R.I.P. UDO KIER

Beyond any doubt or debate, you ranked as one of my all-time favorites, Mr. Kier. 

Andy Warhol's Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula sealed it, but even beyond those grand, quirky submissions, you made the rounds with a style that was equally exclusive and contagious. 

Whether the role was big, small or somewhere in-between, you hit it outta the park with such provocative, fun and devilish delights as Doctor Jekyll and the Women (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne), Suspiria 1977, The Mother of Tears, Skin Walker, House on Straw Hill (Expose), Modern Vampires, Dracula 3000, Shadow of the Vampire, Blade, BloodRayne, Spermula, Prince Valiant 1997, Barbwire, Johnny Mnemonic, Iron Sky, Iron Sky: The Coming Race, UFO in Her Eyes, End of Days, Armageddon, Epidemic, Grindhouse, Lulu and Jimi, Lola, Betty, Pan, Seduction: The Cruel Woman, The Salzburg Connection, The Berlin Project, Moscow on the Hudson, Hungarian Rhapsody, The Third Generation, Beethoven's Treasure Trail, Bacurau, Swan Song, The Editor, Fall Down Dead, Nymphomaniac, Pars: Operation Cherry, The Secret Agent, 11/2 Knights: In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinda, Halloween 2007, The Island of the Bloody Plantation, Children of Wax, Keyhole, Far Cry, The End of Violence, Narcissus and Psyche, Pankow '05, The Fifth Commandment, The Roaring Fifties, Critical Mass, Masters of Horror: "Cigarette Burns," Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The New Adventures of Pinocchio, My Son, My Private Idaho, My Son What Have Ye Done, and a hearty spree of others, including music videos and voice work for video games and animation.

You had a luring personality and a twinkle in your eye that always made you a friend. Few personalities ever hold that unique draw, Mr. Kier, but you did, sir, because you were one of the special ones, one of those rare performers whose artistic benefaction has no choice but to age like fine wine.