Max von Sydow
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1929-04-10
Day of Death
2020-03-08 (90 years old)
Place of Birth
Lund, Skåne län, Sweden
Max von Sydow
Biography
Max von Sydow (born Carl Adolf von Sydow; April 10, 1929 – March 8, 2020) was a Swedish actor. He also held French citizenship since 2002. He starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more. He performed in films filmed in many languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, English, Italian, German, Danish, French and Spanish.
Some of his most memorable film roles include knight Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (the first of his eleven films with Bergman and the film that includes the iconic shot of his career in the scene where he plays chess with Death), Jesus in George Stevens's The Greatest Story Ever Told, Father Merrin in Friedkin's The Exorcist, Joubert the assassin in Three Days of the Condor, and Ming the Merciless in the 1980 version of Flash Gordon.
He was twice nominated for the Academy Award - Best Leading Actor for Pelle the Conqueror (1988) and Best Supporting Actor for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011).
Known For
Acting
(2023)
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
as Self (archive footage)
(2021)
Echoes of the Past
as Nikolas Andreou (Aged)
(2018)
Kursk
as Admiral Vladimir Petrenko
(2017)
(2017)
Max von Sydow
as Self (archive footage)
(2016)
The First, the Last
as Le croque-mort
(2015)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
as Lor San Tekka
(2014)
The Letters
as Celeste van Exem
(2013)
Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures
as Dr. Alistair Conis
(2012)
Branded
as Marketing Guru
(2012)
(2012)
(2012)
(2011)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
as The Renter
(2011)
(2010)
Shutter Island
as Dr. Naehring
(2010)
Robin Hood
as Sir Walter Loxley
(2010)
The Wolfman
as Passenger on Train (Director's Cut) (uncredited)
(2010)
Behind the Moomins
as Narrator (voice)
(2010)
The Last Norwegian Troll
as The Last Norweigian Troll (voice)
(2009)
Solomon Kane
as Josiah Kane
(2009)
Oscar and the Lady in Pink
as Le docteur Dusseldorf
(2009)
A Man and His Dog
as Le commandant
(2008)
Emotional Arithmetic
as Jakob Bronski
(2007)
Rush Hour 3
as Varden Reynard
(2007)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
as Papinou
(2007)
The Final Inquiry
as Tiberius
(2005)
Heidi
as Uncle Alp
(2004)
Ring of the Nibelungs
as Eyvind
(2004)
Hidden Children
as Valobra
(2002)
Minority Report
as Director Lamar Burgess [Pre-Crime]
(2001)
Sleepless
as Moretti
(2001)
Intact
as Samuel
(2001)
Druids
as Guttuart
(2000)
Light Keeps Me Company
as Self
(2000)
(2000)
(1999)
Snow Falling on Cedars
as Nels Gudmundsson
(1998)
What Dreams May Come
as The Tracker
(1998)
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
as Self - Father Merrin
(1997)
Solomon
as Davide
(1997)
Hostile Waters
as Admiral Chernavin
(1997)
The Princess and the Pauper
as Epos
(1997)
Their Frozen Dream
as S.A. Andrée (voice)
(1996)
Samson and Delilah
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
(1996)
Hamsun
as Knut Hamsun
(1996)
Jerusalem
as Vicar
(1996)
Private Confessions
as Jacob
(1996)
Delblanc
as Narrator (voice)
(1995)
Judge Dredd
as Chief Justice Fargo
(1995)
Citizen X
as Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky
(1995)
Stjärnbilder
as (archive footage)
(1995)
The Atlantic
as Narrator (voice)
(1995)
Depth Solitude
as Narrator (voice)
(1995)
Captured: Meet Robert A. Robinson Photographer
as Narrator (voice)
(1994)
Onkel Vanja
as The Professor
(1994)
Time is Money
as Joe Kaufman
(1993)
Needful Things
as Leland Gaunt
(1993)
Minns ni?
