Meet actor Udo Kier's partner Delbert McBride after artist confirmed the star's death at 81

Delbert is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he is an artist who was captivated by drawing from an early age. He attended Carnegie Mellon University and was inspired by Picasso's work. After graduation he moved to Los Angeles to pursue the arts and got started with participating in group art shows. On his social media he describes his paintings as an "exploration through light and dark." Delbert added: "I illustrate a melting of events together, which normally the viewer sees as afterthoughts."

It is unknown how long the two have been in a relationship, however, both were living in the Palm Springs area. Udo had been a resident of the location for over a decade. Udo helped his partner organize one of his earlier exhibits titled "Going Solo," which featured 60 works of his art at Palm Springs' Shawn Savage Gallery.

Udo did not want to be labeled a "gay icon," per Slant. He explained: "I find that ridiculous. Why an icon? Why gay? Do they write in papers 'a straight icon?' I mean, it doesn't really matter, but it's just when you're in a gay story. I mean, it's the same when you play a killer. You don't have to kill people. You know? It's all okay. Whatever they write and make me compliments…that's wonderful and I like it."

Udo is originally from Germany; however he moved to England when he was 18 to pursue acting during the 1960s. His first role was in the film Road to Saint Tropez. He went on to work with Andy Warhol on Flesh for Frankenstein, and Blood for Dracula in the 70s. He mostly worked with Lars von Trier on the films Melancholia, Breaking the Waves and Dogville. The film that introduced him to mainstream audiences was 1991's My Own Private Idaho. He was also featured in Madonna's music video "Deeper and Deeper," as well as Gwen Stefani and Korn's music videos. Udo has also been featured in Armageddon, Ace Ventura, Blade, Hunters and more films. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his role in Swan Song.

Udo admitted that he was randomly spotted on the street during his time overseas, and that's how he got his first acting gig. He recalled: "I was in Berlin, and a young director comes to me and says, 'Hello, my name is Gus Van Sant. I have a movie I did for $20,000, but my next movie is going to be a bigger movie, and I want you to play.' And then I heard it was going to be [with] Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, so I did my first American film," per his interview at the Locarno Film Festival.

Udo expressed in 2021 how he would like to be remembered: He shared: "That I was a lucky man who got wonderful opportunities in film. I can tell you I have never asked [a director] in my life, 'I would like to be in this film.' Never. I mean, imagine if I would say to David Lynch, 'I would like to be in your movie,' and he would answer, 'Who doesn't?' I want to be remembered that I had a good time and that I did comedies and drama and thrillers and gay hairdressers—everything, so why not," per Slant.