Max von Sydow (1929–2020) was a Swedish-French actor, active in both European and American cinema.
Von Sydow started his cinematic career in his native country in 1949 and two of his most memorable roles include Knight Antonius Block in The Seventh Seal (1957), the first of his eleven films with director Ingmar Bergman, and the film that includes the iconic scenes in which he plays chess with Death;Philip French, Screen Legends, The Observer, 10 February 2008 and as Martin in Through a Glass Darkly (1961).
Beginning in 1965, von Sydow starred in Hollywood films; his debut was as Jesus Christ in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Other roles include as Father Merrin in The Exorcist (1973); Joubert in Three Days of the Condor (1975); Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon (1980); the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983); Liet-Kynes in Dune (1984); Dr. Peter Ingham in Awakenings (1990); Lamar Burgess in Minority Report (2002) and Lor San Tekka in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
Von Sydow was nominated for two Academy Awards, for his roles as Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror (1987) and The Renter in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2012). On television, von Sydow played Bloodraven in Game of Thrones. In 2011, he voiced Esbern in the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Film Year Title Role DirectorNotes 1949 Only a Mother NilsAlf Sjöberg 1951 Miss Julie Hand 1953 No Man's Woman Olaf Lars-Eric Kjellgren 1956 Rätten att älska Bergman Mimi Pollak 1957 The Seventh Seal Antonius Block Ingmar Bergman The Minister of Uddarbo Gustaf Ömark Kenne Fant Wild Strawberries Henrik Åkerman Ingmar Bergman 1958 Brink of Life Harry Andersson Ingmar Bergman Kvinnlig spion 503 Tysk topagent Horst Jørn Jeppesen The Magician Albert Emanuel Vogler Ingmar Bergman 1960 The Virgin Spring Töre The Wedding Day Anders Frost Kenne Fant 1961 Through a Glass Darkly Martin Ingmar Bergman 1962 Adventures of Nils Holgersson The Father Kenne Fant The Mistress Married Man Vilgot Sjöman 1963 Winter Light Jonas Persson Ingmar Bergman 1965 4x4 Jan Troell The Greatest Story Ever Told Jesus Christ George Stevens The Reward Scott Swenson Serge Bourguignon 1966 Hawaii Reverend Abner Hale George Roy Hill The Quiller Memorandum Michael Anderson Here's Your Life Jan Troell 1968 Hour of the Wolf Johan Borg Ingmar Bergman Gustav Olofsson Lars-Magnus Lindgren Shame Jan Rosenberg Ingmar Bergman 1969 Made in Sweden Magnus Rud Johan Bergenstråhle The Passion of Anna Andreas WinkelmanIngmar Bergman 1970 The Kremlin Letter Colonel Kosnov John Huston 1971 The Night Visitor Salem László Benedek The Emigrants Karl Oskar Jan Troell The Touch Andreas Vergerus Ingmar Bergman The Apple War Roy Lindberg Tage Danielsson 1972 Embassy Gorenko Gordon Hessler The New Land Karl Oskar Jan Troell 1973 The Exorcist Father Lankester Merrin William Friedkin 1974 Steppenwolf Harry Haller Fred Haines 1975 Egg! Egg! A Hardboiled Story The Father Hans Alfredson Le miroir éclate Matthew Lawrence Claude d'Anna Three Days of the Condor G. Joubert Sydney Pollack The Ultimate Warrior The Baron Robert Clouse 1976 Dog's Heart Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazenski Alberto Lattuada Illustrious Corpses Supreme Court's President Francesco Rosi Foxtrot Larsen Arturo Ripstein The Desert of the Tartars Hortiz Valerio Zurlini Voyage of the Damned Captain Schroeder Stuart Rosenberg 1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic Father Lankester Merrin John Boorman March or Die François Marneau Dick Richards Black Journal Lisa Carpi Mauro Bolognini 1978 Brass Target Shelley John Hough 1979 Hurricane Dr Danielsson Jan Troell Bugie bianche Marcello Herrighe 1980 Death Watch Gerald Mortenhoe Bertrand Tavernier Flash Gordon Ming the Merciless Mike Hodges 1981 Escape to Victory Major Karl von Steiner John Huston She Dances Alone Himself / Nijinsky Robert Dornhelm Voice 1982 Conan the Barbarian King Osric John Milius Flight of the Eagle Salomon August Andrée Jan Troell Hit Man Colonel O'Donnell 1983 Carlo di Vilalfratti Claude d'Anna Strange Brew Brewmeister Smith Rick Moranis Dave Thomas Never Say Never Again Ernst Stavro Blofeld Irvin Kershner 1984 Dreamscape Doctor Paul Novotny Joseph Ruben Dune Doctor Liet-Kynes David Lynch 1985 Code Name: Emerald Jurgen Brausch Jonathan Sanger The Repenter Spinola Pasquale Squitieri 1986 Hannah