Portrait of Udo Kier

Birthday profile

Udo Kier

Udo Kier, German-American actor and director (died 2025)

Born
October 14, 1944
Died
November 23, 2025
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1944

About Udo Kier

Udo Kierspe (14 October 1944 – 23 November 2025), known professionally as Udo Kier, was a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor who often portrayed eccentric and deviant figures, he appeared in more than 200 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. Kier made his breakthrough playing the title characters in the cult films Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974), both directed by Paul Morrissey, which established him as an icon of the horror film genre. He became a staple figure in both mainstream genre film and art house circles, described by one obituary as a "cult icon". He collaborated with notable filmmakers, such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Werner Herzog, Walerian Borowczyk, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dario Argento, Guy Maddin, Wim Wenders, and Rob Zombie. He received several international accolades, including a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, for his elegiac performance in Swan Song (2021). Openly gay throughout his career, he received a Special Teddy Award at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival for his contribution to queer cinema. In 2013, the documentary won a finalist certificate in the New York Festivals' International TV & Film Awards Competition. Known primarily as a character actor who often portrayed eccentric and deviant figures, he appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Udo Kier was born

Udo Kier was born in 1944. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1944

  • #1 song"Swinging on a Star" – Bing Crosby
  • Top movieGoing My Way
  • Best-selling bookStrange Fruit – Lillian Smith

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGreen Bay Packers win NFL Championship
  • Top headlineD-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6
  • Technology milestoneHarvard Mark I computer begins operations
  • Defining fadBobby socks
  • Notable inventionKidney dialysis machine
  • World population2.39 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population138.4M

1944 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Udo Kier's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19442026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,800$435,000
Average income$4,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population138.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.