On This Day

Birthday of Rutger Hauer

January 23rd 1944

11:16 23 January 2024

Dutch actor Rutger Hauer was born on this day in 1944. After beginning his career as a stage actor, Hauer made his film debut when Paul Verhoeven cast him in his erotic drama 'Turkish Delight' (1973), which received an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. The movie was a success at the box office both home and abroad and the actor looked to appear in more international films.

He made his English-language debut in the British film 'The Wilby Conspiracy' (1975) but failed to make an impression and returned to acting in Dutch films including 'Soldier of Fortune' (1977) and 'Spetters' (1980). His American film debut came as a cold-blooded terrorist in 'Nighthawks' (1981) before playing one of his most celebrated roles as the replicant Roy Batty in Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner' (1982).

From here Hauer carved out a successful career in Hollywood, appearing in both major studio productions and low-budget films as well as films in his native Netherlands including 'Eureka' (1983), 'The Osterman Weekend' (1983), 'Flesh & Blood' (1985), 'Ladyhawke' (1985), 'The Hitcher' (1986), 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' (1987), 'The Legend of the Holy Drinker' (1988), 'Blind Fury' (1989), 'The Blood of Heroes' (1989), 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1992), 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' (2002), 'Sin City' (2005), 'Batman Begins' (2005), 'Barbarossa' (2009), 'Hobo with a Shotgun' (2011), 'The Heineken Kidnapping' (2011) and 'The Sisters Brothers' (2018).

In 1999 he was voted the Best Dutch Actor of the Century by the Dutch public and in 2013 he was made a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. One of the most accomplished and popular European actors to make their mark in Hollywood, Rutger Hauer passed away in July 2019 at his home in the Netherlands, following a short illness.