and Her Sisters Frederick Woody Allen The Second Victory Dr Huber Gerald Thomas The Wolf at the Door August Strindberg Henning Carlsen Duet for One Dr Louis Feldman Andrei Konchalovsky 1987 Pelle the Conqueror Lassefar Karlsson Bille August 1988 Katinka Max von Sydow 1989 Ghostbusters II Vigo Ivan Reitman Voice 1990 The Bachelor Von Schleheim Roberto Faenza A Violent Life Pope Clement VII Giacomo Battiato Father Joe Mueller John Power Awakenings Dr Peter Ingham Penny Marshall 1991 A Kiss Before Dying Thor Carlsson James Dearden Europa Narrator Lars von Trier Voice Until the End of the World Henry Farber Wim Wenders The Ox Vicar Sven Nykvist The Best Intentions Johan Åkerblom Bille August 1992 Henry Kesdi Krzysztof Zanussi 1993 Grandpa's Journey Simon S.L. Fromm Needful Things Leland Gaunt Fraser C. Heston 1994 Time is Money Joe Kaufman Paolo Barzman 1995 Judge Dredd Judge Fargo Danny Cannon 1996 Hamsun Knut Hamsun Jan Troell Jerusalem Vicar Bille August 1997 Hercules Zeus Ron ClementsJohn Musker Swedish dub 1997 Hostile Waters Admiral Chervavin David Drury 1998 What Dreams May Come The Tracker Vincent Ward 1999 Snow Falling on Cedars Nels Gudmundsson Scott Hicks 2001 Sleepless Ulisse Moretti Dario Argento Druids Guttuart Jacques Dorfmann Intacto Samuel Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 2002 Minority Report Director Lamar Burgess Steven Spielberg Les amants de Mogador Souheil Ben-Barka 2004 Night of the Living Dorks Father Lankester Merrin Matthias DinterUncredited, Cameo 2005 Heidi Uncle Alp Paul Marcus 2006 The Inquiry Tiberius Giulio Base 2007 Rush Hour 3 Varden Reynard Brett Ratner Emotional Arithmetic Jakob Bronski Paolo Barzman The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Papinou Julian Schnabel 2009 Solomon Kane Josiah Kane Michael J. Bassett A Man and His Dog The Commander Francis Huster Cameo 2010 Shutter Island Dr Jeremiah Naehring Martin Scorsese Robin Hood Sir Walter Loxley Ridley Scott Moomins and the Comet Chase Narrator Maria Lindberg Voice The Wolfman Passenger on train Joe Johnston Uncredited, Director's cut 2011 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close The Renter Stephen Daldry 2012 Truth & Treason Frank Fikeis Branded Joseph Pascal Jamie Bradshaw & Aleksandr Dulerayn 2013 Dragons 3D Dr Alistair Conis Marc Fafard 2015 The Letters Father Celeste van Exem William Riead Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lor San Tekka J. J. Abrams 2016 The First, the Last The Undertaker Bouli Lanners 2018 Kursk Vladimir Petrenko Thomas Vinterberg 2021 Echoes of the Past (Greek Title: Kalavryta 1943) Nikolas Andreou (aged) Nicholas Dimitropoulos Posthumous release
Television Year Title Role Notes 1957 The Hunter Television film 1958 Rabies Bo Stensson Svenningson TV movie 1967 The Diary of Anne Frank Otto Frank Television film 1973 Kvartetten som sprängdes Engineer Planertz 4 episodes 1984 Samson and Delilah Sidka Television film The Soldier's Tale The Devil Voice, Television film Le Dernier Civil Johann Kaspar Bäuerle Television film 1985 Kojak: The Belarus File Peter Barak Television film The Last Place on Earth Fridtjof Nansen 3 episodes Quo Vadis? The Apostle Peter 6 episodes Christopher Columbus King John of Portugal 4 episodes 1986 Melchior Sinclaire 3 episodes 1989 Red King, White Knight Szaz 1990 Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes Father Siemes Television film 1993 Eugene O'Neill Television film The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Sigmund Freud Episode: "Vienna, November 1908" 1994 Archbishop of Turin Television film Baron Franz von Trotta und Sipolje 2 episodes Uncle Vanya Professor Serebryakov Television film 1995 Citizen X Dr Alexandr Bukhanovsky 1996 Samson and Delilah Narrator Voice, UncreditedTelevision film Private Confessions Jacob Television film 1997 Hostile Waters Admiral Chernavin Television film Epos Television film Solomon David 3 episodes 2000 Nuremberg Samuel Rosenman Episode #1.1 2004 Valobra Television film Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King Eyvind Television film 2009 The Tudors Cardinal von Walburg 4 episodes 2014 The Simpsons Klaus Ziegler Voice, Episode: "The War of Art" 2016 Game of Thrones Bloodraven 3 episodes
Video games Year Title Voice role 2009 Ghostbusters: The Video Game Vigo the Carpathian 2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Esbern 2016 Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lor San Tekka
References