Max von Sydow
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).
Acted in
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
2023
as Self (archive footage)
Echoes of the Past
2021
as Nikolas Andreou (Aged)
Kursk
2018
as Admiral Vladimir Petrenko
Behind the Scenes of Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly)
2018
Tuschinski's Dream
2017
Max von Sydow
2017
as Self (archive footage)
The First, the Last
2016
as Le croque-mort
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2015
as Lor San Tekka
The Letters
2014
as Celeste van Exem
Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures
2013
as Dr. Alistair Conis
Starring Sigmund Freud
2012
Branded
2012
as Marketing Guru
Max Von Sydow: Dialogues with The Renter
2012
as Self
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
2011
as The Renter
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
2011
as Self
Game of Thrones
2011
as Three-Eyed Raven
The Last Norwegian Troll
2010
as The Last Norweigian Troll (voice)
Robin Hood
2010
as Sir Walter Loxley
Shutter Island
2010
as Dr. Naehring
The Wolfman
2010
as Passenger on Train (Director's Cut) (uncredited)
Behind the Moomins
2010
as Narrator (voice)
Oscar and the Lady in Pink
2009
as Le docteur Dusseldorf
Solomon Kane
2009
as Josiah Kane
A Man and His Dog
2009
as Le commandant
Emotional Arithmetic
2008
as Jakob Bronski
Rush Hour 3
2007
as Varden Reynard
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2007
as Papinou
The Final Inquiry
2007
as Tiberius
L'inchiesta - Anno Domini XXXIII
2007
as Tiberio
The Tudors
2007
as Cardinal Von Waldburg
Heidi
2005
as Uncle Alp
Ring of the Nibelungs
2004
as Eyvind
Ring of the Nibelungs
2004
as Eyvind
Hidden Children
2004
as Valobra
Minority Report
2002
as Director Lamar Burgess [Pre-Crime]
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
2002
as Sigmund Freud
Intacto
2001
as Samuel
Druids
2001
as Guttuart
Sleepless
2001
as Moretti
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Perils of Cupid
2000
as Freud
Light Keeps Me Company
2000
as Self
Nuremberg
2000
as Samuel Rosenman
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
2000
as Self
Snow Falling on Cedars
1999
as Nels Gudmundsson
What Dreams May Come
1998
as The Tracker
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
1998
as Self / Father Merrin
Professione fantasma
1998
as Psicoanalista dell’aldilà
Solomon
1997
as Davide
The Princess and the Pauper
1997
as Epos
La principessa e il povero
1997
as Epos
Hostile Waters
1997
as Admiral Chernavin
Their Frozen Dream
1997
as S.A. Andrée (voice)
Private Confessions
1996
as Jacob
Samson and Delilah
1996
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Jerusalem
1996
as Vicar
Hamsun
1996
as Knut Hamsun
Delblanc
1996
as Narrator (voice)
Radetzky March
1995
as Baron Franz von Trotta und Sipolje
Captured: Meet Robert A. Robinson Photographer
1995
as Narrator (voice)
Stjärnbilder
1995
as (archive footage)
Judge Dredd
1995
as Chief Justice Fargo
The Atlantic
1995
as Narrator (voice)
Citizen X
1995
as Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky
Depth Solitude
1995
as Narrator (voice)
Onkel Vanja
1994
as The Professor
A che punto è la notte
1994
as Arcivescovo di Torino
Time is Money
1994
as Joe Kaufman
A che punto è la notte
1994
as Arcivescovo di Torino
Minns ni?
1993
as (archive footage)
Needful Things
1993
as Leland Gaunt
Morfars resa
1993
as Simon S.L. Fromm
Och ge oss skuggorna
1993
as Eugene O'Neill
The Silent Touch
1992
as Henry Kesdi
The Best Intentions
1992
as Johan Åkerblom
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1992
as Sigmund Freud
The Ox
1991
as Vicar
Until the End of the World
1991
as Henry Farber
Europa
1991
as Narrator (voice)
A Kiss Before Dying
1991
as Thor Carlsson
Awakenings
1990
as Peter Ingham
Father
1990
as Joe Mueller
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes
1990
as Father Siemes
Cellini: A Violent Life
1990
as Papa Clemente VII
The Bachelor
1990
as Von Schleheim
The Simpsons
1989
as Klaus Ziegler (voice)
Red King, White Knight
1989
as Szaz
Ghostbusters II
1989
as Vigo (voice) (uncredited)
Foreign Filmmakers in Hollywood
1989
as Self
Ingmar Bergman: The Magic Lantern
1988
as Voice
The Human Factor
1988
Pelle the Conqueror
1987
as Lasse Karlsson - Farmhand
The Second Victory
1987
as Dr. Huber
Duet for One
1986
as Dr. Louis Feldman
The Wolf at the Door
1986
as August Strindberg
Gösta Berlings saga
1986
as Melchior Sinclaire
Hannah and Her Sisters
1986
as Frederick
The Repenter
1985
as Spinola
Code Name: Emerald
1985
as Jürgen Brausch
Christopher Columbus
1985
as Re Giovanni del Portogallo
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
1985
as Self
Quo Vadis?
