Rutger Hauer

Hauer ran away to sea as a teenager before eventually training at Amsterdam's Academy for Theatre and Dance, building a substantial career in Dutch television and film through his long working relationship with a young Paul Verhoeven before either had international profiles.

The Dutch star's replicant Roy Batty — part predator, part poet — delivered the most quoted dying words in science fiction, some of which he wrote himself. Already an established leading man in Dutch cinema through his collaborations with Verhoeven, he trimmed the original scripted monologue down himself on the day of shooting, adding the now-famous "tears in rain" line at the last minute.

He considered the role his defining performance for the rest of his career, frequently naming it as the work he was proudest of in interviews, and continued acting internationally in a huge range of film and television roles until his death in 2019.