as (archive footage)
(1993)
Morfars resa
as Simon S.L. Fromm
(1993)
Och ge oss skuggorna
as Eugene O'Neill
(1992)
The Best Intentions
as Johan Åkerblom
(1992)
The Silent Touch
as Henry Kesdi
(1991)
Europa
as Narrator (voice)
(1991)
Until the End of the World
as Henry Farber
(1991)
A Kiss Before Dying
as Thor Carlsson
(1991)
The Ox
as Vicar
(1991)
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
as Narrator (voice)
(1990)
Awakenings
as Peter Ingham
(1990)
The Bachelor
as Von Schleheim
(1990)
Cellini: A Violent Life
as Papa Clemente VII
(1990)
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes
as Father Siemes
(1990)
Father
as Joe Mueller
(1989)
Ghostbusters II
as Vigo (voice) (uncredited)
(1989)
Red King, White Knight
as Szaz
(1989)
(1988)
(1988)
(1987)
Pelle the Conqueror
as Lasse Karlsson - Farmhand
(1987)
The Second Victory
as Dr. Huber
(1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters
as Frederick
(1986)
The Wolf at the Door
as August Strindberg
(1986)
Duet for One
as Dr. Louis Feldman
(1985)
Code Name: Emerald
as Jürgen Brausch
(1985)
The Repenter
as Spinola
(1985)
(1985)
Kojak: The Belarus File
as Peter Barak
(1985)
(1984)
Dune
as Doctor Kynes
(1984)
Dreamscape
as Paul Novotny
(1984)
Samson and Delilah
as Sidka
(1984)
Le dernier civil
as Gérard Bauerle
(1984)
The Soldier's Tale
as The Devil (voice)
(1983)
Never Say Never Again
as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
(1983)
Circle of Passions
as Carlo di Vilalfratti
(1983)
Strange Brew
as Brewmeister Smith
(1983)
Destination Dune
as Self
(1982)
Conan the Barbarian
as King Osric
(1982)
The Flight of the Eagle
as Salomon August Andrée
(1982)
Target Eagle
as Coronel O'Donnell
(1982)
Let Poland Be Poland
as Self - Co-Host
(1982)
(1981)
Escape to Victory
as Major Karl von Steiner
(1981)
Venetian Lies
as Marcello Herrighe
(1981)
She Dances Alone
as Nijinsky's voice
(1980)
Flash Gordon
as The Emperor Ming
(1980)
Death Watch
as Gerald Mortenhoe
(1979)
Hurricane
as Dr. Danielsson
(1979)
A Look at Liv
as Self
(1978)
Brass Target
as Shelley Martin Webber
(1977)
Exorcist II: The Heretic
as Father Lankester Merrin
(1977)
March or Die
as François Marneau
(1977)
Black Journal
as Lisa Carpi / Carabinieri Marshal
(1976)
Voyage of the Damned
as Captain Schroeder
(1976)
The Desert of the Tartars
as Cap. Ortiz
(1976)
Illustrious Corpses
as Supreme Court President
(1976)
Foxtrot
as Larsen
(1976)
Heart of a Dog
as Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazenski
(1975)
Three Days of the Condor
as G. Joubert
(1975)
The Ultimate Warrior
as Baron
(1975)
Egg! Egg! A Hardboiled Story
as The Father
(1975)
The Broken Mirror
as Matthew Lawrence
(1974)
Steppenwolf
as Harry Haller
(1974)
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
as Self (archive footage)
(1973)
The Exorcist
as Father Lankester Merrin
(1972)
Embassy
as Gorenko
(1972)
The New Land
as Karl Oskar
(1972)
Ingmar Bergman
as Self
(1971)
The Emigrants
as Karl Oskar
(1971)
The Night Visitor
as Salem
(1971)
The Touch
as Andreas Vergerus
(1971)
The Apple War
as Roy Lindberg
(1970)
The Kremlin Letter
as Colonel Kosnov
(1969)
The Passion of Anna
as Andreas Winkelman
(1969)
Made in Sweden
as Magnus Rud
(1968)
Hour of the Wolf
as Johan Borg
(1968)
Shame
as Jan Rosenberg
(1968)
(1968)
Black Palm Trees
as Gustav Olofsson
(1967)
The Diary of Anne Frank
as Otto Frank
(1966)
Hawaii
as Abner Hale
(1966)
The Quiller Memorandum
as Oktober
(1966)
Here Is Your Life
as Smålands-Pelle
(1965)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Jesus
(1965)
The Reward
as Scott Swenson
(1965)
4 x 4
as Kvist
(1965)
Interlude in the Marshland
as Alex Kvist
(1964)
Dance Around the Guldbaggen
as Self
(1963)
Winter Light
as Jonas Persson
(1962)
The Mistress
as The Man
(1962)
Wonderful Adventures of Nils
as The Father
(1961)
Through a Glass Darkly
as Martin
(1960)
The Virgin Spring
as Töre
(1960)
The Wedding Day
as Anders Frost
(1958)
The Magician
as Albert Emanuel Vogler
(1958)
Brink of Life
as Harry Andersson
(1958)
Spion 503
as Horst, Gestapo-mand
(1958)
Rabies
as Bo Stensson Svenningson
(1957)
The Seventh Seal
as Antonius Block
(1957)
Wild Strawberries
as Åkerman
(1957)
The Minister of Uddarbo
as Gustaf Ömark
(1957)
Mr. Sleeman Is Coming
as Hunter
(1956)
The Right to Love
as Bergman
(1953)
Ingen mans kvinna
as Olof
(1951)
Miss Julie
as Groom
(1949)
Only a Mother
as Nils
Crew
(1988)
Katinka
Director