1985
as Petrus
The Last Place on Earth
1985
as Fridtjof Nansen
Kojak: The Belarus File
1985
as Peter Barak
The Fascination
1985
Dune
1984
as Doctor Kynes
Le dernier civil
1984
as Gérard Bauerle
Terror in the Aisles
1984
as Father Merrin (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dreamscape
1984
as Paul Novotny
Samson and Delilah
1984
as Sidka
The Soldier's Tale
1984
as The Devil
Never Say Never Again
1983
as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Strange Brew
1983
as Brewmeister Smith
Circle of Passions
1983
as Carlo di Vilalfratti
Target Eagle
1982
as Coronel O'Donnell
The Flight of the Eagle
1982
as Salomon August Andrée
The Cinema of Carl Th. Dreyer
1982
Conan the Barbarian
1982
as King Osric
Let Poland Be Poland
1982
as Self - Co-Host
The Guldbagge Awards
1981
as Self - Best Actor winner
The Guldbagge Awards
1981
as Self - Host
The Guldbagge Awards
1981
as Self - Best Director winner
She Dances Alone
1981
as Nijinsky's voice
Venetian Lies
1981
as Marcello Herrighe
Escape to Victory
1981
as Major Karl von Steiner
Flash Gordon
1980
as The Emperor Ming
Death Watch
1980
as Gerald Mortenhoe
Hurricane
1979
as Dr. Danielsson
A Look at Liv
1979
as Self
Brass Target
1978
as Shelley Martin Webber
Black Journal
1977
as Lisa Carpi / Carabinieri Marshal
March or Die
1977
as François Marneau
Exorcist II: The Heretic
1977
as Father Lankester Merrin
Voyage of the Damned
1976
as Captain Schroeder
The Desert of the Tartars
1976
as Cap. Ortiz
Foxtrot
1976
as Larsen
Illustrious Corpses
1976
as Supreme Court President
Heart of a Dog
1976
as Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazenski
The Ultimate Warrior
1975
as Baron
Three Days of the Condor
1975
as G. Joubert
The Broken Mirror
1975
as Matthew Lawrence
Egg! Egg! A Hardboiled Story
1975
as The Father
Steppenwolf
1974
as Harry Haller
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
as Self (archive footage)
The Exorcist
1973
as Father Lankester Merrin
Ingmar Bergman
1972
as Self
Embassy
1972
as Gorenko
The New Land
1972
as Karl Oskar
The Apple War
1971
as Roy Lindberg
The Touch
1971
as Andreas Vergerus
The Emigrants
1971
as Karl Oskar
The Night Visitor
1971
as Salem
The Kremlin Letter
1970
as Colonel Kosnov
The Passion of Anna
1969
as Andreas Winkelman
Made in Sweden
1969
as Magnus Rud
Shame
1968
as Jan Rosenberg
Black Palm Trees
1968
as Gustav Olofsson
An Introduction to Ingmar Bergman
1968
as Self
Hour of the Wolf
1968
as Johan Borg
The Diary of Anne Frank
1967
as Otto Frank
Here Is Your Life
1966
as Smålands-Pelle
The Quiller Memorandum
1966
as Oktober
Hawaii
1966
as Abner Hale
The Reward
1965
as Scott Swenson
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
as Jesus
4 x 4
1965
as Kvist
Interlude in the Marshland
1965
as Alex Kvist
Dance Around the Guldbaggen
1964
as Self
Winter Light
1963
as Jonas Persson
Wonderful Adventures of Nils
1962
as The Father
The Mistress
1962
as The Man
Through a Glass Darkly
1961
as Martin
The Wedding Day
1960
as Anders Frost
The Virgin Spring
1960
as Töre
The Magician
1958
as Albert Emanuel Vogler
Rabies
1958
as Bo Stensson Svenningson
Spion 503
1958
as Horst, Gestapo-mand
Brink of Life
1958
as Harry Andersson
The Minister of Uddarbo
1957
as Gustaf Ömark
Wild Strawberries
1957
as Henrik Åkerman
Mr. Sleeman Is Coming
1957
as Hunter
The Seventh Seal
1957
as Antonius Block
The Right to Love
1956
as Bergman
Ingen mans kvinna
1953
as Olof
Miss Julie
1951
as Groom
Only a Mother
1949
as Nils