(CNN) Rutger Hauer, a dashing Dutch actor who battled Harrison Ford in the science-fiction classic "Blade Runner" and excelled in bad-guy roles, died July 19 after a short illness, his longtime agent Steve Kenis told CNN.

Hauer was 75.

Hauer as the villian in "Blade Runner."

An AIDS charity with which the actor was involved, the Rutger Hauer Starfish Foundation, said he died peacefully at his Dutch home. The charity said his wife, Ineke, will carry on its work.

Hauer was largely introduced to American audiences by "Blade Runner," which cast him as a murderous synthetic human, or replicant, named Roy Batty.

Hauer's closing monologue, in which the character discusses all the things he has seen, is especially memorable. Of working with director Ridley Scott, the actor later said, " I understood, on a very strong level, what he wanted, and by instinct I gave it to him."

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