Max von Sydow is a Swedish-French actor, who has had several roles in American and European films. He acted in films in different languages like Norwegian, French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish.
He is a ‘Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres,’ holds the ‘Royal foundation award’ from Sweden’s Cultural Award in 1954 and is the 2012 ‘Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.’ Some of the roles he has played in TV and film include The Seventh Seal, Through a Glass Darkly, The Emigrants, The Exorcist, Three Days of the Condor, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Three-eyed Raven, a role that won him a nomination in the Primetime Emmy Award.
Sun Sign
Aries
Residence
Paris, France
Manager
Max von Sydow is managed by Diamond Management (Talent Agency), London, United Kingdom.
Genre
Pop
Instruments
Vocals
Girlfriend / Spouse
Max von Sydow has dated –
- Christina Inga Britta Olin (1951-1979) – Mark and Christina Inga Britta Olin got married on August 1, 1951. They have 2 children together, sons Claes and Henrik. They got divorced on February 26, 1979.
- Catherine Brelet (1997-Present) Max and Catherine got married in 1997. They have 2 children together, Cédric and Yvan.
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Tall Height
- Commanding voice
Best Known For
- Acting in films such as Only a Mother, The Seventh Seal, Through a Glass Darkly, The Emigrants, The Exorcist, Three Days of the Condor, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Here’s Your Life, A Kiss Before Dying, among others
- Appearing in TV roles such as Herr Sleeman kommer, Kojak: The Belarus File, Red King, White Knight, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, Game of Thrones, among others
- Being the voice in the video games Ghostbusters: The Video Game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
As a Singer
Max von Sydow has performed in the songs like A Beautiful Life in the film The First, the Last in 2016 and Calle Schewens vals in the film The Apple War in 1971.
First Film
Max von Sydow made his feature film debut as a Nils in the 1949 film Only a Mother.
First TV Show
He made his TV show debut as Himself on The Linkletter Show in 1966.
Max von Sydow Favorite Things
- Movie – Pelle the Conqueror (1987)
Source –
Max von Sydow Facts
- His surname is due to his father’s partial German ancestry.
- He started a theatre club in high school. He worked in Malmö and Norrköping city theatres after graduating from Royal Dramatic Theatre’s acting school.
- Max is greatly admired in Sweden.
- Max has received an Oscar nomination making him the only male Swedish actor to receive it.
- He directed the movie Katinka in 1988 making this his directorial debut.
- He got his 1st Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his portrayal of Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror. Max earned his 2nd nomination for the movie Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in 2012.
- He was the Three-eyed Raven in the Game of Thrones which he joined in the 6th season.
- He got the Guldbagge Award for “Best Director” for the film Katinka, the first movie he directed.
- His career abroad started with the 1965 movie The Greatest Story Ever Told where he played the role of Jesus.
- He has lived in Rome, California, Paris, and Italy.
- Max has played both God and the devils in the movies The Greatest Story Ever Told and Needful Things.
- He is related to Björn von Sydow, ex-minister of defense and speaker of parliament in Sweden.
- In 1985, he participated in the Berlin International Film Festival as a jury co-head.
- Premiere magazine put his performance in Pelle the Conqueror at number 57 in “Greatest Performances of All Time” in 2006.
- He speaks fluent English, French, Swedish, and Italian.
- He renounced his Swedish citizenship for a French one in 2002.
- As of 2015, Max was in 5 films that had “Best Picture” Oscar including Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Awakenings, The Emigrants, The Exorcist, and Hannah and Her Sisters.
- was cast in Somewhere in Time, although, Max had been considered for the role.
- He admires , , Spencer Tracy, and .
- He feels at home stage acting.
- Max is considered an intellectual actor.
- He does not identify himself with his roles.
- According to him, acting is futile because unlike making furniture or writing, there is nothing to it.
- When acting in The Greatest Story Ever Told, he did not let his wife visit openly because Jesus was not married. He also did not relax or drink because Jesus did not.
- According to him, playing the Jesus role was hard and it felt like a prison. He could not publicly drink or smoke because he had to keep an image. It took 6 months to get his life back to normal.
- As a boy, he was very shy.
- He feels the roles he is offered are not interesting because they are usually of old fathers or grandfathers.
- Max played a good guy in the exorcist.
- He is an agnostic or atheist. He was a doubter in his youth but not his adult life. No one knows what he doubted.
- Max has been a guest star in The Simpsons.
- He is the voice of Esbern in the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
- Max played the voice roles of Vigo the Carpathian, Esbern, and Lor San Tekka in the video games Ghostbusters: The Video Game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
- He had a starring role in Rush Hour 3 (2007).
- His wife Catherine works on almost all his films.
- He does not seem to be active on social media.
Featured Image by Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Facts of Carl Adolf von Sydow
- Gender Male
- full nameCarl Adolf von Sydow
- nicknamesMax von Sydow
- birthplaceLund, Skane, Sweden
- Date of Birth April 10, 1929
- Age 95 years 4 months
- Horoscope Aries
- Lucky Number 8
- Lucky Stone Diamond
- Lucky Color Red
- Best Match for Marriage Leo
- ethnicity / ethnic backgroundGerman and Scottish
- nationalitySwedish
- net worth$16 million
- professionActor, Voice Actor, Director
- weight85 kg or 187.5 lbs
- height6 ft 4 in or 193 cm
- hair colorSandy Blonde
- eye colorBlue
- body type / buildSlim
- high schoolMaria Margareta “Greta”, Baroness Rappe
- collegeCarl Wilhelm von Sydow
- motherMaria Margareta “Greta”, Baroness Rappe
- fatherCarl Wilhelm von Sydow
- brothersAxel Ulrik Bertil von Sydow
- favorite moviesPelle the Conqueror (1987)