The legendary Swedish actor who worked with Ingmar Bergman and William Friedkin has passed away.
Max von Sydow was born April 10, 1929 in Lund, Sweden. He died in Provence, France at the age of 90.
Over the course of those 90 years, Mr. von Sydow proved himself to be one of Europe’s most talented actors. His work on screen and stage productions was consistently exceptional and has shaped film history with two of his most iconic roles: Antonius Block in ‘The Seventh Seal’ and Father Merrin in ‘The Exorcist’.
The former role proved to be Mr. von Sydow’s most enduring performance across his career. ‘The Seventh Seal’ also marked the first of many collaborations between Mr. von Sydow and revolutionary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, together making ‘Wild Strawberries’, ‘The Magician’, and ‘The Virgin Spring’ among others.
Mr. von Sydow demonstrated what would become his signature performance quality; his innate, weighted melancholy drove his characterization of the brooding knight. As Antonius Block, a Crusader returning to a plague-stricken country, Mr. von Sydow transformed himself into a man who knows he’s at the end of the line but refuses to give in. His chess match with Death has become an instantly recognizable moment in cinema and is now the subject of parody and homage.
As the titular exorcist, Mr. von Sydow short but memorable performance lent a sense of gravitas to the classic horror film. As the foil to the Devil possessing Regan, Mr. von Sydow electrified every scene he was in, notable in both the opening scene and his arrival at the house. Father Merrin, an intruder from a forgotten age, enters the film as an enigmatic outsider. It’s like Father Karras tells Chris MacNeil, the church doesn’t do exorcisms anymore. It’s why Merrin and his portrayer are so powerful in the film.
Beyond these two roles, Mr. von Sydow enjoyed a multitude of work over the decades. In 1965, Mr. von Sydow played Jesus in ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told, a nearly 4-and-a-half-hour epic that chronicled the life of Christ. His role lacked the depth to showcase his usual prowess for the dark and disturbing, but nonetheless Mr. von Sydow brought a strength of character to a subject of such popular representation. In the 1975 political thriller ‘Three Days of the Condor’, Mr. von Sydow played the assassin and antagonist Joubert opposite Hollywood legends Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.
Max von Sydow had also worked with numerous acclaimed directors. He portrayed Frederick in Woody Allen’s ‘Hannah and Her Sisters’, Director Burgess in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Minority Report’, with George Roy Hill in ‘Hawaii’ and John Huston in ‘The Kremlin Report’. He was in David Lynch’s ‘Dune’, Penny Marshall’s ‘Awakenings’, and the unofficial James Bond entry ‘Never Say Never Again’ as an equally unofficial Blofeld.
Mr. von Sydow received two Oscar nominations over his career. His first nomination was for playing Lassefar Karlsson in 1987’s Scandinavian epic ‘Pelle the Conqueror’. Mr. von Sydow was praised by Roger Ebert who said the actor was, “unsurpassed at the difficult challenge of appearing not to act, of appearing to be simple and true even in scenes of great complexity.”
His second nomination came from the underwhelming Oscar bait film ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’, where the Swedish thespian played a mute World War II survivor. The latter nomination seemed to act more as a nod to an entire oeuvre rather than a particular performance.
Recently, Mr. von Sydow had signed his career with a pop-cultural flourish with roles in ‘Game of Thrones’ as the Three Eyed Raven and in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ as Lor San Tekka.
Max von Sydow was, above all else, a veteran actor who had a guiding hand in the development of European cinema. His legacy as both Bergman’s leading man and Hollywood character actor will endure in the annals of film history.
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