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Max von Sydow

Max von Sydow

Born: 1929-04-10 • Lund, Skåne län, Sweden

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).

Filmography
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies poster
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies
2025 • Self - (archive footage)
Echoes of the Past poster
Echoes of the Past
2021 • Nikolas Andreou (Aged)
Kursk poster
Kursk
2018 • Admiral Vladimir Petrenko
Tuschinski's Dream poster
Tuschinski's Dream
2017
Max von Sydow poster
Max von Sydow
2017 • Self (archive footage)
The First, the Last poster
The First, the Last
2016 • Le croque-mort
Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2015 • Lor San Tekka
The Letters poster
The Letters
2014 • Celeste van Exem
Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures poster
Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures
2013 • Dr. Alistair Conis
No Image
Starring Sigmund Freud
2012
Palme poster
Palme
2012 • Self (archive footage)
Branded poster
Branded
2012 • Marketing Guru
Max Von Sydow: Dialogues with The Renter poster
Max Von Sydow: Dialogues with The Renter
2012 • Self
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close poster
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
2011 • The Renter
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde poster
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
2011 • Self
The Last Norwegian Troll poster
The Last Norwegian Troll
2010 • The Last Norweigian Troll (voice)
No Image
Behind the Moomins
2010 • Narrator (voice)
Robin Hood poster
Robin Hood
2010 • Sir Walter Loxley
Shutter Island poster
Shutter Island
2010 • Dr. Naehring
The Wolfman poster
The Wolfman
2010 • Passenger on Train (Director's Cut) (uncredited)
Solomon Kane poster
Solomon Kane
2009 • Josiah Kane
Oscar and the Lady in Pink poster
Oscar and the Lady in Pink
2009 • Le docteur Dusseldorf
A Man and His Dog poster
A Man and His Dog
2009 • Le commandant
Emotional Arithmetic poster
Emotional Arithmetic
2008 • Jakob Bronski
Rush Hour 3 poster
Rush Hour 3
2007 • Varden Reynard
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly poster
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2007 • Papinou
The Final Inquiry poster
The Final Inquiry
2007 • Tiberius
Heidi poster
Heidi
2005 • Uncle Alp
Ring of the Nibelungs poster
Ring of the Nibelungs
2004 • Eyvind
Hidden Children poster
Hidden Children
2004 • Valobra
Minority Report poster
Minority Report
2002 • Director Lamar Burgess
Intacto poster
Intacto
2001 • Samuel
Druids poster
Druids
2001 • Guttuart
Sleepless poster
Sleepless
2001 • Moretti
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Perils of Cupid poster
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Perils of Cupid
2000 • Freud
Light Keeps Me Company poster
Light Keeps Me Company
2000 • Self
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan' poster
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
2000 • Self
Snow Falling on Cedars poster
Snow Falling on Cedars
1999 • Nels Gudmundsson
What Dreams May Come poster
What Dreams May Come
1998 • The Tracker
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist poster
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
1998 • Self - Father Merrin
Solomon poster
Solomon
1997 • Davide
The Princess and the Pauper poster
The Princess and the Pauper
1997 • Epos
Hostile Waters poster
Hostile Waters
1997 • Admiral Chernavin
Their Frozen Dream poster
Their Frozen Dream
1997 • S.A. Andrée (voice)
Private Confessions poster
Private Confessions
1996 • Jacob
Jerusalem poster
Jerusalem
1996 • Vicar
Hamsun poster
Hamsun
1996 • Knut Hamsun
Delblanc poster
Delblanc
1996 • Narrator (voice)
Lumière & Company poster
Lumière & Company
1995 • Jacob (segment "Liv Ullman")
No Image
Captured: Meet Robert A. Robinson Photographer
1995 • Narrator (voice)
Stjärnbilder poster
Stjärnbilder
1995 • (archive footage)
Judge Dredd poster
Judge Dredd
1995 • Chief Justice Fargo
The Atlantic poster
The Atlantic
1995 • Narrator (voice)
Citizen X poster
Citizen X
1995 • Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky
Depth Solitude poster
Depth Solitude
1995 • Narrator (voice)
Onkel Vanja poster
Onkel Vanja
1994 • The Professor
Time is Money poster
Time is Money
1994 • Joe Kaufman
Minns ni? poster
Minns ni?
1993 • (archive footage)
Needful Things poster
Needful Things
1993 • Leland Gaunt
Morfars resa poster
Morfars resa
1993 • Simon S.L. Fromm
Och ge oss skuggorna poster
Och ge oss skuggorna
1993 • Eugene O'Neill
The Silent Touch poster
The Silent Touch
1992 • Henry Kesdi
The Best Intentions poster
The Best Intentions
1992 • Johan Åkerblom
The Ox poster
The Ox
1991 • Vicar
Until the End of the World poster
Until the End of the World
1991 • Henry Farber
No Image
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
1991 • Narrator (voice)
Europa poster
Europa
1991 • Narrator (voice)
A Kiss Before Dying poster
A Kiss Before Dying
1991 • Thor Carlsson
Awakenings poster
Awakenings
1990 • Peter Ingham
Father poster
Father
1990 • Joe Mueller
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes poster
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes
1990 • Father Siemes
Cellini: A Violent Life poster
Cellini: A Violent Life
1990 • Pope Clement VII
The Bachelor poster
The Bachelor
1990 • Von Schleheim
Red King, White Knight poster
Red King, White Knight
1989 • Szaz
Ghostbusters II poster
Ghostbusters II
1989 • Vigo (voice) (uncredited)
No Image
Foreign Filmmakers in Hollywood
1989 • Self
Ingmar Bergman: The Magic Lantern poster
Ingmar Bergman: The Magic Lantern
1988 • Voice
No Image
The Human Factor
1988
Pelle the Conqueror poster
Pelle the Conqueror
1987 • Lasse Karlsson - Farmhand
The Second Victory poster
The Second Victory
1987 • Dr. Huber
Duet for One poster
Duet for One
1986 • Dr. Louis Feldman
The Wolf at the Door poster
The Wolf at the Door
1986 • August Strindberg
Hannah and Her Sisters poster
Hannah and Her Sisters
1986 • Frederick
The Repenter poster
The Repenter
1985 • Spinola
Code Name: Emerald poster
Code Name: Emerald
1985 • Jürgen Brausch
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey poster
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
1985 • Self
Kojak The Belarus File poster
Kojak The Belarus File
1985 • Peter Barak
Dune poster
Dune
1984 • Doctor Kynes
Le dernier civil poster
Le dernier civil
1984 • Gérard Bauerle
Dreamscape poster
Dreamscape
1984 • Paul Novotny
Samson and Delilah poster
Samson and Delilah
1984 • Sidka
The Soldier's Tale poster
The Soldier's Tale
1984 • The Devil (voice)
Never Say Never Again poster
Never Say Never Again
1983 • Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Strange Brew poster
Strange Brew
1983 • Brewmeister Smith
Circle of Passions poster
Circle of Passions
1983 • Carlo di Vilalfratti
Destination Dune poster
Destination Dune
1983 • Self
Target Eagle poster
Target Eagle
1982 • Coronel O'Donnell
The Flight of the Eagle poster
The Flight of the Eagle
1982 • Salomon August Andrée
The Cinema of Carl Th. Dreyer poster
The Cinema of Carl Th. Dreyer
1982
Conan the Barbarian poster
Conan the Barbarian
1982 • King Osric