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Rutger Oelson Hauer, 53, was born in Breukelen, in the Netherlands, on Jan 23, 1944, to drama teachers. At 15 he ran away from home and became a sailor. At 16 he enrolled in acting classes and ended up on stage for 6 years. He was also in the army for a short while, studied theatre in Amsterdam, and worked in a theatre in Basel. It has been twenty years since Rutger Hauer took the American movie scene by storm. What most Americans don't know is that Rutger has had a very successful film career before he was ever known to American artists. His first turn at movies found him teamed up with Paul Verhoven (RoboCop, Starship Troopers) in the highly acclaimed Turkish Delight. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture and went on to become the most successful film in Dutch history. From there, Rutger starred in many highly acclaimed roles including the Verhoven masterpiece Soldier of Orange. In 1980, he left the stardom of Dutch films to debut on American celluloid screens opposite Sylvester Stallone in the action thriller Nighthawks. Before his portrayal of Wulfgar in Nighthawks, Rutger was relatively unknown in the United States. However, after that initial performance, doors opened wide for the Dutch actor. He went on to score the leading role in the cult classic Blade Runner in which his incredible portrayal of suffering Replicant Roy Batty outshone even that of the "star," Harrison Ford. His final soliloquy (quoted on the front page) has become one of the most memorable speeches in movie history. Later he went on to star along side Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick in the timeless love story, Ladyhawke and as the terrifying John Ryder in the horror classic The Hitcher. Other notable performances include Escape from Sobibor (in which he won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor), Inside the Third Reich, and Flesh and Blood. In the latter part of the 80's and 90's, Rutger threw luck to the wind and chose roles that he enjoyed doing, trying to add variety to his repertoire. Such classic favorites as Blind Fury, Split Second, Legend of the Holy Drinker, On a Moonlit Night and The Blood of Heroes, have won him a loyal fan following and cemented him as an exquisite actor rivaling any in film history. This isn't to say that everything Rutger touched turned to gold. There were plenty of turkeys, but even they have something special in them as Rutger puts forth so much into each performance. The mid-late 90's saw Rutger in mostly straight-to-video or cable tv movies. The quality of acting has not waned, however. He won critical acclaim for his role in the movie adaptation of the novel Fatherland, and the burdened, but quick thinking submarine captain in Hostile Waters opposite Apocalypse Now star Martin Sheen. He has also co-starred in two wonderful television mini-series entitled Merlin in which he played Lord Vortigen, and most recently, The Tenth Kingdom in which he played the Evil Huntsman. An Incredible Career Celebrated... Altogether, Rutger Hauer has made over 80 movies spanning over thirty years. At only 55 years old, we are sure to see many more quality films from this Dutchman. To cap his career off in the twentieth century, his homeland voted him the prestigious "Actor of the Century" in 1999 as well as Turkish Delight being voted as the "Film of the Century." A remarkable honor for a remarkable man. |
