Rutger Hauer, the Dutch actor who memorably played renegade replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner, has died. He was 75 years old.
His agent, Steve Kenis, confirmed news of the death to Variety. Hauer died at his home in the Netherlands on July 19 after a short illness. Kenis said Hauer’s funeral was held Wednesday.
Hauer was a longtime fixture of the film and TV world, getting his start on the 1969 Dutch series Floris and later transitioning to films, including several directed by Paul Verhoeven, such as Turkish Delight (1973) and Soldier of Orange (1977). But Hauer’s best-known role was in 1982’s Blade Runner. He played a peroxide-blond villain in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi cult hit about a dystopian version of Los Angeles beset by dangerous replicants.
“Roy Batty is the character that deserves most of the credit for my career,” Hauer said in a 2015 interview, attributing Soldier of Orange with getting Hollywood’s attention. “For me, it was one of the very important films from an international film director. It was my third film in English, and for me to get so lucky and find such a home in this story with Ridley, who really liked what I was doing and felt he could let me go where I wanted. There’s no film that competes with it. It shines completely on its own for ever and ever and ever.”
Hauer continued acting up through 2019, landing key roles in films like Batman Begins and Sin City, as well as supporting arcs in shows like Smallville and True Blood. At the time of his death, Hauer had a handful of projects on the horizon, including an adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
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