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Max Von Sydow or (Carl Adolf Sydow as he was born) was a Swiss, born French actor who had a career spanning 70 years, across two continents, sampling almost every film genre and a swath of awards and decorations recognizing his achievements.

Expected by his parents to pursue a career in law he was taken by acting early when he saw a production of “Midsummers night Dream”. He studied at the at the Royal Dramatic theatre in Stockholm for 3 years after serving two years of military service. His early theatre work won him critical praise with local critics. It was in the early days of theatre he established a partnership with Ingmar Bergman who was a local theatre director and who’s first film production of “The Seventh Seal” cast him in the international spotlight as a world weary knight of the crusades who struggles to deal his homeland of Sweden ravaged by plague. The scene in which his character takes on Death in a game of chess is now regarded as one the iconic moments of cinema. For the early part of his career Sydow was content to stay in Sweden despite offers to star opposite Sean Connery in “Dr No” and the male lead in “The Sound of Music”. By the mid 60’s he finally took the bait and starred as Jesus Christ in “The Greatest Story Ever Told”. Despite the poor box office, he made himself more accessible to a wider audience. The roles following were of the villainous kind (which he grew tired of) but also recognized for these performances in getting his first Golden Globe nomination for “Hawaii”. His second nomination also became arguably his most recognized role, that of Father Merrin in William Friedkins’ “The Exorcist”. Playing the elder, Jesuit priest required extensive aging makeup as supplied by FX, makeup master Dick Smith. So nuanced were the combination of performance and makeup that people were generally surprised to see the actor in real life and how young he really was.

The latter half of his career was juggling projects with his long-time collaborator Bergman in “Best Intentions” and “Private Confessions” and starring in more commercial efforts like “Conan the Barbarian”, “Flash Gordon” and” Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (in which he was sadly underused). He also received his second Oscar nod for playing a mute tenant in the film “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”. And as a rites of passage, if you’re around long enough you will at some point as a performer lend your voice to “The Simpsons”, to which he did in 2015. Pencil, graphite dust and Photoshop.

Description

Max Von Sydow or (Carl Adolf Sydow as he was born) was a Swiss, born French actor who had a career spanning 70 years, across two continents, sampling almost every film genre and a swath of awards and decorations recognizing his achievements.

Expected by his parents to pursue a career in law he was taken by acting early when he saw a production of “Midsummers night Dream”. He studied at the at the Royal Dramatic theatre in Stockholm for 3 years after serving two years of military service. His early theatre work won him critical praise with local critics. It was in the early days of theatre he established a partnership with Ingmar Bergman who was a local theatre director and who’s first film production of “The Seventh Seal” cast him in the international spotlight as a world weary knight of the crusades who struggles to deal his homeland of Sweden ravaged by plague. The scene in which his character takes on Death in a game of chess is now regarded as one the iconic moments of cinema. For the early part of his career Sydow was content to stay in Sweden despite offers to star opposite Sean Connery in “Dr No” and the male lead in “The Sound of Music”. By the mid 60’s he finally took the bait and starred as Jesus Christ in “The Greatest Story Ever Told”. Despite the poor box office, he made himself more accessible to a wider audience. The roles following were of the villainous kind (which he grew tired of) but also recognized for these performances in getting his first Golden Globe nomination for “Hawaii”. His second nomination also became arguably his most recognized role, that of Father Merrin in William Friedkins’ “The Exorcist”. Playing the elder, Jesuit priest required extensive aging makeup as supplied by FX, makeup master Dick Smith. So nuanced were the combination of performance and makeup that people were generally surprised to see the actor in real life and how young he really was.

The latter half of his career was juggling projects with his long-time collaborator Bergman in “Best Intentions” and “Private Confessions” and starring in more commercial efforts like “Conan the Barbarian”, “Flash Gordon” and” Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (in which he was sadly underused). He also received his second Oscar nod for playing a mute tenant in the film “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”. And as a rites of passage, if you’re around long enough you will at some point as a performer lend your voice to “The Simpsons”, to which he did in 2015. Pencil, graphite dust and Photoshop.