insley
(2010)
Life's a Beach
as Jean-Luc
(2009)
Barbarossa
as Federico Barbarossa
(2009)
3
as Father (voice)
(2009)
(2008)
Bride Flight
as Old Frank
(2008)
Magic Flute Diaries
as Dr. Richard Nagel
(2008)
The Prince of Motor City
as William Hamilton
(2007)
Goal II: Living the Dream
as Rudi van der Merwe
(2007)
Dead Tone
as Det. John Criton
(2007)
Moving McAllister
as Maxwell McAllister
(2007)
(2007)
Starting Over
as Peter Rossen
(2007)
(2006)
The Hunt for Eagle One
as Gen. Frank Lewis
(2006)
Minotaur
as Cyrnan
(2006)
The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point
as Gen. Frank Lewis
(2006)
Mentor
as Sanford Pollard
(2006)
Blond, Blue Eyes
as Self
(2005)
Batman Begins
as Earle
(2005)
Sin City
as Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark
(2005)
The Poseidon Adventure
as Bishop August Schmidt
(2005)
Dracula III: Legacy
as Dracula
(2005)
Mirror Wars: Reflection One
as Mysterious Man
(2004)
(2004)
Tempesta
as Van Beuningen
(2004)
Never Enough
as Sebastian
(2003)
(2002)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
as Keeler
(2002)
Scorcher
as US President Nelson
(2002)
The Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair
as Paul Marcinkus
(2002)
Warrior Angels
as Grekkor
(2001)
Flying Virus
as Ezekial
(2001)
Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal
as Copilot MacIntosh
(2001)
Lying in Wait
as Keith Miller
(2001)
(2000)
Wilder
as Dr. Sam Dennis Charney
(2000)
(2000)
Partners in Crime
as Gene Reardon
(1999)
Simon Magus
as Count Albrecht, the Squire
(1999)
New World Disorder
as David Marx
(1998)
Bone Daddy
as Palmer
(1998)
Tactical Assault
as Capitaine John 'Doc' Holiday
(1997)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
as Curtiz
(1997)
Blast
as Leo
(1997)
Hostile Waters
as Cap. Britanov
(1997)
Deathline
as John Wade
(1997)
Bleeders
as Dr. Marlowe
(1997)
The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon
as John Thornton
(1997)
The Ruby Ring
as Patrick Collins
(1997)
Eating Pattern
as Bog
(1996)
Crossworlds
as A.T.
(1996)
Precious Find
as Armond Crille
(1996)
Omega Doom
as Omega Doom
(1996)
Mariette in Ecstasy
as Chaplan
(1996)
(1995)
Mr. Stitch
as Doctor Rue Wakeman
(1994)
Nostradamus
as The Mystic Monk
(1994)
Fatherland
as SS-Sturmbannführer Xavier March
(1994)
Surviving the Game
as Thomas Burns
(1994)
Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight
as Fred Noonan
(1994)
The Beans of Egypt, Maine
as Rueben Bean
(1994)
Blood of the Innocent
as Dr. Lem
(1993)
Blind Side
as Jake Shell
(1993)
Arctic Blue
as Ben Corbett
(1993)
Voyage
as Morgan Norvell
(1993)
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
as Himself
(1992)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
as Lothos
(1992)
Split Second
as Stone
(1992)
Past Midnight
as Ben Jordan
(1992)
Beyond Justice
as Tom Burton
(1991)
Wedlock
as Frank Warren
(1991)
Desert Law
as Tom Burton
(1989)
Blind Fury
as Nick Parker
(1989)
The Blood of Heroes
as Sallow
(1989)
Bloodhounds of Broadway
as The Brain
(1989)
The Edge
as Sheriff Emil Abel
(1989)
On a Moonlit Night
as John Knott
(1988)
The Legend of the Holy Drinker
as Andreas Kartak
(1987)
Escape from Sobibor
as Alexander 'Sasha' Pechersky
(1987)
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Nick Randall
(1987)
The Best of Max Headroom
as Himself
(1986)
The Hitcher
as John Ryder
(1985)
Ladyhawke
as Captain Etienne Navarre
(1985)
Flesh + Blood
as Martin
(1984)
A Breed Apart
as Jim Malden
(1983)
The Osterman Weekend
as John Tanner
(1983)
Eureka
as Claude Maillot Van Horn
(1982)
Blade Runner
as Batty
(1982)
Inside the Third Reich
as Albert Speer
(1981)
Nighthawks
as Wulfgar
(1981)
Chanel Solitaire
as Etienne de Balsan
(1980)
Spetters
as Gerrit Witkamp
(1979)
Woman Between Wolf and Dog
as Adriaan
(1979)
Es begann bei Tiffany
as Ryder
(1979)
Fatal Error
as Rinus de Gier
(1978)
Mysteries
as Johan Nagel
(1978)
Pastorale 1943
as August Schultz
(1978)
Heilige Jeanne
as Dunois
(1977)
Soldier of Orange
as Erik Lanshof
(1976)
(1976)
Max Havelaar
as Duclari
(1975)
The Wilby Conspiracy
as Blane Van Niekirk
(1975)
Katie Tippel
as Hugo
(1975)
Cold Blood
as Cris
(1975)
Cancer Rising
as Pierre
(1975)
Cyrano de Bergerac
as de Valvert
(1974)
Dandelions
as Rick
(1973)
Turkish Delight
as Eric Vonk
(1969)
Rond Floris
as Self
Crew
Starfish Tango
Director
(2011)
Requiem 2019
Director
(2009)
Dazzle
Executive Producer
(2001)
The Room
Director
(1993)
Arctic Blue
Co-Executive Producer
(1989)
On a Moonlit Night
Dialogue