Dieter Laser star of Human Centipede has passed away

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It has been reported that Dieter Laser, star of the Tom Six-directed films HUMAN CENTIPEDE: FIRST SEQUENCE and HUMAN CENTIPEDE III: FINAL SEQUENCE, has passed away at age 78.

I’m totally shocked Dieter passed away. He was a force of nature, an unique human being and an iconic actor. I’m so damn proud we created pop culture together. Wished we could have made many more movies. RIP my friend, you will live forever on screen! pic.twitter.com/ERGEsY5aZV

— Tom Six (@tom_six) April 9, 2020

However, while Laser is most known for his role as Dr. Heiter in the aforementioned HUMAN CENTIPEDE films, he actually had a long and prolific career, having worked in the industry (first in Germany, then in the US) since 1968. From there, he earned a German Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for 1975’s JOHN GLUCKSTADT, and even his HUMAN CENTIPEDE role garnered him some awards, such as the Best Actor award at the Austin Fantastic Fest in 2009. He was last seen in the 2017 film NOVEMBER.

And while the HUMAN CENTIPEDE films may have an infamous reputation, Laser was able to elevate the material from camp exploitation into something that was truly horrific and frightening (see HUMAN CENTIPEDE II: FULL SEQUENCE to see how the series fares without him).

Either way, his weird, steely glare will sorely be missed, but as Tom Six said in his (surprisngly) touching tweet, Laser will "live forever on screen!"