Rutger Hauer, known for ‘Blade Runner’ role, dies

Actor said he liked to roam ‘the dark side’

NEW YORK — Dutch film actor Rutger Hauer, who specialized in menacing roles, including a memorable turn as a murderous android in “Blade Runner” opposite Harrison Ford, has died. He was 75.

Hauer’s agent, Steve Kenis, said Wednesday that the actor died Friday in his home in the Netherlands.

Hauer’s roles included a terrorist in “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone, Cardinal Roark in “Sin City” and an evil corporate executive in “Batman Begins.”

He was in the big-budget 1985 fantasy “Ladyhawke,” portrayed a menacing hitchhiker who’s picked up by a murderer in the Mojave Desert in “The Hitcher” and won a supporting-actor Golden Globe award in 1988 for “Escape From Sobibor.”

Gene Simmons, the Kiss bassist who starred opposite Hauer in “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” described his former co-star as “always a gentleman, kind and compassionate.”

In “Blade Runner,” Hauer played the murderous replicant Roy Batty on a desperate quest to prolong his artificially shortened life in post-apocalyptic, 21st century Los Angeles.

In his dying, rain-soaked soliloquy, he looked back at his extraordinary existence. “All those moments will be lost in time. Like tears in rain. Time to die,” he said.

“It’s so much fun to playfully roam into the dark side of the soul and tease people,” the actor told The Associated Press in 1987. “If you try to work on human beings’ light side, that’s harder. What is good is hard. Most people try to be good all their lives. So you have to work harder to make those characters interesting.”

Hauer’s ruggedly handsome face, blue eyes and strong physique drew the attention of American producers in such international successes as “Turkish Delight,” ”Spetters” and “Soldier of Orange.” The offers from the United States came as a surprise to Hauer.

Hauer was born in the Netherlands village of Breukelen. He made his film debut in the saucy “Turkish Delight,” nominated for an Oscar as best foreignlanguage film of 1973.

Earlier in his career, a Hollywood agent suggested changing his name to something easier for the American public to learn.

The actor declined. “If you’re good enough, people will remember your name,” he said.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Ineke ten Cate, and a daughter, actress Aysha Hauer, from a previous marriage.

CHRIS PIZZELLO/ASSOCIATED PRESS Dutch actor Rutger Hauer arrives at the premiere of “Sin City” in March 2005 in Los Angeles. Hauer died July 19 at his home in the Netherlands. He was 75.