Rutger Hauer trivia: 50 facts about the famous actor!

Rutger Hauer is one of the most recognized actors due in large part to his turn in Blade Runner. He died on 19th of July 2019!

So let’s find out some trivia and facts about his life and career!

1. His full name is Rutger Oelsen Hauer
2. He was born on 23 January 1944
3. He died in 19 July 2019
4. He was a Dutch actor, writer, and environmentalist
5. Hauer’s career began in 1969
6. With the title role in the Dutch television series Floris
7. And surged with the hugely successful film Turkish Delight in 1973
8. After rising to international stardom with the film Soldier of Orange in 1977
9. He moved into American films such as Nighthawks and Blade Runner
10. Starring in the latter as self-aware android Roy Batty
11. His performance in Blade Runner brought him leading roles in films such as The Osterman Weekend, Ladyhawke, Flesh+Blood, The Hitcher, Escape from Sobibor, Blind Fury, The Blood of Heroes, and Wedlock
12. Escape from Sobibor earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor
13. In the 1990s, Hauer moved into supporting roles in films
14. Including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Sin City, Batman Begins, and The Rite
15. With occasional starring roles such as Hobo with a Shotgun
16. He founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association
17. This is an AIDS awareness organization
18. He was made a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2013
19. Rutger Oelsen Hauer was born in Breukelen on 23 January 1944
20. He was the son of actors Teunke and Arend Hauer
21. They operated an acting school in nearby Amsterdam
22. He had one older sister and two younger sisters
23. He was born while his home country was under German occupation during World War II
24. He later stated in 1981, “I was born in the middle of the war, and I think for that reason I have deep roots in pacifism. Violence frightens me”
25. Hauer attended a Rudolf Steiner school, as his parents wanted him to develop his creativity
26. At the age of 15, he left school to join the Dutch merchant navy
27. He spent a year travelling the world aboard a freighter
28. But was unable to become a captain due to his colourblindness
29. Returning home, he worked odd jobs while finishing his high school diploma at night
30. He then entered the Academy for Theater and Dance in Amsterdam for acting classes
31. But soon dropped out to join the Royal Netherlands Army
32. He received training as a combat medic
33. But left the service after a few months as he opposed the use of deadly weapons
34. He subsequently returned to acting school and graduated in 1967
35. Hauer was an environmentalist
36. Rutger Hauer also established an AIDS awareness organization called the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association
37. Hauer married his second wife, Ineke ten Cate, in 1985
38. They had been together since 1968
39. He had one child with his first wife, Heidi Merz
40. She is Aysha Hauer
41. She was born in 1966
42. She is an actress who made him a grandfather in 1987
43. In April 2007, he published his autobiography All Those Moments: Stories of Heroes, Villains, Replicants, and Blade Runners
44. The book was co-written with Patrick Quinlan
45. In the book he discussed many of his movie roles
46. Proceeds from the book go to the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association
47. Hauer died on 19 July 2019 at his home in Beetsterzwaag
48. Following an unspecified illness
49. He was 75
50. His most famous line is the one from Blade Runner, “Like tears in the rain”