Max Von Sydow, one of the cinema’s greatest actors, passed away on Sunday at the age of 90, according to his representatives at Diamond Management.
Known best for his work with Ingmar Bergman in a series of classic, iconic films, including 1957’s The Seventh Seal, which launched him to international prominence, and for his turn as Father Merrin in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, von Sydow utterly changed cinematic history over the course of his nearly-70-year career. His brilliant performances are too numerous to count or list here, but anyone who has had even a passing interest in filmmaking has probably encountered and been effected by his brilliant work. The man played Jesus, for God’s sake, and he did so better than practically anyone.
That’s the thing about von Sydow — there’s a chance you’ve loved one of his performances without even knowing it. The man was so versatile and was so ready to work that he appeared in tons of films. He was Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, the evil Brewmeister Smith in Strange Brew, Dr. Liet-Kynes in David Lynch’s Dune, and in many, many more iconic roles. He worked with masters like John Huston, Steven Spielberg, Sydney Pollack, Wim Wenders, George Stevens, Jan Troell, Dario Argento, and Penny Marshall over the years.
The last decade of his career brought him to an entirely new audience — nerds — through appearances on Game of Thrones, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and as a voice actor in Bethesda’s award-winning video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It also garnered him another Oscar nomination, for his work in Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but we’d recommend you check him out in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island for the best of his late-period performances.
Von Sydow lived one hell of a life, and he lived it very, very well. He will undoubtedly be missed.