Max Carl Adolf von Sydow was born on April 10, 1929 in Lund, Skåne, Sweden. He is an Academy Award nominated Swedish actor, known in particular for his collaboration with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.

Following his film debut in 1949, he began a long professional association with the director Ingmar Bergman at the Municipal Theatre of Malmö. Sydow's aloof presence well suited the brooding characterizations portrayed in such Bergman films as The Seventh Seal (1957) and Through a Glass Darkly (1961).

His first role in an American movie was as Jesus Christ in 1965's The Greatest Story Ever Told, and since then he has appeared in dozens of movies, usually as a taciturn villain or authority figure.

He starred in Three Days of the Condor (1975), with Robert Redford Flash Gordon (1980) Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Needful Things (1993) and Minority Report (2002).

Later films include Awakenings (1991), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Intacto (2003), Heidi (2005) and Rush Hour 3 (2007).

For his role in 1988's Pelle the Conqueror he earned an Oscar nomination as best actor.

Filmography

• Truth & Treason (2008)
• Emotional Arithmetic (2007)
• Rush Hour 3 (2007)
• Scaphandre et le papillon, Le (2007)
• Inchiesta, L' (2006)
• Heidi (2005)
• Ring of the Nibelungs (2004)
• "Fuga degli innocenti, La" (2004)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Amants de Mogador, Les (2002)
• Intacto (2001)
• Vercingétorix (2001)
• Non ho sonno (2001)
• Nuremberg (2000)
• Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
• What Dreams May Come (1998)
• "Professione fantasma" (1 episode, 1998)
• Solomon (1997)
• Principessa e il povero, La (1997)
• Hostile Waters (1997)
• Enskilda samtal (1996)
• Samson and Delilah (1996)
• Jerusalem (1996)
• Hamsun (1996)
• Truck Stop (1996)
• "Radetzkymarsch" (1995)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• Citizen X (1995)
• Dypets ensomhet (1995)
• A che punto è la notte (1995)
• Onkel Vanja (1994)
• Time Is Money (1994)
• "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (1 episode, 1993)
• Needful Things (1993)
• Morfars resa (1993)
• Och ge oss skuggorna (1993)
• Dotkniecie reki (1992)
• Goda viljan, Den (1992)
• "Goda viljan, Den" (1991)
• Oxen (1991)
• Bis ans Ende der Welt (1991)
• Europa (1991)
• A Kiss Before Dying (1991)
• Mio caro dottor Gräsler (1991)
• Awakenings (1990)
• Father (1990)
• Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990)
• Vita scellerata, Una (1990)
• Red King, White Knight (1989)
• Pelle erobreren (1987)
• Duet for One (1986)
• Oviri (1986)
• "Gösta Berlings saga" (1986)
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
• The Second Victory (1986)
• Pentito, Il (1985)
• Code Name: Emerald (1985)
• "Christopher Columbus" (1985)
• "Quo Vadis?" (1985)
• Kojak: The Belarus File (1985)
• "The Last Place on Earth" (1985)
• Dune (1984)
• Dreamscape (1984)
• Samson and Delilah (1984)
• The Ice Pirates (1984)
• A Soldier's Tale (1984)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)
• The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew (1983)
• Cercle des passions, Le (1983)
• Dernier civil, Le (1983)
• Jugando con la muerte (1982)
• Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd (1982)
• Conan the Barbarian (1982)
• Victory (1981)
• Flash Gordon (1980)
• Mort en direct, La (1980)
• Bugie bianche (1980)
• Hurricane (1979)
• Brass Target (1978)
• March or Die (1977)
• Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
• Gran bollito (1977)
• Voyage of the Damned (1976)
• Deserto dei Tartari, Il (1976)
• Foxtrot (1976)
• Cadaveri eccellenti (1976)
• Cuore di cane (1976)
• The Ultimate Warrior (1975)
• Three Days of the Condor (1975)
• Trompe-l'oeil (1975)
• Ägget är löst! (1975)
• Steppenwolf (1974)
• The Exorcist (1973)
• "Kvartetten som sprängdes" (1973)
• Nybyggarna (1972)
• Embassy (1972)
• "I havsbandet" (1971)
• Äppelkriget (1971)
• Beröringen (1971)
• Utvandrarna (1971)
• The Night Visitor (1971)
• The Kremlin Letter (1970)
• Passion, En (1969)
• Made in Sweden (1969)
• Skammen (1968)
• Svarta palmkronor (1968)
• Vargtimmen (1968)
• The Diary of Anne Frank (1967)
• Här har du ditt liv (1966)
• The Quiller Memorandum (1966)
• Hawaii (1966)
• The Reward (1965)
• 4 x 4 (1965)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Nattvardsgästerna (1962)
• Älskarinnan (1962)
• Nils Holgerssons underbara resa (1962)
• Såsom i en spegel (1961)
• Bröllopsdagen (1960)
• Jungfrukällan (1960)
• Ansiktet (1958)
• Rabies (1958)
• Spion 503 (1958)
• Nära livet (1958)
• Smultronstället (1957)
• Prästen i Uddarbo (1957)
• Herr Sleeman kommer (1957)
• Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
• Rätten att älska (1956)
• Ingen mans kvinna (1953)
• Fröken Julie (1951)
• Bara en mor (1949)

Awards

• Felix Best Actor "Pelle the Conqueror" 1998