Rutger Hauer.

At fifteen, Rutger Hauer ran away to work on a freighter for a year. He was born on January 23, 1944, in Breukelen, Netherlands, to actors Teunke Mellema and Arend Hauer, who ran an acting school. A rebellious child, he often got into mischief. Color-blind like his great-grandfather, he could not become a sailor. After returning, he attended night school and worked in construction. His parents enrolled him in drama classes, but he was expelled for poor attendance and briefly served in the Dutch navy before convincing his superiors he was mentally unfit.

Hauer’s first major success was Paul Verhoeven’s Turkish Delight 1973, a hit in the Netherlands. He worked with Verhoeven on four more films, including Soldier of Orange 1977 and The Fourth Man 1983. He made his American debut in Nighthawks 1981, but his role as replicant Roy Batty in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner 1982 made him an international star. He turned down the lead in Das Boot to take that role. Other notable performances include the psychotic drifter in The Hitcher 1986 and the vampire hunter in Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1992. He won a Golden Globe for Escape from Sobibor 1987.

In 1985, Rutger Hauer married Ineke Ten Kate, a painter and sculptor; they had been together for 16 years prior. He had a daughter, Ayesha Hauer, from a previous relationship. He also had a brief marriage to Heidi Merz. Hauer had a tattoo on his right shoulder for Ineke and one on his left for his best friend Marius, who died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was an environmentalist and founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Foundation for AIDS research.

Rutger Hauer’s portrayal of Roy Batty in Blade Runner, with its final Tears in Rain speech, remains a film highlight. He inspired actors and filmmakers. In 1999, he was knighted as a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He received the Golden Calf Culture Prize in 2007. He founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Foundation and taught master classes in filmmaking. The Dutch mail service issued a stamp in his honor in 1995.