The death has been announced of the Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, best known for his performance opposite Harrison Ford in the sci-fi classic Blade Runner.
Dutch media reported that Hauer, who was 75, passed away after a short illness in his home country.
It is reported that Hauer died last Friday, July 19, with a private funeral taking place on Wednesday, July 24.
Hauer's screen career spanned 50 years and included many productions in his native Netherlands before his international breakthrough came as a terrorist opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 1981 thriller Nighthawks, and as the iconic replicant Roy Batty in director Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner.
Celebrated for the intensity of his performances, Hauer gave 1980s cinema another of its most memorable villains when he played serial killer John Ryder in the 1986 cult thriller The Hitcher.
Hauer's other films included Turkish Delight, Ladyhawke, Flesh+Blood, The Legend of the Holy Drinker, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sin City and Batman Begins. He was most recently seen in Irish cinemas in the John C Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix-starring western The Sisters Brothers.
On television his many credits included Alias, The Last Kingdom, Salem's Lot, Smallville and True Blood. Hauer was a Golden Globe winner for his performance in the miniseries Escape from Sobibor.
He also memorably starred in a series of adverts for Guinness.
An environmental activist with Greenpeace, Hauer also founded the AIDS awareness organisation The Rutger Hauer Starfish Association.
Here are some of the tributes:
I am incredibly heartbroken to learn it was your time to leave us Rutger. Your mastery of every role you ever played will always be cherished. We all will miss you very very much. RIP my old friend ❤️🙏🏼 #RutgerHauer #BuffyTheVampireSlayer pic.twitter.com/IaUvLfkilK
— Kristy Swanson (@KristySwansonXO) July 24, 2019
RIP Rutger Hauer. He played my father in The Rite. I was thrilled to work with him. My condolences to his family. Gentleman!! #IstvanKovak
— Colin o'donoghue (@colinodonoghue1) July 24, 2019
Rutger Hauer.
— Vincent D'Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) July 24, 2019
I spent several months in the outback of Australia with him.
He was a true sweetheart of a man.
We did a film together, I was very young called Salute of the Jugger/The blood of heroes.
I'll never forget the Dutch films and BLADE RUNNER. He'll always stay with me. pic.twitter.com/VTCk0QHEnV
RIP Rutger Hauer, it was great working with you. pic.twitter.com/w8QkqfIXnv
— Bryan Adams (@bryanadams) July 24, 2019
My sweet Rutger. Rest In Peace. I am just in shock. https://t.co/rnMVqWsz2f
— Joanna Cassidy (@JoannaVCassidy) July 24, 2019
Farewell #rutgerhauer #ravn #thelastkingdom pic.twitter.com/dhjKVg4RC4
— The Last Kingdom (@TheLastKingdom) July 24, 2019
Sad to hear of the passing of #RutgerHauer.
— Terry O'Neill (@Terry_ONeill) July 24, 2019
Photo taken October 1990. pic.twitter.com/icYf52ynqq
I was having quite a good day... and now I hear that Rutger Hauer has died. Aw man.
— Derek Landy (@DerekLandy) July 24, 2019
He was wonderful in Blade Runner, but really, it was The Hitcher that stands out for me. pic.twitter.com/YXBOdSJLMS
The great Rutger Hauer has died, aged 75. An actor with extraordinary presence and magnetism on screen, his memory lives on in films such as Blade Runner, The Hitcher and Flesh+Blood pic.twitter.com/Ro8jAtd1gD
— BFI (@BFI) July 24, 2019
Rutger Hauer's speech at the end of Blade Runner (1982) is one of the most moving, iconic moments from the last 40 years of #cinema.
— Zach Galligan (@zwgman) July 24, 2019
And he IMPROVISED IT.
He was a truly great #actor in both English and Dutch. Simply incredible.
RIP Rutger Hauer
1944 -2019 pic.twitter.com/eb7IThgQYa
A very sad goodbye to the great #rutgerhauer #RIP pic.twitter.com/He5eh8X5sI
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) July 24, 2019
Goddammit. I recently met #RutgerHauer in Dortmund, Germany. We rode our electric scooters together and I bored him with my fangirling story about doing Roy's monologue in acting school, much to the confusion of my classmates. I wish I knew him better. RIP pic.twitter.com/ED5YtWLV8H
— Garret Dillahunt (@garretdillahunt) July 24, 2019
RIP the great Rutger Hauer: an intense, deep, genuine and magnetic actor that brought truth, power and beauty to his films. My personal favorites: Flesh + Blood, Eureka, The Hitcher, Blade Runner, Ladyhawke and Blind Fury. pic.twitter.com/1F2Via3mLY
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) July 24, 2019
So sad to hear of the passing of Rutger Hauer. I played the drummer boy in Flesh & Blood in 1984 and I got to spend 4 months in a castle in Spain with him, times I shall never forget. What an amazing guy, RIP my friend 🙌🏼❤️ https://t.co/DIFOZUwDsz
— Jake Wood (@mrjakedwood) July 24, 2019
