Max von Sydow(1929-2020)
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Max von Sydow was born Carl Adolf von Sydow on April 10, 1929 in Lund, Skåne, Sweden, to a middle-class family. He was the son of Baroness Maria Margareta (Rappe), a teacher, and Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, an ethnologist and folklore professor. His surname traces back to his partial German ancestry.
When he was in high school, he and a few fellow students, including Yvonne Lombard, started a theatre club which encouraged his interest in acting. After conscription, he began to study at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school (1948-1951), together with Lars Ekborg, Margaretha Krook and Ingrid Thulin. His first role was as Nils the crofter in Alf Sjöberg's Bara en mor (1949). After graduation, he worked at the city theatres in Norrköping and Malmö.
His work in the movies by Ingmar Bergman (especially Phong Ấn Thứ Bảy (1957), including the iconic scenes in which he plays chess with Death) made him well-known internationally, and he started to get offers from abroad. His career abroad began with him playing Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Hawaii (1966) and The Quiller Memorandum (1966). Since then, his career includes very different kind of characters, like Karl Oskar Nilsson in Utvandrarna (1971); Father Lankester Merrin in Quỷ Ám (1973); Joubert the assassin in Ba Ngày Của Chim Ưng (1975), Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon (1980); the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Đừng Bao Giờ Nói Không Nữa (1983); Liet-Kynes in Xứ Cát (1984) the artist Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Lassefar in Pelle erobreren (1987), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination; Dr. Peter Ingham in Những Lần Tỉnh Giấc (1990); Lamar Burgess in Bản Báo Cáo Thiểu Số (2002) and The Renter in Hành Trình Của Oskar (2011), which earned him his second Academy Award nomination.
He became one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors, and is the only male Swedish actor to receive an Oscar nomination. He was nominated twice: for Pelle erobreren (1987) in 1988 and for Hành Trình Của Oskar (2011) in 2012. He received the Guldbagge Award for Best Director in his directing debut, the drama film Ved vejen (1988). In 2016, he joined the sixth season of the HBO series Trò Chơi Vương Quyền (2011) as the Three-eyed Raven, which earned him his Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Max von Sydow died on March 8, 2020, in Provence, France, and was survived by his wife Catherine Brelet and four children. He was 90.
When he was in high school, he and a few fellow students, including Yvonne Lombard, started a theatre club which encouraged his interest in acting. After conscription, he began to study at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school (1948-1951), together with Lars Ekborg, Margaretha Krook and Ingrid Thulin. His first role was as Nils the crofter in Alf Sjöberg's Bara en mor (1949). After graduation, he worked at the city theatres in Norrköping and Malmö.
His work in the movies by Ingmar Bergman (especially Phong Ấn Thứ Bảy (1957), including the iconic scenes in which he plays chess with Death) made him well-known internationally, and he started to get offers from abroad. His career abroad began with him playing Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Hawaii (1966) and The Quiller Memorandum (1966). Since then, his career includes very different kind of characters, like Karl Oskar Nilsson in Utvandrarna (1971); Father Lankester Merrin in Quỷ Ám (1973); Joubert the assassin in Ba Ngày Của Chim Ưng (1975), Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon (1980); the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Đừng Bao Giờ Nói Không Nữa (1983); Liet-Kynes in Xứ Cát (1984) the artist Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Lassefar in Pelle erobreren (1987), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination; Dr. Peter Ingham in Những Lần Tỉnh Giấc (1990); Lamar Burgess in Bản Báo Cáo Thiểu Số (2002) and The Renter in Hành Trình Của Oskar (2011), which earned him his second Academy Award nomination.
He became one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors, and is the only male Swedish actor to receive an Oscar nomination. He was nominated twice: for Pelle erobreren (1987) in 1988 and for Hành Trình Của Oskar (2011) in 2012. He received the Guldbagge Award for Best Director in his directing debut, the drama film Ved vejen (1988). In 2016, he joined the sixth season of the HBO series Trò Chơi Vương Quyền (2011) as the Three-eyed Raven, which earned him his Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Max von Sydow died on March 8, 2020, in Provence, France, and was survived by his wife Catherine Brelet and four children. He was 90.
Remembering Max von Sydow (1929-2020)
Remembering Max von Sydow (1929-2020)
Look back at photos from The Seventh Seal and more movies from Max von Sydow's legendary career.
