Remembering the late actor
Those who grew up watching and loving “Blade Runner” will be sad to hear that Rutger Hauer, the leading man of the ’70s who went on star in the 1982 film as Roy Batty, died July 19 at his home in the Netherlands after a short illness. He was 75.
The news of his passing was confirmed by his agent Steven Kenis. Hauer’s funeral was held Wednesday.
Rutger is famously remembered for his murderous yet soulful Roy Batty, leader of a gang of outlaw replicants, opposite Harrison Ford in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi noir “Blade Runner.” The film became a cult favorite, and Batty proved to be Hauer’s most iconic role.
In more recent works, Rutger appeared Cardinal Roark in “Sin City,” and as the corporate villain running the Wayne Corp. in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins.” He also played Niall Brigant, the king of the tribe from which the Stackhouse family is descended in “True Blood.”
Born Jan. 23, 1944, in Breukelen, the Netherlands, near Amsterdam, both Rutger’s parents were acting teachers. He ran away from home at 15 to join the Dutch merchant navy; after returning to Amsterdam in 1962 he briefly studied acting but left school again for a stint in the army. He eventually went on to become a member of the touring experimental troupe Noorder Compagnie. His major break came in 1969 when Verhoeven cast him in the title role of “Floris.”