Udo Kier, a German actor who appeared in more than 200 films, has died at the age of 81.
Kier, who played 275 roles including in the films “My Own Private Idaho,” “Blade,” “Armageddon” and “Dogville,” as well as Madonna's music videos and video games, died Sunday morning, his partner Delbert McBride confirmed. Diversity. Photographer Michael Childers wrote on social media that Cyrus died at a hospital in Palm Springs, California. The cause of death has not yet been announced.
The horror film specialist had a breakout role in the 1970s film Mark of the Devil before being cast as Frankenstein in the 1973 film Flesh for Frankenstein and then Dracula in the 1974 film Blood for Dracula, both produced by artist Andy Warhol. His first American role came in the 1991 film My Own Private Idaho, which starred River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Madonna, a fan of Cyrus’s work, invited him to her videos for the songs “Erotica” and “Deeper and Deeper”. Later, notable roles appeared in such films as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Johnny Mnemonic, Armageddon, End of Days and Blade. Keir's last film was the political thriller The Secret Agent, in which he played a Jewish Holocaust survivor caught in the final years of Brazil's military dictatorship.
Besides having starred in hundreds of films, Cyrus was no stranger to the world of video games. He famously played Yury in the live-action cutscenes that became part of the story of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, and also reprized the role in 2001's Command & Conquer: Yury's Revenge.
Rest in peace Udo Kier, who died today at the age of 81.
His performance as Yuri in Red Alert 2 has always stuck with me and I refer to it constantly. I'm sad that we won't see you in Kojima's OD, but thanks for the wonderful memories. pic.twitter.com/d8Y2ZBmV5r
— Bucky | Palworld (@Bucky_cm) November 24, 2025
He later had voice roles in 2017's Call of Duty: WWII and 2022's Martha is Dead. He was set to appear in OD, the upcoming horror video game by Hideo Kojima and producer Jordan Peele, and was indeed part of the teaser trailer shown below, showing off the initial facial scanning work. It's unclear whether Kier will now be redesigned in Microsoft's upcoming game.
Kojima took on social media to pay tribute to Cyrus by expressing his shock at the news.
“I have no words,” Kojima said. “It all happened too suddenly. Because of the strike, we couldn't film OD for a long time and had to reschedule filming until next year. Even then, Udo and I exchanged emails frequently. We kept in close contact. When we met in Milan at the end of September, he told me how much he was looking forward to filming next year. He was full of energy even then, making me laugh with his usual 'Udo-isms.'
“I still can't believe it. Udo was not just an actor. He was truly an 'icon' of his time. We have lost a great 'icon'. There will never be another like him. Udo, rest in peace. I will never forget you.”
The Twitter video below shows Kojima and Kira together in Milan in September.
With Udo Kier. pic.twitter.com/6tdXYLY8aW
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) September 26, 2025
Wesley is IGN's News Director. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
